Before The Addams Family TV show gave us Thing, there was the murderous severed hand in The Beast with Five Fingers. This eerie gothic horror piece directed by Robert Florey (Murders in the Rue Morgue [1932]), stars Peter Lorre as an occult-obsessed secretary to a renowned but recently handicapped pianist played by Victor Francen. Rounding out the cast are Robert Alda, Andrea King, and J. Carol Naish.
Buy The Beast with Five Fingers Blu-rayFrancis Ingham (Francen) is a piano masterhand who recently suffered a debilitating stroke that has left him the use of only one hand. The surly virtuoso must now rely on others to help him move about his large estate in Italy. Two of which have been near him for years while the third is a newly hired nurse. Hilary Cummings (Lorre) is Ingram’s long-time secretary whose study of astrology has led him down the occult rabbit hole. Conrad Ryler (Alda) was a protege of sorts to Ingram but is now reduced to dealing antique trinkets on the black market between generous hand-outs from his former mentor. Lovely young nurse, Julie, not only sees to Ingram’s care but has been thrust into the odd role of mother figure to them all as they secretly lust after her.
The situation becomes dire after Ingram is found dead from a fall down the stairs one dark stormy night. The local police send Commissario Constanio to investigate the death and sort out this sordid mess which leads to questions about Ingram’s sanity. Things get really loony once Ingram’s estate and will are scrutinized by distant relatives causing further disturbances in Hilary’s mind. His madness escalates once Julie decides to leave with Conrad. All this is too much for poor Hilary, who fears that his study of the occult and his precious books will be lost to him. His last bit of sanity lost, Hilary begins hallucinating that Ingram’s severed hand has taken to wandering the halls and playing the piano on its own. Is it all in Hilly’s deranged mind or has the hand actually been severed and escaped from the tomb to torture the living?
The Beast with Five FIngers finds Peter Lorre at his manic best. He gets his chance to show that he can be frightening as well as sad and vulnerable. It’s a shame that for whatever reasons he didn’t get more lead roles. The screenplay by Curt Siodmak (The Wolf Man [1941], I Walked with a Zombie [1943]) is dark and moody throughout, providing further opportunities for Lorre to shine. Its ending still leaves one wondering even though it’s explained away as Hilary’s kooky use of parlor tricks to make the piano seem to be playing on its own. There’s a bit of comedy in the last two minutes that isn’t bad until the fourth wall is broken by Naish with some frivolous cornball bit about the supernatural.
The special-effects department headed by Hans F. Koenekamp and William C McGann do a magnificent job with the hand scenes. Whether crawling along or playing the piano, the effects remain very realistic and are truly the highlight of this picture, especially when one considers the time in which the film was made. Florey’s clever use of camera angles, framing, shadows, and lighting effects to distort scenes further enhance the mood of this gothic chiller making certain scenes very dark, spooky, and atmospheric. Florey had to get creative with his camera to bring his vision to life and to make up for the fact that the studio would not let him use more German expressionist set designs.
The audio commentary provided by author/film historian Dr. Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr is interesting and intriguing. Haberman gives us his theory of how he believes Siodmak used the script as a study in Sigmund Freud’s castration-anxiety and Oedipus-complex concepts. Haberman details how certain elements of the movie fit those concepts perfectly. Stating that both Hilary and Conrad fear and admire Ingram while having a desire to bump him off and run away with nurse/mother figure Julie. On the other hand, Haberman and Nasr supply plenty of great information about how the movie came to be and it’s especially fascinating when they break down the special effects, noting where that technology had been used in prior movies. The two provide excellent info on the life and careers of all involved, especially interesting are the looks into Siodmak and Florey, who’s involvement in Frankenstein (1931) is legendary but mostly forgotten today. They also discuss Jack Warner’s distaste towards the horror genre in general and the struggle to get this movie made.
Special Features also include two classic Merrie Melodies cartoon shorts. The Foxy Duckling about a sleep-deprived fox who chases a duck for his down feathers and The Gay Anties about the antics of some adventurous ants at a picnic in the 1890s.
The Beast with Five Fingers is the first of the crawling-hand monster movies and remains unique and memorable gothic fun. Its 88 minutes showcase the talents of all those involved from Florey’s camera work and Siodmak’s script to Hans F. Koenekamp’s great special effects and Lorre’s expressionistic acting skills.
