Mad Love (1935)

December 10, 2024 8:54 AM

[TRAILER] A disturbed surgeon (Peter Lorre) becomes obsessed with actress Yvonne (Frances Drake). When the woman's pianist husband (Colin Clive) has his hands horribly damaged in an accident, Dr. Gogol replaces them with the hands of a knife murderer--hands which still have the urge to throw knives... and kill.

Also starring Ted Healy, Edward Brophy, May Beatty, Sara Haden.

Directed by Karl Freund. Written by John L. Balderston, Guy Endore, P.J. Wolfson
Florence Crewe-Jones (translation). Based on Les Mains d'Orlac, a 1920 novel by Maurice Renard. Produced by John W. Considine Jr. for MGM. Cinematography by Chester A. Lyons, Gregg Toland. Edited by Hugh Wynn. Music by Dimitri Z. Tiomkin.

100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. 3.6 on Letterboxd.

JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (3 comments total)

This story is pretty used-up and hoary by the year 2024, but with Peter Lorre in the title role, Dimitri Tiomkin doing the score, and Gregg Toland behind the camera, there is still plenty to enjoy.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:56 AM on December 10 [2 favorites]

I love Lorre in this. I first watched this because I saw a still shot of Lorre in his harness(?) in an old Cracked magazine as a kid and searched endlessly in the pre internet times for it. A solid favourite.
posted by Ashwagandha at 2:57 PM on December 10 [3 favorites]

Very fun movie that uncharacteristically I wished could have been longer, apparently MGM cut 15 minutes.

Weird/sad fact: Ted Healy, who played the reporter Reagan, would go on to create The Three Stooges and died possibly as a result from a fight with Cubby Broccoli (Of the Bond Broccolis) at the Trocadero where Healy was celebrating the birth of his son. Cause of death was reported as heart attack/alcoholism.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 4:15 PM on December 10 [2 favorites]