The first name people spontaneously think about when referring to films from the silent era is that of Lon Chaney "The Phantom of the Opera", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "The Unholy Three"...). Although he was undeniably brilliant, I personally feel the greatest horror actor from the silent era was Conrad Veidt. Thanks to his legendary roles in "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" and "The Man Who Laughs", Veidt proved (to me, at least) that someone can look ultimately menacing and terrifying without producing a single spoken word. This man's dark and penetrating eyes, as well as his mysterious charisma, represent the oldest form of cinematic horror as far as I'm concerned. For this reason, I put "Orlac's Hände" on my wish list. The story has been made into several different films, including by the Hammer Studios during the sixties, but I desperately wanted to see Veidt in the role of the tormented pianist who, after a terrible accident, receives the hands of an executed murderer via a transplant operation. The hands don't want to play music but still desire to commit vile crimes, or at least Orlac believes they do.
I watched a beautifully restored version of "Orlac's Hände" with a running time of 112 minutes, which is a lot long that the times mentioned here on the website. I'm not sure if any footage, that perhaps once was considered lost, got added. Even though the picture quality is impeccable, and the story utmost fascinating, I can't deny the film should have been 30-40 minutes shorter. Certain scenes, like the footage of the train wreck near the beginning, or some of Orlac's anxiety outbursts last much longer than necessary. Still, Veidt carries the entire film masterfully, and particularly the climax is very tense.
Even in real life, Veidt was a genuine hero, since he despised the upcoming Nazi regime in his home country and refused to work in the business under the dictatorship of Goebbels. He emigrated to the States, where he surely still could have made a great career (he even appeared in "Casablanca") but, sadly, died prematurely from a heart-attack in 1943 at the age of 50.
I watched a beautifully restored version of "Orlac's Hände" with a running time of 112 minutes, which is a lot long that the times mentioned here on the website. I'm not sure if any footage, that perhaps once was considered lost, got added. Even though the picture quality is impeccable, and the story utmost fascinating, I can't deny the film should have been 30-40 minutes shorter. Certain scenes, like the footage of the train wreck near the beginning, or some of Orlac's anxiety outbursts last much longer than necessary. Still, Veidt carries the entire film masterfully, and particularly the climax is very tense.
Even in real life, Veidt was a genuine hero, since he despised the upcoming Nazi regime in his home country and refused to work in the business under the dictatorship of Goebbels. He emigrated to the States, where he surely still could have made a great career (he even appeared in "Casablanca") but, sadly, died prematurely from a heart-attack in 1943 at the age of 50.