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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Little Gem, July 13, 2002
This review is from: Mad Love [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Mad Love is an interesting and well made little picture. You've got Karl Freund,Peter Lorre and Greg Toland all working near their peaks and that alone is something to behold. Another beautiful black and white film, some may want to hold off and see if it hits DVD but VHS is not evil-not like Peter Lorre...Fans of classic cinema (and Citizen Kane in particular as this film influenced a young Welles-he sought out Toland as a collaborator based on his work on this and other films) and the almost always entertaining Lorre should pick this up. Not well known but well worth discovering.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful and unnerving study of obsession!, February 1, 2000
This review is from: Mad Love [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Dr. Gogol is a somewhat bizarre, but brilliant surgeon who is obsessed with the beautiful actress Yvonne. He goes night after night to see her perform in a Grand Guignol-style performance as a victim of sadistic torture. When the theatre is closing for the season, he is upset to hear that Yvonne is not returning as she is married and will be joining her husband. He is able to purchase a wax likeness of her from the theatre and this he keeps and fantasizes over, speaking to it as if it were alive. Yvonne's husband, the famed pianist Stephen Orlac is injured in a train accident and his hands are crushed. Yvonne, wary of Dr. Gogol's attentions, but knowing of his reputation as a surgeon, asks him to help her husband. Dr. Gogol, anxious to do anything to keep the object of his desire close by, agrees. He grafts the hands of the recently guillotined knife-throwing murderer Rollo onto Stephen Orlac. After recovering, Stephen finds that he cannot play the paino as he used to, but his hands do have the ability to wield a kinfe with deadly accuracy, and they seem to have a mind of their own! With bills for therapies piling up, Yvonne and Stephen's life seems to be falling apart. Dr. Gogol sees this as a chance to make Yvonne his own. Peter Lorre gives a stellar turn in this role. We are truly able to see his character's descent into madness. Director Karl Freund's expressionist style makes every frame interesting to look at. Some of the comic relief is a bit over the top, especially the batty maid, but overall a great film, well worth a look.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's all in the hands, June 3, 2006
This review is from: Mad Love [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Fine horror gem starring Peter Lorre doing what he does best: scaring the daylights out of viewers by going over the deep end into madness. He plays a doctor who is in love with Frances Drake, who in turn is married to concert pianist Colin Clive. When Clive loses his hands in a train accident, Lorre gives him new ones - that once belonged to a murderer who specialized in knife-throwing (an idea copied later most memorably in BLACK FRIDAY). Lorre schemes to get rid of Clive by killing Clive's stepfather with a knife and then getting Clive to believe he was the one who did it. It comes close to working, but Drake interferes and when Lorre attempts to strangle her, Clive saves his wife by, yep, tossing a knife right into Lorre. Lorre is perfect in his role, and when he finally snaps and goes into that hysterical laughter - wow! But Drake and Clive are excellent, too, and everything about the production, from the script to the editing, is done with care. Definitely worth a watch.
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