Mad Love1935
“A new, a strange, a gifted personality comes to the screen!”
Directed by Karl Freund
On the charts
🏆 1 nomination
The premise
An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist husband's hands with those of a knife-throwing murderer.
Horror Vault's take
In this pre-Code Grand Guignol gem, Peter Lorre delivers an unforgettably unhinged performance as a brilliant surgeon whose fixation on a beautiful actress drives him to a desperate and grotesque act of transplant surgery. When her pianist husband suffers a catastrophic injury, the doctor sees his chance — but the donor's dark history may have a will of its own. Mad Love revels in expressionist shadows, creeping dread, and a deliciously twisted logic that feels equal parts fairy tale and nightmare. It remains one of Hollywood's most stylish explorations of desire curdling into obsession.
Content: Themes Of Stalking And Obsession, Surgical Body Horror Themes, Depictions Of Execution By Guillotine, Disturbing Psychological Content
Where to stream
Cast
Peter Lorre
Doctor Gogol
Frances Drake
Yvonne Orlac
Colin Clive
Stephen Orlac
Ted Healy
Reagan
Isabel Jewell
Marianne (scenes deleted)
Sara Haden
Marie
Edward Brophy
Rollo
Henry Kolker
Prefect Rosset
Keye Luke
Dr. Wong
May Beatty
Françoise
Ian Wolfe
Henry Orlac, Stephen Orlac's Stepfather
Edward Lippy
Pierre, Henry Orlac's Clerk (Uncredited)
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