Mad Love (1935 film)

Mad Love
Poster
Directed byKarl Freund
Written byJohn L. Balderston
Guy Endore
P.J. Wolfson
Florence Crewe-Jones (translation)
Based onLes Mains d'Orlac
1920 novel
by Maurice Renard
Produced byJohn W. Considine Jr.
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byHugh Wynn
Music byDimitri Z. Tiomkin
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
  • July 12, 1935 (1935-07-12) (U.S.)
  • August 2, 1935 (1935-08-02) (U.K.)
Running time
68 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$403,000[1]

Mad Love (also released as The Hands of Orlac) is a 1935 American body horror film, an adaptation of Maurice Renard's novel The Hands of Orlac. It was directed by German-émigré film maker Karl Freund, and stars Peter Lorre as Dr. Gogol, Frances Drake as Yvonne Orlac and Colin Clive as Stephen Orlac. The plot revolves around Doctor Gogol's obsession with actress Yvonne Orlac. When Stephen Orlac's hands are destroyed in a train accident, Yvonne brings them to Gogol, who claims to be able to repair them. As Gogol becomes obsessed to the point that he will do anything to have Yvonne, Stephen finds that his new hands have made him into an expert knife thrower.

Mad Love was Freund's final directorial assignment and Lorre's American film debut. Critics praised Lorre's acting, but the film was unsuccessful at the box office. Film critic Pauline Kael found the film unsatisfactory, but argued that it had influenced Citizen Kane. Cinematographer Gregg Toland was involved in the production of both films. Mad Love's reputation has grown over the years, and it is viewed in a more positive light by modern film critics, gaining the status of a cult classic.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mank149 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Mad Love, 1935 – Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers".