Mad Love (1935)

"I have conquered science! Why can't I conquer love?", 27 February 2008

Renowned surgeon Dr. Gogol (Peter Lorre) is madly obsessed with an actress named Yvonne Orlac. The feeling, however, is not mutual as Yvonne is married to a pianist named Stephen. When Stephen's gifted and talented hands are crushed in a train wreck, Yvonne begrudgingly seeks Gogol's assistance to save her husband's career. Seeing an opportunity to get in Yvonne's good graces, he agrees to help Stephen. Gogol replaces Stephen's mangled hands with those of a knife throwing murderer only recently put to death. But Gogol's plans for Yvonne backfire when Stephen's new hands prove to have a mind of their own.

Overlooked for far too long (probably because it wasn't part of the Universal packages that so many television stations bought and aired), it's good to finally see Mad Love getting so much richly deserved praise. It's a classic in every sense of the word. There are so many facets to the movie I could write about, but, in the name of brevity, I'll try to control myself and limit my comments to two items. The first is the film's look. Technically, Mad Love is nothing short of brilliant. Director Karl Freund was first and foremost a cinematographer – as Mad Love proves. Freund knew how to shoot a scene. As an example, take a look at the scenes set in the hallway and stairwell of Dr. Gogol's house. They may be insignificant to the overall movie, but you can see the care and effort Freund put into those moments. These scenes are like a painting come to life with their stunningly beautiful mix of light and shadows. Or, take the better known shots of Gogol dressed as the dead knife thrower. Not only are the special effects some of the most frightening of the 30s, the lighting in that scene goes a long way to creating the desired effect. It's an amazing piece of work.

Peter Lorre's performance is the other aspect of Mad Love that jumps out at me. Lorre has always been a favorite of mine, but I consider his work in Mad Love the best he ever did. Lorre does more without words in this movie than most actors would be capable of. For example, Gogol's repressed longing for Yvonne is clearly evident on Lorre's face without him even having to utter a word. Or, take the scenes in the operating room. The slow building madness in Lorre's eyes as the surgery progresses is clearly evident. And once again, Lorre doesn't have to utter a word. I consider Lorre's performance in Mad Love to be one of the best in the annals of horror. Brilliant! And I don't know who came up with the idea of the shaved head to go along with Lorre's bulging eyes, but it was a winner. It only serves to highlight Lorre's already expressive features.

As I indicated previously, if I allowed myself I could write for days on Mad Love. But I won't. I suppose I could end this by mentioning what has to be the most common criticism of Mad Love that I've read – the comic relief. But why let something that insignificant ruin what is otherwise a perfect movie?

10/10