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La Main du diable
1943 Horror Fantasy
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Credits
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Director: Maurice Tourneur
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Script: Jean-Paul Le Chanois, based on the novel "La Main Enchantée" by Gérard de Nerval
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Photo: Armand Thirard
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Music: Roger Dumas
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Cast: Pierre Fresnay (Roland Brissot),
Josseline Gaël (Irène),
Noël Roquevert (Mélisse),
Guillaume de Sax (Gibelin),
Palau (Le petit homme),
Pierre Larquey (Ange),
André Gabriello (Le dîneur),
Antoine Balpêtré (Denis),
Marcelle Rexiane (Madame Denis),
André Varennes (Le colonel),
Georges Chamarat (Duval),
Jean Davy (Le mousquetaire),
Jean Despeaux (Le boxeur),
André Bacqué (Le moine Maximus Léo),
René Blancard (Le chirurgien),
Jean Coquelin (Le notaire)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 82 min; B&W
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Aka: Carnival of Sinners; The Devil's Hand
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Summary
A man arrives at an isolated mountain inn clutching a small box. The man is panic-struck
when, during a sudden blackout, the box disappears. To the assembled guests at the
inn he tells his tragic story. The man, Roland Brissot, was once a penniless artist
who, one day, bought a talisman from the owner of a restaurant for one franc. The talisman,
a severed hand in a box, immediately transformed Brissot’s life and he became a hugely
successful artist. Then, one day, he receives a visit from a small man in a suit
who tells him that in buying the talisman, he has sold his soul to the Devil...
Review
One of the most chilling fantasy horror films made in France, La Main du diable is
basically just an ingenious variation on the famous Faust legend. In this version,
Faust is a struggling artist (Pierre Fresnay) who buys success at the expense of his soul,
and the Devil is represented by an odious Vichy-style civil servant (Palau). Although
the tale is familiar, the way in which it is filmed is strikingly original and the result
is one of the most chilling and atmospheric French films of the 1940s.
La Main du diable is one of around thirty films made in France at the time of the
Nazi occupation for the Geman-run film company Continental. In spite of German censorship
and limited resources, most of these films have an outstanding quality, with many being
regarded as masterpieces. It is surprising that a film which is as dark and disturbing
as La Main du diable could have been made at this time under such circumstances.
© James Travers 2001
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