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A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn't know they once belonged to a murderer.A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn't know they once belonged to a murderer.A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn't know they once belonged to a murderer.
Conrad Veidt
- Paul Orlac
- (as Veidt)
Alexandra Sorina
- Yvonne Orlac
- (as Sorina)
Fritz Strassny
- Der alte Orlac
- (as Strassny)
Paul Askonas
- Der Diener
- (as Askonas)
Carmen Cartellieri
- Regine
- (as Cartellieri)
Hans Homma
- Dr. Serral
- (as Homma)
Fritz Kortner
- Nera
- (as Kortner)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film was incomplete for decades, due to footage that never made it into the American prints and footage that had been cut due to censorship in German prints. The film was restored to its original length in 1995 by F. W. Murnau Stiftung.
- GoofsWhen Orlac reads a newspaper, the headlines are in German but the body in French.
- Crazy creditsIn the opening credits, all cast members are billed by their last names only.
- Alternate versionsFirst released in 1924 in Austria and several months later in Germany, the original print ran to 2,507m (92 minutes). In June 1928, it premiered in the United States with an entire reel edited out which prompted a mixed critical reception. In 1995, the film was restored by Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv in Berlin, Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung and the Deutsches Filminstitut with the co-operation of Jugoslovenska Kinoteka in Belgrad. This version had new music by Henning Lohner and was also given background noises and the sound effects of an interrogation scene of which was not universally approved. A new restoration was released on Region 1 DVD in 2008 by Kino Lorber which was based on the 1995 restoration and restored by Bret Wood, with a score by composer Paul Mercer and additional footage courtesy of The Raymond Rohauer Collection in Columbus, Ohio and took the running time to 110 minutes. In 2013 Filmarchiv Austria restored the film with material from its archives, running to 93 minutes. This had a score composed by Donald Sosin, performed by the composer at the piano and Dennis James at the Rieger organ. The 2013 restoration, with a score by Johannes Kalitze, was released on Blu-ray in Germany in 2019 and later in the United Kingdom in 2021.
- ConnectionsEdited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Fatale beauté (1994)
Featured review
Excellent performances, ponderous pacing needs better musical score
I've been looking for a DVD of THE HANDS OF ORLAC ever since I knew the film existed. Now it's finally here, and like most silent films it's a mixed bag. I find the image on the new KINO disc to be acceptable considering the problematic nature of the source material. There's a loss of definition in some scenes, but there are also moments of sharpness in the restored Murnau Foundation print. It's a shame we can never experience non-talking films the way 1920s audiences did, without washed-out contrasts, image-flickers, frame-jitters, dirt, and print damage. Even the best restorations don't look new.
The plot concerns a concert pianist whose hands are smashed in a train wreck. A surgeon replaces them with the hands an executed criminal. Soon the pianist is obsessed with thoughts he might be a killer. The performances are generally excellent in the Expressionistic style. Conrad Veidt's exaggerated grimacing as his character Paul Orlac approaches madness is tempered by moments that are extremely moving.
The score of mostly string music on the KINO disc is creepy and works well for a while, but is so monotonous over the entire length of an already ponderously paced film that I grew tired of it. This film cries out for music that varies its mood to fit what is happening on screen. Contrasts in the mood of the music would make the creepy parts seem even creepier. An optional score in a traditional style would have been nice. Nevertheless, the Gothic set design and shadow-infested cinematography by Gunther Krampf - particularly the scenes at Orlac's father's house - create the atmosphere we know and love in early horror films. These chiaroscuro light-and-shadow effects just cannot be achieved with color.
However, to evoke fear without the modern cheats of gore and violence - to create what the Germans call "stimmung" (mood) - requires not only imaginative lighting and set design, but time. Unfortunately director Robert Weine spends too much time on the actors' very deliberate expressionistic movements at the expense of pacing.
The ending is likewise unsatisfactory, although it does follow Maurice Renard's novel. I won't give too much away other than to say the ending undercuts an apparently fantastic element, yet makes the "logical" explanation seem almost as implausible. Nevertheless, the build-up to the resolution as well as Veidt's engrossing performance makes this a worthwhile, if uninspired, film.
The plot concerns a concert pianist whose hands are smashed in a train wreck. A surgeon replaces them with the hands an executed criminal. Soon the pianist is obsessed with thoughts he might be a killer. The performances are generally excellent in the Expressionistic style. Conrad Veidt's exaggerated grimacing as his character Paul Orlac approaches madness is tempered by moments that are extremely moving.
The score of mostly string music on the KINO disc is creepy and works well for a while, but is so monotonous over the entire length of an already ponderously paced film that I grew tired of it. This film cries out for music that varies its mood to fit what is happening on screen. Contrasts in the mood of the music would make the creepy parts seem even creepier. An optional score in a traditional style would have been nice. Nevertheless, the Gothic set design and shadow-infested cinematography by Gunther Krampf - particularly the scenes at Orlac's father's house - create the atmosphere we know and love in early horror films. These chiaroscuro light-and-shadow effects just cannot be achieved with color.
However, to evoke fear without the modern cheats of gore and violence - to create what the Germans call "stimmung" (mood) - requires not only imaginative lighting and set design, but time. Unfortunately director Robert Weine spends too much time on the actors' very deliberate expressionistic movements at the expense of pacing.
The ending is likewise unsatisfactory, although it does follow Maurice Renard's novel. I won't give too much away other than to say the ending undercuts an apparently fantastic element, yet makes the "logical" explanation seem almost as implausible. Nevertheless, the build-up to the resolution as well as Veidt's engrossing performance makes this a worthwhile, if uninspired, film.
helpful•132
- mhesselius
- Jul 27, 2010
- How long is The Hands of Orlac?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 32 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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![Carmen Cartellieri, Fritz Kortner, Alexandra Sorina, Conrad Veidt, and Robert Wiene in The Hands of Orlac (1924)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTM5YmRjOGUtMTc3ZS00OWZiLTg5ZTMtZDZiYjcyZTdiZDIzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzg1ODEwNQ@@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR4,0,90,133_.jpg)