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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 816

The Hands of Orlac

192498 minAustriaGermany
HorrorFantasyScience fictionDrama

Synopsis

A concert pianist survives a railway accident but learns that his replacement hands once belonged to an executed murderer. Unable to recover his musical confidence, he begins to fear that the operation has transferred another man's violent impulses. A killing, a familiar weapon and a stranger's extraordinary claim deepen the uncertainty over whether the danger lies in his body or outside it.

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Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: German.
This copy runs
97:39
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: German. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Robert Wiene · Public domain

Cast

DirectorsRobert Wiene

Inspirations

Robert Wiene adapts Maurice Renard's novel with Conrad Veidt as Orlac. The premise joins a medical fantasy to a psychological mystery about identity, suggestion and the ownership of one's actions.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

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