''Creature with the Blue Hand'' (german: Die blaue Hand) is a West German horror film directed by

Alfred Vohrer Alfred Vohrer (29 December 1914 – 3 February 1986) was a German film director and actor. He directed 48 films between 1958 and 1984. His 1969 film '' Seven Days Grace'' was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival. His 1972 ...

and starring

Harald Leipnitz Harald Leipnitz (22 April 1926 – 21 November 2000) was a German actor, who was born in Wuppertal and died in Munich of lung cancer. Filmography *1961: '' The Big Show'' (Uncredited) *1963: ', as Wolfgang Spitz *1963: ', as Pedro *1964: ''The ...

, Klaus Kinski and

Ilse Steppat Ilse Paula Steppat (30 November 1917 – 21 December 1969) was a German actress. Her husband was noted actor and director Max Nosseck. Biography She began her cinematic career at the age of 15 playing Joan of Arc. Steppat appeared regularly on ...

. It is based on the 1925 novel '' The Blue Hand'' by

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

and was part of a long-running series of adaptations made by

Rialto Film Rialto Film is a German motion-picture production company headquartered in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make ...

. The film's plot involves the police tracking a killer known as the Blue Hand. It was shot at the

Spandau Studios The Spandau Studios or CCC Studios were film and television studios located in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. They were established in 1949 following the Second World War by the producer Artur Brauner controller of CCC Films, on the site of a form ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

Walter Kutz Walter Kutz (1904 – 1983) was a German art director.Langford p.223 Selected filmography * ''Nora'' (1944) * '' Dreaming'' (1944) * ''The Silent Guest'' (1945) * '' And the Heavens Above Us'' (1947) * ''Nights on the Nile'' (1949) * '' The Cha ...

and

Wilhelm Vorwerg Wilhelm Vorwerg (1899–1990) was a German art director who designed the sets for over fifty films including a number of Rialto Film's series of Edgar Wallace adaptations in the 1960s.Bergfelder p.256 Selected filmography * '' In the Name of th ...

Cast

as Inspector Craig * Klaus Kinski as Dave Emerson / Richard Emerson * Carl Lange as Dr. Albert Mangrove *

as Lady Emerson *

Hermann Lenschau Hermann or Herrmann may refer to: * Hermann (name), list of people with this name * Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language * Éditions Hermann, French publisher * Hermann, Miss ...

as Lawyer Douglas *

Diana Körner Diana Körner (born 24 September 1944) is a German actress. Outside Germany she is known for her brief appearance as Lieschen in Stanley Kubrick's film '' Barry Lyndon''. Selected filmography * '' Creature with the Blue Hand'' (1967), as Myr ...

as Myrna Emerson * Gudrun Genest as Nurse Harris *

Albert Bessler Albert Bessler (15 February 1905 – 4 December 1975) was a German film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1942 and 1975. He was born in Hamburg, Germany and died in West Berlin, West Germany. Partial filmography * '' Front Theatre'' ( ...

as Butler Anthony * Richard Haller as Edward Appleton / The Blue Hand *

Ilse Pagé Ilse Pagé (29 May 1939 – 19 June 2017) was a German film and television actress. Selected filmography * '' Berlin, Schoenhauser Corner'' (1957) - Angela * ''Arzt aus Leidenschaft'' (1959) - Ein junges Mädchen * ''...und noch frech dazu!'' (1 ...

as Miss Mabel Finley * Fred Haltiner as Warder Reynolds * Peter Parten as Robert Emerson * Thomas Danneberg as Charles Emerson *

Heinz Spitzner The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six conti ...

as Judge *

Siegfried Schürenberg Siegfried Schürenberg (12 January 1900 – 31 August 1993) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1933 and 1974. He was born in Detmold, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany in 1993, at age 93. Although he never p ...

as Sir John

Release

''Creature with the Blue Hand'' was released in 1967. The film was bought by

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...

and issued as a double feature in the United States with '' Beast of the Yellow Night''. The film was later re-edited in 1987 with new gore inserts by producer

Sam Sherman Samuel Sherman (1871 – 1948) was the court composer and conductor for Emperor Franz Josef I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1903 and 1909. Sherman, Robert B. "Al's Time" in '' Walt's Time: From Before To Beyond''. Santa Clarita, C ...

and released to home video as ''The Bloody Dead''.

References

Bibliography

* Bergfelder, Tim. ''International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s''. Berghahn Books, 2005.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Creature With The Blue Hand 1967 films 1967 crime films German crime films West German films 1960s German-language films Films directed by Alfred Vohrer New World Pictures films Films produced by Horst Wendlandt Films based on British novels Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Films about twin brothers Constantin Film films Films shot at Spandau Studios 1960s German films