A famous concert pianist loses his hands in a train accident and undergoes a hand transplant – only to discover that the hands once belonged to a murderer.
Director Robert Wiene and star Conrad Veidt reunited for this film, following the tremendous success of their previous collaboration, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. A wildly different film, The Hands of Orlac is in some ways an under-stated work, given its truly outlandish premise.
At the heart of the film is Conrad Veidt’s phenomenal performance as the conflicted and confused Paul Orlac. If you’ve only ever known Veidt from Caligari or Casablanca, you are in for a treat.
We’re thrilled to present the film with a live piano performance by musician and historian Neil Brand, and the film plays as part of a double-bill with his talk, The Sound of Horror.
