This movie is an early horror film classic and certainly one that a well-rounded horror movie aficionado should not miss. An invalid concert pianist dies, leaving a will that does not include his personal secretary Hilary Cummins (Peter Lorre) as a beneficiary. Furious, the left-out yes-man cuts off a hand from the corpse and plots revenge. Unfortunately for Hilary, the hand inherits a life of its own and relentlessly stalks the wild-eyed Lorre as he flees in vain. Special effects keep the audience jumping as they dread the next appearance of this gruesome walking hand. The film is directed by Robert Florey, who also directed Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932).
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) is a horror film directed by Robert Florey and with a screenplay by Curt Siodmak, based on a short story by W. F. Harvey first published in the New Decameron. The original music score was composed by Max Steiner. The film was marketed with the tagline "A sensation of screaming suspense!"
The Beast with Five Fingers was Lorre's last film with Warner Brothers. Siodmak had originally written the film for Paul Heinried who turned it down. The piece much played throughout the film is Brahms' transcription for left hand of the chaconne from Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Partita in D minor, performed by Warner Bros. pianist Victor Aller.
The hands of pianist Ervin Nyíregyházi are shown playing the piano. The film was remade in 1981 by director Oliver Stone as The Hand.
