The Hands of Orlac (1924)

The Hands of Orlac (German: Orlacs Hände) is a 1924 Austrian silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina and Fritz Kortner. The film's plot is based on the story Les Mains d'Orlac by Maurice Renard. Wiene had made his name as a director

Directed by Robert Wiene. With Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina, Fritz Strassny, Paul Askonas. A world-famous pianist loses both hands in an accident. When new hands are grafted on, he doesn't know they once belonged to a murderer.

In this classic horror film, based on a novel by Maurice Renard and filmed by Robert Wiene (of Dr. Caligari fame), a world-famous pianist burns his hands in an airplane crash. A mysterious doctor offers to do a transplant and the pianist, his career on the verge of ruin, accepts. After a series of mysterious strangulations occur around him, the pianist beings to suspect the culprit might be his new pair of hands. His search for the donor is impeded as his new appendages slowly drive him insane. This film has been remade countless times, the most successful being the 1954 Mad Love version with Peter Lorre in the lead. ~ Brian Whitener, Rovi

If you’re a lifelong fan of horror movies, and any significant fraction of your childhood fell between the early 1970’s and the mid-1980’s, then there’s an excellent chance that you spent a lot of time poring over the tantalizing text and imagery of Denis Gifford’s A Pictori

An experimental graft gives an injured concert pianist the hands of a murderer.

Demented expressionist horror from the producer of The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, Robert Wiene. Celebrated pianist Conrad Veidt (Cesare in Caligari) loses h...

Trailer for The Hands of Orlac, a silent film from 1924.

The Hands of Orlac (German: Orlacs Hände) is a 1924 Austrian silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene and starring Conrad Veidt, Alexandra Sorina and Fritz Kortner. The film’s plot is based on the story Les Mains d’Orlac by Maurice Renard. Wiene had made his name as a director of Expressionist films such as The Cabinet of Dr.... Read More ›

Orlacs Hände (English language title: "The Hands of Orlac"; French title: "Les Mains d'Orlac") is an Austrian silent film of 1924. This late Expressionist work, produced by Robert Wiene, has been remade twice.

By Jonathan Chin-DavisContinuing their tradition of releasing German Expressionist Silent films, Kino International is releasing this year on DVD Robert Wiene