Mad Love

Doctor Gogol, a celebrated surgeon in Paris, is fixated on Yvonne, an actress in a horror theatre. When her husband, a pianist, loses his hands in a rail crash, Gogol takes the operation and attaches the hands of an executed knife murderer. From then on the man cannot trust his own hands. Karl Freund adapted Maurice Renard's novel and, drawing on his background as a cinematographer, makes shadow almost a character. Peter Lorre plays Gogol in his first Hollywood role, shaving his head and building the character entirely through the body. The way the film welds science fiction to horror was widely imitated afterwards. Who it is for: viewers who like thirties horror classics and Peter Lorre. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace, since it is short and moves heavily.