La Bête aux cinq doigts

Original title: The Beast with Five Fingers

1946
Approved
1h 28m

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

3.2K

YOUR RATING

Peter Lorre, Robert Alda, and Andrea King in La Bête aux cinq doigts (1946)

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2 Videos

56 Photos

Drama Horror Mystery Romance Thriller

In a turn-of-the-century Renaissance Italian mansion, its tyrannical owner, a wheelchair-bound one-handed pianist with a strong belief in the occult is murdered.In a turn-of-the-century Renaissance Italian mansion, its tyrannical owner, a wheelchair-bound one-handed pianist with a strong belief in the occult is murdered.In a turn-of-the-century Renaissance Italian mansion, its tyrannical owner, a wheelchair-bound one-handed pianist with a strong belief in the occult is murdered.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

3.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos2

Trailer 2:02

Trailer

Trailer 2:02

The Beast with Five Fingers

Trailer 2:02

The Beast with Five Fingers

Photos56

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The piece of piano music played by Francis Ingram (Victor Francen) and later, his disembodied left hand, is the "Bach Chaconne in D Minor," as arranged to be played by the left hand alone by Johannes Brahms. It was selected by Max Steiner because the story required a piece of music that could be performed by a pianist with only his left hand, and Steiner, who was born in Vienna and whose family were friendly with Brahms, rather than composing his own original piece, immediately recognized its potential in underscoring such a grim tale. Legendary Hungarian-American pianist Ervin Nyiregyhazi performed the music played by the severed hand.

Goofs
The Commissario says he has found fingerprints less than a day old. Normally there is no way to date fingerprints.

Quotes
Francis Ingram: Hilary, do you know why you are here?
Hilary Cummins: No, I don't . Some anniversary perhaps?
Francis Ingram: No, no such thing. I merely want your testimony... that I am not insane. It's very important to me to be certain that not one of you thinks I am of unsound mind. Bruce, you are an artist, a musician, You've been with me a long time. You've been with me constantly; therefore you are in a position to speak. Are you convinced that there is nothing wrong with... with my mental balance?
Conrad Ryler: Your mental balance is equal to mine, and while I consider that a tribute to your sanity, there are certain people in San Stefano who consider me... slightly eccentric. Perhaps they're right.

Connections
Edited from Docteur X (1932)

Soundtracks
Chaconne in D minor BMW 1004
(uncredited)
Composed bt Johann Sebastian Bach
Arranged for the left hand by Johannes Brahms
Pianist Ervin Nyiregyhazi
("Played on the screen by Victor Francen)

User reviews72

Featured review

7/10

The eyes no longer have it...

The Beast with Five Fingers is directed by Robert Florey and jointly written by Curt Siodmak and William Fryer Harvey. It stars Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, J. Carrol Naish, Charles Dingle, John Alvin and David Haffman. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by Wesley Anderson.

Francis Ingram (Francen) is a well regarded pianist who after suffering a stroke leaves him paralysed on one side, chooses to live at an isolated manor in rural Italy. After he calls family and carers together for the reading of his will, tragedy strikes and something sinister begins to stalk the manor house...

Wonderfully weird, a blend of guignol, noir, expressionism and cheese, The Beast with Five Fingers delivers rich rewards for those not expecting a horror masterpiece.

Following the classic "old dark house" formula, plot basically sees the characters introduced, their means and motives deliberately grey, tragedy strikes and then the titular beast of the title comes into play. Cue characters getting bumped off, some shouting, some eerie scenes and then the mystery solved. All of which is set to the backdrop of a typical mansion of many rooms and doors, an imposing staircase and of course a grand piano. Florey stitches it together neatly, Anderson provides some striking photography that embraces shadows and deals in odd angles, while Lorre does yet another film stealing performance involving twitchy weasel like mania.

A stupid tacked on coda soils things a touch, and you really have to have a bent for this type of creaky chiller, but it is great fun and it "pointed" the way for other "beastly hand" tales that followed down the line. 7/10