A deranged surgeon (Peter Lorre) has an unhealthy obsession with a stage actress (Frances Drake), attending every one of her performances and procuring a life-sized wax statue of her figure. When her pianist husband (Colin Clive) loses his hands in a train accident, the doctor replaces them with those of an infamous, recently executed knife-throwing serial murderer and begins to pursue his beloved. From Marice Renard's short story The Hands of Orlac, Mad Love is an eerie and effective horror film with a silly premise, and an even more preposterous ending. It contains a creepy lead performance by Lorre in his first American film and fine direction by Karl Freund and exquisite cinematography by Gregg Toland.
