Les Mains d'Orlac
by Maurice Renardliterary work· published 1920
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Les Mains d'Orlac (English: The Hands of Orlac) is a French science fiction novel written by Maurice Renard. The plot involves a celebrated pianist who loses his hands in a track crash and has them surgically replaced with those of an executed murderer. Soon, the transplanted hands assume the personality of its psychopathic donor. Renard's novel was one of his many science fiction stories he wrote in the early 20th century and was initially published in 58 episodes in L'Intransigeant from May 15, to July 12, 1920. It is among Renard's most popular and most translated novels, and has frequently been translated into films, with the two most popular adaptations being The Hands of Orlac (1924) and Mad Love (1935).
Adaptations (3)
Les Mains d'Orlac has been adapted into 3 films, from 1935 to 1962. The most recent is Hands of a Stranger (1962).
The Hands of Orlac1960 · film · 95 min · dir. Edmond T. Gréville · IMDb ↗IMDb5.6A famed concert pianist's hands are destroyed in a plane crash; when he receives transplants from a recently executed strangler, his murderous new mitts attract the attention of a sleazy illusionist turned blackmailer.
Hands of a Stranger1962 · film · 85 min · dir. Newt Arnold · IMDb ↗IMDb5.2A concert pianist loses his hands in a car crash, but a surgeon gives him new ones. The experimental medical procedure goes awry when the new hands drive the pianist mad.
