Beast With Five Fingers

Beast With Five Fingers
by Robert Florey

Beast With Five Fingers
Our Price: $31.03
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases


(Click here)
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada

VHS Tape Cover Information

Actor: Andrea King, J. Carrol Naish, Peter Lorre, Robert Alda, Victor Francen
Director: Robert Florey
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC
Running Time: 89 minutes
Release Date: 1998-09-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: MGM (Warner)
Studio: MGM (Warner)

VHS Movie Reviews of Beast With Five Fingers

Movie Review: Fun stuff.
Summary: 4 Stars

The Beast with Five Fingers (Robert Florey, 1946)

1946 was the last year Peter Lorre worked for Warner Brothers, and his parting from the company was career suicide; while he remains one of the world's most famous actors, endlessly imitated and paid tribute, from his parting with Warner Brothers until his death in 1964, Lorre picked up only the odd film here and there (though some of them are truly excellent) and some TV guest appearances. Thus it is that The Beast with Five Fingers is something of a bittersweet film for the nostalgia buff; it is a great Lorre performance, but it marked the beginning of the end.

Set in the late nineteenth century in northern Italy, The Beast with Five Fingers is the tale of Frances Ingram (Victor Francen), a pianist with a rather motley crew of eccentrics living with him. There's Bruce Conrad (Robert Alda), a smooth con man who's in love with the old pianist's companion/nurse Julie Holden (Andrea King). This wouldn't necessarily be so bad, but read "companion/nurse"as a rough equivalent to "trophy wife" here. Then there's Hilary Cummins (Lorre), a crackpot who's collected a great number of very old books on all sorts of topics while looking for... something, we're never quite sure what. Conrad, con man that he is, is in a state of detente with the local police commissioner, Castano (J. Carrol Naish); they seem to cordially despise one another. Until, that is, the old man finally kicks the bucket, setting off a nasty inheritance battle between Julie and the pianist's blood relations, Raymond (Charles Dingle) and Donald (John Alvin) Arlington. But all of that is beside the point; the real plot here is that the dead pianist's hand was removed, and is now the leading suspect in the murders of some of the inhabitants of the house.

It's your basic potboiler horror flick, really, with the expected silly ending, snatches of overacting, and all the other things that make so many genre horror films cheesy. But the reason to watch the film is Hilary's descent into madness, played to pitch-perfection by Lorre. (Contrasting this with his role in Mad Love is a great way to examine how much effect a good script can have on a movie.) It's otherwise watchable, if a bit dumb, but Lorre's performance raises it above the level it would normally be. *** ?

Horror VHS Video

VHS Video Movies
Movies most talked about in THE IN GLORIOUS BLACK AND WHITE COLLECTION PART 4
Tarzan Finds a Son ImageTarzan Finds a Son
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.24
Price in other shops: $19.98
Three on a Match (1932) ImageThree on a Match (1932)
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $23.95
Four Daughters ImageFour Daughters
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $145.95
Madam Satan ImageMadam Satan
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $79.99
Chain Lightning (1950) ImageChain Lightning (1950)
MGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.50
Horn Blows at Midnight ImageHorn Blows at Midnight
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1993-12-23; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $39.95
Edge of Darkness ImageEdge of Darkness
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1994-12-07; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $43.50
Hold Your Man (1933) ImageHold Your Man (1933)
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $45.00
Boy Meets Girl (1938) ImageBoy Meets Girl (1938)
MGM (Warner); Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $19.98
One Man's Way ImageOne Man's Way
MGM/UA Home Video; Release date: 1998-09-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.94
Price in other shops: $19.98
Similar VHS Movies
The Thing from Another World ImageThe Thing from Another World
Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops: $14.98
Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition) ImageSunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)
Paramount; Release date: 2002-11-26; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $9.98
The Mummy - The Legacy Collection (The Mummy/Mummy's Hand/Mummy's Tomb/Mummy's Ghost/Mummy's Curse) ImageThe Mummy - The Legacy Collection (The Mummy/ Mummy's Hand/ Mummy's Tomb/ Mummy's Ghost/ Mummy's Curse)
Universal; Release date: 2004-10-19; DVD
Best price: $19.40
Price in other shops: $29.98
Mad Love (1935) & The Devil Doll (1936 ImageMad Love (1935) & The Devil Doll (1936
DVD
Best price: $24.83
Hammer Horror Series (Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf / Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac / Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare / Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein) ImageHammer Horror Series (Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf / Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac / Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare / Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein)
Universal; Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $18.49
Price in other shops: $29.98
Fox Horror Classics Collection (The Lodger / Hangover Square / The Undying Monster) ImageFox Horror Classics Collection (The Lodger / Hangover Square / The Undying Monster)
Fox; Release date: 2007-10-09; DVD
Best price: $16.13
Price in other shops: $26.98
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Crawling Hand ImageMystery Science Theater 3000 - The Crawling Hand
Release date: 2002-06-11; DVD
Best price: $10.33
Price in other shops: $19.95
Icons of Horror - Boris Karloff (The Boogie Man Will Get You/The Black Room/The Man They Could Not Hang/Before I Hang) ImageIcons of Horror - Boris Karloff (The Boogie Man Will Get You/ The Black Room/ The Man They Could Not Hang/ Before I Hang)
Sony; Release date: 2006-10-17; DVD
Best price: $6.10
Price in other shops: $24.96
The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday) ImageThe Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)
Release date: 2005-09-06; DVD
Best price: $15.19
Price in other shops: $26.98
Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu) ImageHollywood's Legends of Horror Collection (Doctor X / The Return of Doctor X / Mad Love / The Devil Doll / Mark of the Vampire / The Mask of Fu Manchu)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2006-10-10; DVD
Best price: $22.99
Price in other shops: $39.98
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners