Post by Calenture on Oct 22, 2009 11:32:25 GMT
Determined to spice this forum up to give people a break from FC 5 updates, here's one I made a lot earlier:
Click the image for the slideshow.
Robert Alda - Bruce Conrad
Andrea King - Julie Holden
Peter Lorre - Hilary Cummins
Victor Francen - Francis Ingram
J. Carrol Naish - Commissario Ovidio Castanio
Charles Dingle - Raymond Arlington
John Alvin - Donald Arlington
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), based on William Fryer Harvey's short story, was made into a slightly self-conscious but still entertaining and now-classic film by director Robert Florey. The screenplay was by Kurt Siodmak who himself wrote a classic novel of horror/SF, Donovan's Brain - which is probably a rare find now, but well worth tracking down (my copy is an ex-library hardback found in the 'eighties). The short story by W. F. Harvey was first published in the New Decameron. The original music score was composed by Max Steiner, best known for his music for the original King Kong.
Starring in the film of course, the brilliant Peter Lorre who played astrologer Hilary, driven mad by the thought of the impending loss of his library following his one-handed employer's death. Despite the mentioned self-consciousness, I think the film is probably an improvement on the story, with the hand being a figment of the demented Lorre's imagination. Lorre's performance is magical and chilling, haunted by the hand as it scuttles behind books like a fat spider or inches across a table top.
Click on the image of the web page above or the poster below to view the slideshow at one of my sites-in-progress, this one hosted by Black Apple. Please note, that many of the links on the web page don't yet work, but the slideshow should. Here's hoping anyway.
Click the image for the slideshow.
Robert Alda - Bruce Conrad
Andrea King - Julie Holden
Peter Lorre - Hilary Cummins
Victor Francen - Francis Ingram
J. Carrol Naish - Commissario Ovidio Castanio
Charles Dingle - Raymond Arlington
John Alvin - Donald Arlington
The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), based on William Fryer Harvey's short story, was made into a slightly self-conscious but still entertaining and now-classic film by director Robert Florey. The screenplay was by Kurt Siodmak who himself wrote a classic novel of horror/SF, Donovan's Brain - which is probably a rare find now, but well worth tracking down (my copy is an ex-library hardback found in the 'eighties). The short story by W. F. Harvey was first published in the New Decameron. The original music score was composed by Max Steiner, best known for his music for the original King Kong.
Starring in the film of course, the brilliant Peter Lorre who played astrologer Hilary, driven mad by the thought of the impending loss of his library following his one-handed employer's death. Despite the mentioned self-consciousness, I think the film is probably an improvement on the story, with the hand being a figment of the demented Lorre's imagination. Lorre's performance is magical and chilling, haunted by the hand as it scuttles behind books like a fat spider or inches across a table top.
Click on the image of the web page above or the poster below to view the slideshow at one of my sites-in-progress, this one hosted by Black Apple. Please note, that many of the links on the web page don't yet work, but the slideshow should. Here's hoping anyway.
