The Beast with Five Fingers is a horror film directed by Robert Florey and with a screenplay by Curt Siodmak, based on a short story by W. F. Harvey first published in the New Decameron. The original music score was composed by Max Steiner. The film was marketed with the tagline "A sensation of screaming suspense!" Peter Lorre stars in the film, his last with Warner Brothers. Siodmak had originally written the film for Paul Henreid who turned it down. The piece much played throughout the film is Brahms' transcription for left hand of the chaconne from Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Partita... in D minor, performed by Warner Bros. pianist Victor Aller. The hands of pianist Ervin Nyíregyházi are shown playing the piano. The film was remade in 1981 by director Oliver Stone as The Hand. Francis Ingram is a noted pianist who lives in a large manor house near a small, isolated Italian village. Ingram suffered a stroke which left his right side immobile and he has to use a wheelchair to get around. He has retreated to the manor house for the past few years—seen by only a few close friends.
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| Release date: | December 25, 1946 |
| Directed by: | Robert Florey |
| Runtime: | 88 Minutes |
| Producer: | William Jacobs |
| Editor: | Frank Magee |
| Music by: | Max Steiner |
| Screenplay by: | W. F. Harvey, Curt Siodmak |