Mad Love (1935)

Director: Karl Freund

Starring: Peter Lorre, Frances Drake, Colin Clive, Ted Healy, Keye Luke

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Dead hands that live... and love... and kill!

Plot: An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her husband's wounded pianist's hands with the hands of a knife murderer which still have the urge to throw knives...and kill.

My Rating: 9/10

Would I watch it again? Oh, yeah!

WOW!!! Does this movie pack a punch! At 68 minutes MAD LOVE delivers, and how! It's got several unexpected plot developments and a somewhat shocking ending that will leave you speechless. Hell, I saw this months ago and I'm only now able to talk about it.


The twists and turns are just a small part of what makes this a truly great film. Director Freund doesn't waste any time getting us into the picture. It's obvious from the start that Peter Lorre's Dr. Gogol has an obsession and, since Lorre is a creepy looking dude to begin with (here in his best Uncle Fester attire), you get the idea that this isn't healthy and it's not going to be a pretty ride. You'd be right. Lorre, as usual in his 30s & 40s output, is outstanding and nails the part as if it were written for him. Ever seen him in his breakout role in M (1931)? WOW! This guy really brings the goods.


The supporting cast is also strong including Drake as Gogol's object of affection, Yvonne,

her husband with the new "hands", Stephen, played by Colin Clive who you should remember playing Baron von Frankenstein in FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and its sequel.


Then there's the requisite comic relief play swimmingly smooth by Ted Healy as the American reporter who is instrumental in bringing Gogol down. Interesting side bar...The Three Stooges got their start with Healey. They were originally known as Ted Healey and His Stooges.


Another character that you can't miss is the brilliant cinematography by Chester Lyons and Gregg Toland but I suspect it's Freund's German influence as a DP for Fritz Lang and F.W. Murnau that really set the look. The German expressionism that was so prevalent in the 20s and 30s is certainly one of the stars of this picture. Wow!


It's really something what the right artists and talent can do with such a base story. Man loves woman. Woman is married. Husband loses hands to be replaced by the wife's obsessor. Hands belonged to a murderer. Hands feel the urge to kill. Bam. That's about it. Again, Lorre does a convincing job of a man obsessed spiraling out of control in his own neurosis. And when he's finally over the edge, no one is safe.

Gee. D'ya think George Luca$ was inspired by this for THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK?

THE SPOILERS OF ORLAC......

The climax of the film finds Yvonne trapped in Gogol's study. Gogol mistakes her for the lifelike wax figure he purchased when Yvonne's stage show ended. She's frightened as hell and ultimately blows her cover. Gogol's delusional at this point and, after she's taunted him, he snaps and goes to strangle her. She falls in his arms limp from fainting. He lays her down on the sofa and then, very slowly, takes her long braided hair and attempts to strangle her, tightening with each slow turn until her breath has all but left her. That was one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time and it happened 74 years ago. Wow.

END OF SPOILERS...YARRRRRRR!


Nice. I had really hoped for the bleak ending but, as this is Hollywood circa 1935 where happy endings were all the rage, I didn't get one. Still, it's a great flick that deserves to be seen. Find it. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better way to spend an hour and eight minutes. Well...a-hem...almost.