The Beast with Five Fingers backdrop

The Beast with Five Fingers

1947·Mystery·1h 28m
7.1
Locals in an Italian village believe evil has taken over the estate of a recently deceased pianist where murder has taken place. The alleged killer: the pianist's severed hand.
Directed by Robert Florey
murder
pianist
old house
hand
playing piano
severed hand
crawling hand

Cast

Robert Alda
Robert Alda
Bruce Conrad [Conrad Ryler in on-screen end credits]
Andrea King
Andrea King
Julie Holden
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Hilary Cummins
Victor Francen
Victor Francen
Francis Ingram
J. Carrol Naish
J. Carrol Naish
Police Commissario Ovidio Castanio
Charles Dingle
Charles Dingle
Raymond Arlington
John Alvin
John Alvin
Donald Arlington
David Hoffman
David Hoffman
Ingram's Attorney Duprex
Barbara Brown
Barbara Brown
Mrs. Miller
Patricia Barry
Patricia Barry
Clara the Maid
William Edmunds
William Edmunds
Ingram's Servant Antonio
Belle Mitchell
Belle Mitchell
Giovanna the Cook

Crew

Robert Florey
Robert Florey
Director
Curt Siodmak
Curt Siodmak
Screenplay
Max Steiner
Max Steiner
Original Music Composer
Travilla
Travilla
Wardrobe Designer

Popular Reviews

4 reviews
christy
christy
The Beast with Five Fingers
Peter Lorre is absolutely incredible in this and I almost feel like I should rate this higher because of that but I did not like the other characters at all.

The police commissioner was fine, but everyone else either felt boring (Conrad, Julie) or just infuriating (Donald, Donald’s dad). Like genuinely while watching idk why Donald just made me so mad and when his character (spoilers) didn’t get killed I was annoyed because he was just an ass with no real repercussion and I was sick of hearing him speak.

Conrad and Julie were just too bland to connect with. Nothing really special from either of them just very typical b movie. I liked the little bit with Conrad at the start with the tourists but his character just kind of had nothing to him. Like they added the part with him being a composer and how the piece he wrote for Ingrid was the last he could write and etc, it makes you feel like it’ll add to the plot but that information just adds nothing and could of been cut. 

Peter Lorre and the hand though? Fantastic! His descent into madness is so fun to watch and he’s just so enjoyable. I also loved seeing the old special effects with the hand. Really cool to see and I wish it used more of that. I thought the ending was fine and made for some great scenes with him but it would've been cool to see it literally just be an evil hand. Lorre’s character definitely could of had some more substance (like all the other characters imo) specifically with him being an astrologist, but he’s just such a brilliant actor or makes up for it and I’m not really left caring about that. I would watch a cut of this with just him and everyone else cut out and rate it 5 stars even though it would have no coherent plot.
Peter Lorre is absolutely incredible in this and I almost feel like I should rate this higher because of that but I did not like the other characters at all.

The police commissioner was fine, but everyone else either felt boring (Conrad, Julie) or just infuriating (Donald, Donald’s dad). Like genuinely while watching idk why Donald just made me so mad and when his character (spoilers) didn’t get killed I was annoyed because he was just an ass with no real repercussion and I was sick of hearing him speak.

Conrad and Julie were just too bland to connect with. Nothing really special from either of them just very typical b movie. I liked the little bit with Conrad at the start with the tourists but his character just kind of had nothing to him. Like they added the part with him being a composer and how the piece he wrote for Ingrid was the last he could write and etc, it makes you feel like it’ll add to the plot but that information just adds nothing and could of been cut. 

Peter Lorre and the hand though? Fantastic! His descent into madness is so fun to watch and he’s just so enjoyable. I also loved seeing the old special effects with the hand. Really cool to see and I wish it used more of that. I thought the ending was fine and made for some great scenes with him but it would've been cool to see it literally just be an evil hand. Lorre’s character definitely could of had some more substance (like all the other characters imo) specifically with him being an astrologist, but he’s just such a brilliant actor or makes up for it and I’m not really left caring about that. I would watch a cut of this with just him and everyone else cut out and rate it 5 stars even though it would have no coherent plot.
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JudeMav
JudeMav
The Beast with Five Fingers
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Emma
EmmaPRO
The Beast with Five Fingers
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maggie
maggie
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