The Beast with Five Fingers (1946)

Director:

Robert Florey

Writers:

William Fryer Harvey (story)
Curt Siodmak (writer)

Release Date:

8 February 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

A Sensation of Screaming Suspense!

Plot:

Locals in an Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where several murders have taken place...

Plot Keywords:

Severed Hand | Strangulation | Good Versus Evil | Italy | Disembodied Hand

Cast

Robert Alda	...	Bruce Conrad
Andrea King	...	Julie Holden
Peter Lorre	...	Hilary Cummins
Victor Francen	...	Francis Ingram
J. Carrol Naish	...	Commissario Ovidio Castanio
Charles Dingle	...	Raymond Arlington
John Alvin	...	Donald Arlington
David Hoffman	...	Duprex
Barbara Brown	...	Mrs. Miller
Patricia Barry	...	Clara (as Patricia White)
William Edmunds	...	Antonio
Belle Mitchell	...	Giovanna
Ray Walker	...	Mr. Miller
Pedro de Cordoba	...	Horatio

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1947) | USA:Approved (PCA #11334, General Audience)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Luis Buñuel wrote in his autobiography ("My Last Sigh"), he was employed by Warner Bros. and submitted a story idea for a horror movie about a disembodied hand.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Monsterama Sci-Fi Late Night Creature Feature Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Allusion or reality?

In a gloomy 1900s mansion in Italy a famed pianist(Victor Francen)lives with his devoted nurse(Andrea King) and his faithful secretary(Peter Lorre). The wheelchair bound pianist is only able to use one hand to play. An antique dealer(Robert Alda)adapts a piece of music to be played with one hand to dull the musician's bitterness. Francen dies after a rolling tumble down a staircase leaving his fortune to his nurse. A couple of upset relatives arrive protesting the will; but this moves to the back burner when murder and attempted murder is committed by the dead pianist's severed hand. Plus the hand likes to play the piano which adds to the terror. Lorre nails the hand in a box; and even throws it in a fire after confrontations with the disembodied member. Local Commissario Castanio(J. Carrol Naish)investigates this creepy mystery. Lorre is outstanding in a passive demented way. His wrestling with the severed hand is hilarious. Max Steiner is responsible for the haunting score. Great black and white from Warner Brothers.