The Hands of Orlac (1960 film)
A pianist fears his hands were replaced with a strangler's.
The 1960 horror film *The Hands of Orlac* (also released as *Les Mains D'orlac*) was directed by Edmond T. Gréville and starred Mel Ferrer, Christopher Lee, and Dany Carrel. The screenplay was co-written by Gréville and John V. Baines, with additional dialogue by Donald Taylor, and adapts Maurice Renard's 1920 novel *Les Mains d'Orlac*. The novel had already been turned into a silent film and a Hollywood production. Gréville filmed both an English and a French-language version simultaneously.
The plot follows celebrated pianist Stephen Orlac, who survives a plane crash but becomes convinced that his severely injured hands have been replaced with those of a murderer.
The cast includes Mel Ferrer as Stephen Orlac, Christopher Lee as Nero (Néron in the French version), Dany Carrel as Li-Lang, Lucile Saint-Simon as Louise Orlac, Felix Aylmer as Dr. Francis Cochrane, Peter Reynolds as Felix, Basil Sydney as Maurice Seidelman, Campbell Singer as Inspector Henderson, Donald Wolfit as Professor Volcheff, Donald Pleasence as Graham Coates, and others including Yanilou, Peter Bennett, George Merritt, Arnold Diamond, Janina Faye, Gertan Klauber, Mireille Perrey, David Peel, Walter Randall, and Anita Sharp-Bolster.
The source material is Maurice Renard's 1920 science fiction novel, one of his most famous works. It had previously been adapted as the 1924 film *The Hands of Orlac* and the 1935 Hollywood film *Mad Love*. Gréville, who held dual French and British citizenship, had directed four British films before World War II. After working on Raoul Walsh's *Captain Horatio Hornblower* (1951), he shifted toward more commercial projects, viewing low-budget filmmaking as "a challenge, that should inspire a director to higher things." *The Hands of Orlac* was his final British production. He employed two crews: a French one for scenes set on the French Riviera and a British one for London backdrops. In the studio, after each scene was shot in English, a call of "version française" would be given, and the scene would be reshot in French.
The film was released in the United Kingdom in December 1960 and in France on May 16, 1961. The English version runs ten minutes shorter than the French one.
Critical reception was harsh.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Edmond T. Gréville
- Writer
- Edmond T. Gréville / Donald Taylor / John V. Baines
- Based On
- Les Mains d'Orlac · Maurice Renard
- Starring
- Mel Ferrer / Christopher Lee / Dany Carrel / Lucile Saint-Simon
- Distributor
- British Lion Films (United Kingdom) / CFDC (France)
- Released
- 1960 · 12 · United Kingdom · 1961 · 04 · 12 · France
- Runtime
- 95 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film follows renowned pianist Stephen Orlac, who is injured in an aeroplane crash and believes his badly damaged hands have been replaced with those of a strangler. The cast includes Mel Ferrer as Stephen Orlac, Christopher Lee as Nero (Néron in the French version), and Dany Carrel as Li-Lang.
Grevillé, who held dual French and British citizenship, directed four British film productions before World War II. After working on Raoul Walsh's Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), he turned to more commercially-oriented cinema, calling low budget films 'a challenge, that should inspire a director to higher things.' The Hands of Orlac was his last British production. He used two film crews: a French one for scenes on the French Riviera and a British one for London backdrops. At the studio, after each scene was shot in English, a cry of 'version française' would sound, and the scene was shot again in French.
Reader's Guide
The Hands of Orlac represents a late adaptation of Maurice Renard's influential 1920 novel, which had previously been adapted into a 1924 silent film and the Hollywood production Mad Love (1935). Critical reception was largely negative: The Monthly Film Bulletin described it as a 'limping version' that was 'shorn of essential suspense and hallucinatory splendour,' criticizing the substitution of a 'moth-eaten magician' for the surgeon as villain and the 'chronically stolid' lead performance. Kine Weekly called it 'psychopathic poppycock' that 'fails to create the slightest suspense.' The film's production, with dual-language shooting and two national crews, reflects Gréville's transnational career, but the final product was seen as lackluster. Its significance lies in being the last British film by a director who had worked in both French and British cinema, and in continuing the legacy of Renard's story, though with diminished artistic impact.
Did You Know?
- The film was shot simultaneously in English and French versions, with a cry of 'version française' signaling each reshoot.
- The English version's running time is ten minutes shorter than the French-language version.
- Director Edmond T. Gréville used two film crews: a French one for the Riviera scenes and a British one for the London backdrops.
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