''The Hands of Orlac '' (a.k.a. ''Hands of the Strangler'') is a 1960 British-French
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by
Edmond T. Gréville
Edmond T. Gréville (born Edmond Gréville Thonger; 20 June 1906 – 26 May 1966) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was married to the actress Vanda Gréville.
Career
Gréville began his career as a film journalist and critic. ...
, starring
Mel Ferrer
Melchor Gastón Ferrer (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ''Scaramouche'', ''Lili'' and ''Knights of the Round ...
,
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
, and
Dany Carrel
Yvonne Suzanne Chazelles de Chaxel, better known as Dany Carrel, (born 20 September 1932 or 20 September 1935) is a French actress. She was born in Vietnam - then French Indochina - to French father Aimé Chazelles de Chaxel and his Vietnamese mi ...
, and based on the novel ''
Les Mains d'Orlac
''Les Mains d'Orlac'' ( en, italic=yes, The Hands of Orlac) is a French fantasy/horror novel written by Maurice Renard, first published in 1920. It is an early example of the body horror theme in fiction.
Plot
The pianist Stephen Orlac suffer ...
'' by
Maurice Renard
Maurice Renard (28 February 1875, Châlons-en-Champagne – 18 November 1939, Rochefort-Sur-Mer) was a French writer.
Career
Renard authored the archetypal mad scientist novel '' Le Docteur Lerne, sous-dieu'' r. Lerne - Undergod(1908), wh ...
.
Cast
*
Mel Ferrer
Melchor Gastón Ferrer (August 25, 1917 – June 2, 2008) was an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved prominence on Broadway before scoring notable film hits with ''Scaramouche'', ''Lili'' and ''Knights of the Round ...
... Stephen Orlac
*
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
... Nero the magician
*
Dany Carrel
Yvonne Suzanne Chazelles de Chaxel, better known as Dany Carrel, (born 20 September 1932 or 20 September 1935) is a French actress. She was born in Vietnam - then French Indochina - to French father Aimé Chazelles de Chaxel and his Vietnamese mi ...
... Régina / Li-Lang
*
Lucile Saint-Simon
Lucile Saint-Simon (born 19 October 1932) is a French actress from the Paris suburb of Corbeil-Essonnes. She appeared in such feature films as ''Les Bonnes Femmes'' (1960), '' The Hands of Orlac'' (1962), ''La donnaccia'' (Italian, 1965). In 2011, ...
... Louise Cochrane Orlac
*
Felix Aylmer
Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby.
Early ...
... Dr. Francis Cochrane
*
Peter Reynolds ... Mr. Felix
*
Basil Sydney
Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor.
Career
Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit ''Romance'' by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he costarred with Keane in ...
... Maurice Seidelman
*
Campbell Singer
Campbell Singer (born Jacob Kobel Singer; 16 March 1909 – 16 February 1976) was a British character actor who featured in a number of stage, film and television roles during his long career. He was also a playwright and dramatist.
Life
He was ...
... Inspector Henderson
*
Donald Wolfit
Sir Donald Wolfit, KBE (born Donald Woolfitt; Harwood, Ronald"Wolfit, Sir Donald (1902–1968)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008; accessed 14 July 2009 20 April 1902 ...
... Professor Volchett
*
Donald Pleasence
Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...
... Graham Coates
*
Peter Bennett ... 1st Member
*
George Merritt ... 2nd Member
*
Arnold Diamond
Arnold Diamond (18 April 1915 – 18 March 1992) was an English character actor, regularly cast in small parts on television.
He graduated from RADA in 1936, and his stage work included the RSC, and three years in Agatha Christie's ''The Mo ...
... Dresser
*
Janina Faye
Janina Faye Smigielski (born 1948) is an English actress and director. She is a daughter of Florence Louisa Jonathan and Jan Smigielski. Her father was a Polish pilot from No. 303 Squadron RAF during the Battle of Britain.
Faye began her career a ...
... Child
*
Gertan Klauber
George Gertan Klauber (5 March 1932 – 1 August 2008) was a British bit part character actor.
Klauber was born in Czechoslovakia, and after training at the Birmingham Theatre School, his stage appearances included with the RSC and the Nati ...
... Fairground attendant
*
Mireille Perrey
Mireille Perrey (1904–1991) was a French stage and film actress.Goble p.328 Perrey played some leading roles in the 1930s but gradually developed into a character actor, appearing in films such as the British comedy ''Hotel Sahara'' (1951). In 1 ...
... Madame Aliberti
*
David Peel ... Airplane's pilot
*
Walter Randall
Walter Randall (26 June 1929 – 5 May 2006) was a British dancer turned actor with numerous roles in British television, including parts in ''The Saint'', '' Out of This World'', ''Yes Minister'', '' The Professionals'' and ''Dixon of Dock Gree ...
... Waiter
*
Anita Sharp-Bolster
Anita Sharp-Bolster (28 August 1895 – 1 June 1985) was an Irish-born American actress who appeared in 88 films and 12 TV series from 1928 to 1978. She was sometimes billed as Anita Bolster.
Early life
She was born 28 August 1895 in Glen ...
... Volchett's Assistant
*
Manning Wilson ... Inspector Jagger
*
Yanilou ... Emilie
*
Edouard Hemme ... Auge
*
Charles Lamb
Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his ''Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–18 ...
... Guard
Production
The film was shot in both French and English versions.
[John Hamilton, ''The British Independent Horror Film 1951-70'' Hemlock Books 2013 p 91-96]
Critical reception
Derek Winnert found it "intriguing and partly enjoyable if sometimes strained and lethargic".
References
External links
*
1960 films
1960 horror films
1960s multilingual films
British horror films
British multilingual films
English-language French films
Films about pianos and pianists
Films based on horror novels
Films based on French novels
Films directed by Edmond T. Gréville
French horror films
French multilingual films
1960s French-language films
Films scored by Claude Bolling
1960s British films
1960s French films
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