User Reviews

Gloomy and atmospheric French variation on "Faust" and "The Monkey's Paw", brought to a higher level thanks to the stylish direction of Maurice Tourneur. If that surname rings a bell, you are probably familiar with the work of his more famous - and even more talented - son, Jacques Tourneur. When Tourneur Sr. Released "La Main Du Diable", his son Jacques already directed some of the best horror movies in history, like "Cat People" and "I Walked with a Zombie". Nevertheless, Maurice is a respectable craftsman as well, as made abundantly clear by this effort.

Desperate and unsuccessful painter Roland Brissot buys an extremely cheap talisman - a sealed box - from a sneaky Italian restaurant owner, hoping it'll bring him luck and the love of the beautiful Irene who brutally rejected him. Miraculously, Brissot's left hand (although he's right-handed) suddenly paints the most astounding artworks. Under the pseudonym of Maximus Léo, he becomes an acclaimed artist with Irene by his side as the worshiping wife. Life is like a dream for exactly one year, and then a mysterious little old man in black shows up ...

What I mainly like about "La Main du Diable" is how it resembles those brilliant expressionist horror classics from Germany during the early 1920s. Particularly the narrative structure and the dazzling climax seem to come straight out of his wondrous period. The most powerful (and uncanny) moments from the film come near the end, when Brissot confronts 7 men with terrifying masks at a diner table. They all turn out to be previous "owners" of the talisman, and share their stories. The moral is always the same: be careful what you wish for, and greed will bring any man down.

A hotel in the Alps is filled with guests after an avalanche left them stranded. Roland Brissot walks out of the snow with a fake left hand and a box. The police comes looking for someone fitting his description. The lights go out and Roland's box goes missing. The other guests are suspicious of him. He recounts his story starting from a year ago. He's a failing painter with girl trouble. He's offered a talisman which would fulfill his gift.

This is a French horror film titled La main du diable. It's basically the monkey paw horror story. Losing a hand is interesting. I like the general concept and its history. I don't really like paying back the money which seems to require some math work. I still like passing it from one person to the next. It's an interesting spin on this horror story.

I'm a sucker for Faustian stories, and this one is such a delight. It has an Expressionistic, visual flair to it with charming special effects, and I was impressed that it was made in 1943. It's not a leap to believe that Maurice Tourneur saw in this story a symbol of Vichy France.

The story has been told with so many variations over the years, some before this film but so many more afterwards that it may not feel all that fresh. In fact, it may feel a little like a (very good) 80 minute Twilight Zone episode. I liked how it zipped along with great pace, but managed to get in little bits of humor in along the way, i.e. The painter saying this about the airs he put on: "I cultivated my sloppiness, wore a new dirty shirt each day, carefully mussed my hair and spouted dazzling theories," or the crowd clamoring at the open bar at the gallery opening. I also liked the characterizations of the devil ('le petit homme,' Palau) and the struggling painter (interestingly also derided by his girlfriend as a 'little man,' Pierre Fresnay). Showing the history of the seductive power of the disembodied hand, with the recurring elements of never being satisfied and ultimate ruin, was also a wonderful, symbolic touch.

How many movies feature a character who sells his soul to the devil?Since "Faust",a lot!From "la beauté du diable" (René Clair,1949) to "Rosemary's baby"(Polanski,1968),from "Angel Heart" (Alan Parker,1987)to "the devil's advocate"(1997) and "the seventh gate" (Polanski again,1999).And it's far from being over..

"La main du diable " is one of the best.Maurice Tourneur constantly creates strange atmospheres:first,in an isolated inn,where,during the dinner,the lights go out.Then the hero ,Roland (Pierre Fresnay) begins to tell his tale during a very long flashback:he was a poor artist whose paintings did not sell,and one day he bought a mysterious hand ,a talisman:it's an overnight triumph.But who is this little man,always harassing him?Did Roland gain the world and lose his soul?

To reveal more would be a spoiler:I want to point out a marvelous scene,one of the strongest of the fantastic cinema:he invokes all the former owners of the hand.They all appear together,masked,in front of a long table.They are a very long chain in space and in time:this innovative sequence might have influenced Mickael Powell and Eric Pressburger for "a matter of life and death"(stairway to heaven)(1946)

Like father,like son:Maurice's son Jacques (Jack) will be also a master of fear,as "cat people" (1942,avoid the remake!)testifies.

A few years ago I was attracted to the work of French filmmaker Maurice Tourneur, after reading his IMDb profile. I already knew that his film «La Main du Diable» had a cult following, and that he was the father of Jacques Tourneur, the famous director of «Cat People», «I Walked with a Zombie», and «Out of the Past», but I had no idea of his own prestige and importance in the history of cinema.

During the silent film period, Maurice Tourneur was as popular as David W. Griffith and Thomas Harper Ince, and his movies had a strong influence due to their visual design refinement. I am yet to see his version of James Fenimore Cooper's «Last of the Mohicans» (1920), selected to the National Film Registry by the US Congress, but I have already seen his adaptations of Maurice Maeterlinck's «The Blue Bird» (1918, also selected to the National Film Registry), and Joseph Conrad's «Victory» (1919).

I have just finished watching «La Main du Diable», a French production made during the last stage of his career, when he returned to France, tired of the commercialism of the Hollywood films. Connections are often made between Nazi occupation in France and certain films that are or seem to be allegories of this state of things, as Carné's «Les Visiteurs du Soir», or Clouzot's «Le Corbeau», so I would not be surprised if there are analysis linking «La Main du Diable» to Nazi presence in French territory.

If it's true that this reading is possible and plausible, that is fine, but the film is fascinating as it is, a moral tale with elements of fantasy and subtle horror: in an Alpine hotel, the boring confinement of a group of travelers trapped by an avalanche, brightens up with the sudden arrival of a nervous man, with a stump and a small box under his arm. After the box is stolen during a blackout, the travelers become a captive audience (as we, the spectators), listening to the man as he tell his story, from being a luckless painter, to buying a sinister talisman that brought him fame, love and fortune, and being cheated by the Devil.

The story of course is similar to other cinematic pacts with the Devil, as those made by Faust, the Prague student, Jabez Stone in «The Devil and Daniel Webster», the phantom of the Paradise theater, the investigator in «Angel Heart», or the young lawyer in «The Devil's Advocate», among others. But Tourneur, as Murnau in his «Faust», fascinates us with his visual reading of Gérard de Nerval's novel, and creates a glowing monochromatic world of oblique lines, shadows, masks, and an affable little Devil, played by a smiling old man who, behind the appearance of a helpless civil servant, hides his treacherous essence.

The film is a well-mounted clockwork that reaches its expected conclusion with the same punctuality the Devil demands of his creditors. If by chance it crosses your path, don't miss «La Main du Diable», a work that only asks for 78 minutes of your time.

One-handed Pierre Fresnay comes to a second-rate inn on the Franco-Italian border. The guests are suspicious as he tells the story of how he bought a hand from the Devil, a hand that turned him into the greatest painter of the age. He bought it cheap, but he had to sell it to someone else before the Devil came for his soul, and for every day that passed, the price would double. By the time he looked up from his triumphs, who could buy this hand that would turn its bearer into the greatest in his chosen field?

Maurice Turneur had been directing for 30 years by this point, and his silent work was filled with glorious, painterly images. Here he is working in black and white, but his monochrome images are startling in their limning, and the story and performances peerless.

Down on his luck and trying to change it, a man acquires a cursed hand said to accomplish that and finds it to come true, only for the devilish owner of the hand to appear to him looking to collect on the final aspect of the deal.

Overall, this was a very puzzling effort as there's some great stuff here and some really troubling stuff. The troubling stuff is off to a start right away, as the main gimmick of this is that it's supposed to be the lead recounting his story to the group in a remote mountain lodge, yet it takes a good while to start off the story-telling which really throws the pacing to this one all over the place. Rather than be introduced to everything quite quickly, the dragged-out pace early on makes the first half seem quite overlong as it sets up his new lifestyle change and the resulting situations that spring from that. After that, it gets a lot better when the Satanic angle finally gets played and that sets off a lot of good stuff, from being tormented by the ever-increasing amount needed to end it all to the string of luck that comes to an end through his meddling is all in good fun, and when that gets to the finale with the assembled owners in masks recounting their fates, it's when this one really gets going and delivers some fun. All in all, it's problematic but not too bad.

Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence.

A desperate man escapes into a crowded inn in the French Alps and tells the hungry guests his story which the movie reveals as an extended flashback to his days in Paris as a failing artist who seemingly sells his soul to the devil to gain a mysterious left hand (a talisman) from a chef who was only too eager to get rid of it. Once in possession of the hand, the woman he has courted, who had (appropriately) worked in a shop selling gloves, accepts his marriage proposal after previously cruelly rejecting him as a talentless loser. Told in a film full of expressionistic sets, the story captures so many significant and fascinating details in the settings and the various characters, everyone of whom plays parts that interweave remarkably well to make up what must be considered a real classic.

Undoubtedly an interesting film from Maurice Tourneur and made the same year his son was in the US making Cat People. The father about 70 when he made this made mostly silent films, the sound ones coming in his later years and to make things more difficult this would have been in occupied France. For me it seems too arch, his style clearly rooted in the silent era there is a tendency for slow methodical explanation and a certain amount of repetition. In an otherwise amazing scene towards the end, we see the chain of people that have been involved in the deals with the devil and it seems incredible today that we would have to go through every single one's story. All the subtlety of his son's film making is missing here and whilst as I say it is interesting to see it can seem like a long 80 minutes.

Painter Pierre Fresnay (Brissot) arrives at a secluded mountainside hotel that has been cut off by an avalanche. He carries a box with him and has a rather unpleasant attitude which alienates him from the other guests there. The police may or may not be on his tail as they arrive to ask about a man they have been chasing. When his box is stolen by supernatural forces, he decides it is best to come clean and tell his tale. We are then thrown into a flashback story that explains his life and how he came to have this box, and what its significance is as well as what is inside. It's a story of selling your soul to the devil and things come to an end at this mountainside hotel.

It's a good film that keeps you gripped. Fresnay is thoroughly dislikable at the beginning of the film but due to his predicament he wins you over and you understand why he is this way. A small man in a bowler hat, Palau, seems to follow him around. His appearances keep the tension going as he can change fortune but not necessarily in a good way. Fresnay has this box that gives him instant success, wealth, love, etc but it comes at a cost. His love interest is Josseline Gael (Irene) who is pretty straight-talking and whose behaviour also seems influenced by whether or not Fresnay has the box. Her real life story is interesting as she was married to a member of the French Gestapo and was jailed the following year to this film being made. She was subsequently stripped of her French citizenship whilst her husband was executed by a firing squad in 1946.

An annoyance at the beginning of the film is that everyone speaks too quickly so that you just about have time to read the subtitles let alone look at the picture of the actor's faces speaking the lines at the same time. It can be frustrating. You need to accustom yourself to this and then things get OK. The plot's theme is interesting and there are good sequences including a line-up of masked men, all previous owners of the box, who have a brief tale to tell. Fresnay's ability comes from painting with his left hand and he signs his name as Maximus Leo. Is this name significant? Yes it is.

What would you do if your debt kept doubling everyday and the debtor required payback? Easy, go to the bank and get a loan. Not sure why Fresnay didn't do that. But, then again, the devil doesn't play fair, so would probably conjure up a bank shortfall on that day. Maybe the best thing is to just enjoy the success you've got while it lasts. Fresnay fights back.

Really good film. The concept of the film is very interesting and well developed, the film moves very quickly and kept me interested untill the end. But for me the coolest thing about it is the portrayal of the devil, Palau gave him such charisma that i almost found myself cheering for him.

Director became well known for making 40's low budget horror films with producer George Pal. Some very good.

This French film is at times questionable in story line and never edgy or stylish. Subtitles at times impossible to read. Best scene is the lead's dog deciding he wants out. As weak a devil as you'd never want fits right in with the garbage paintings seen as great art. Pretty much a bad paint by numbers attempt at good vs. Evil.

A well done, very imaginative story, variations of which have been done many times, but not with the style and touch of a Tourneur. Both father and son had made quality pictures enriching the lives of moviegoers for decades, and here is another. Jumping ahead a few years for a comparison, "Carnival Of Sinners" is like a feature-length 'Twilight Zone' TV show, but you would have to see this picture to appreciate how far superior it is.

Brissot(Pierre Fresnay) is a painter unsuccessful in most everything he attempts - until he buys a 'talisman', a hand in a box from someone glad to get rid of it. Of course, the hand is cursed. The film starts at the end as he is relating his tale to a group at a mountain resort, and from thereon the story is as gripping as it is bizarre, and there is no letup. I don't summarize movie plots in reviews (I leave that to all other contributors), but this picture is an edge-of-your-seat story throughout its 78 minutes, which fly by.

Very surprising to think that there are only 5 other reviews and only 394 ratings for such a terrific picture. Congratulations to TCM for dusting this one off. I am always delighted when I can see a great movie I hadn't seen before - and done with such style and competence. But with the Tourneur name on it I should have expected same.

When a mysterious one-handed man shows up at an inn in a small town in the mountains of France, carrying a box and looking for the graveyard...the curious locals pressure him to explain himself.

Though, they might not be ready for the story they are about to hear.

He recounts the tale of how he came to acquire a certain talisman...an animate disembodied hand...that can make all the dreams of those in it's possession come true.

Prior to becoming endowed with the hand, he was a struggling painter that was trying to woo the girl of his dreams.

Then he came across a chef, who was eager to get rid of this cursed object.

For the cost of a penny, both the object, and the curse, were transferred onto him.

And everything was great...at first...

He became a renown painter, and got the girl of his dreams.

But there was a catch. There's always a catch when you play games with the devil...

He needed to sell the hand to another person, before the year was up...and he must do so for less than he acquired it for.

And considering he bought it for a penny...there's no way he could possibly sell it for less...so he's stuck...his eternal soul at risk of becoming the property of the devil.

When the time came around, he retained possession of the talisman...missing the sell by date.

So the devil shows up to confront him...and offer him a couple ways to get out of the deal.

The options are, that he can either take his penny back and return the talisman, or give the devil the soul of his girlfriend in exchange for his own freedom.

He almost takes the first deal...but backtracks at the last second...knowing full well that for each extra day that he retains possession of it...his debt will double.

It's not until 23 days later that he breaks down and wants to get rid of the thing...but by this point he owes over 200,000 francs...and can't get to the bank because it's a saturday, and it's closed.

This means that by the time he will be able to access money...he will owe over 800,000 francs...and he simply does not have those kind of funds.

So he starts to lose his mind.

Luckily for him, an Angel intervenes, telling him to travel to a casino in Nice to play roulette.

He does, but loses all his money...though he was given one final piece of advice...which is now his last chance for redemption.

He must go a specific hotel during Carnival, and talk to the masks.

The masks turn out to be the other one-handed men who had took possession of the talisman before him.

A musketeer, a master forger, a juggler, a magician, a boxer, and finally the chef, who sold it to him.

They agree to help him break the chain of the curse, so he can beat the devil at his own game.

But this isn't enough to trick the devil...that is...until the original owner of the hand shows up to put him in his place.

Now, in order to break the curse, he must connect the beginning of the chain to it's end, by reuniting the hand with it's rightful owner...in his tomb.

Only this can save his soul from eternal damnation.

But, the devil isn't going to go down without a fight...

This film is such a trip...or, well, a bad trip, at least.

But everything about it is great.

Being French, it has much more of an arthouse vibe than do the Hollywood films of the same era.

And the whole thing has a psychedelic vibe to it.

It's probably the best film from the 40's I've ever seen.

9 out of 10.

The tragic and ill-fated Gérard de Nerval left a small but highly regarded body of poetry but it was as a superlative storyteller that he was first perceived by his contemporaries. He had already published a much praised translation of Goethe's 'Faust' and his short story 'La Main enchantée' is a variation on the 'Faustian pact' theme. It has been adapted for film by Jean-Paul le Chanois. To say it is a 'loose' adaptation is an understatement and le Chanois has interpolated snippets from popular Breton tales told to him by his grandmother.

This is undeniably the best of the five films made by Maurice Tourneur under the aegis of Continental Films, created by Herr Goebbels to distract the French public from the minor annoyance of the Occupation. From the very earliest Monsieur Tourneur's films were noted for their pictorial qualities and he employed his astonishing visual sense most effectively in themes of mystery and fantasy. The air of menace that pervades this piece is due to the Expressionist lighting. His cinematographer here is the legendary Armand Thirard whilst the editing by Christian Gaudin (strangely uncredited) maintains the tension. The sets are by Andrej Andrejew, one of the finest scenic designers of German Expressionism. By all accounts, due to the indisposition of the director, it was the assistant director Jean Devaivre, who was responsible for the wonderfully imagined sequence that gave the film its alternative title of 'Carnival of Sinners'.

This film has been seen by some as an allegory of the pact made between Hitler and Pétain and the Devil here, as played by the diminuitive, bowler-hatted Pierre Palau, is a thoroughly prosaic and unpleasant personage who might easily pass as an official of the Vichy regime. This of course is open to interpretation.

The cast is headed by Pierre Fresnay who was to shine the same year in Clouzot's masterpiece 'Le Corbeau', a thinly disguised allegory that got its director into all sorts of trouble. Fresnay is joined again by Noel Roquefort and Pierre Larquey. A small and uncredited role is played by the excellent Louis Salou, moving up the ranks and just three years before his signature role as Comte de Montray in 'Les Enfants du Paradis'. Fresnay's feverish and intense performance as the doomed painter frantically trying to save his soul is magnetic, even by his standards and it is to be regretted that this brilliant artiste, despite being a decorated hero in the previous war, was never able to shake off the stigma of alleged but never proven collaboration. His leading lady in this is Josseline Gael who was to pay a far higher price for her ill-advised horizontal collaboration with a member of the French Gestapo whilst still legally married to actor Jules Berry.

Maurice Tourneur died in 1961, having been forced to retire from filming in 1949 following the loss of a limb in a motor accident. In a career spanning thirty-six years his output is bound to have been variable but he remains one of Cinema's great visual stylists. His son Jacques, in his films for RKO in the 1940's, proved a worthy successor.

A near masterpiece almost forgotten for the past, this french movie made by still obscure to me Jacques Tourner's father, an astonishing dark tale about devil's endless agreements with some people end up with a untalented painter who try everything to pay the Devil without success, told by flashback with utmost wealth of details since the beginning, when you realize this sorrowful Devil's prey there is no future come out an unexpected final, striing example how make a great movie on a tight budge,supported by a perceptive screemplay this gem should be object of study for news filmakers such innovating and stylized story!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9.5

This is a movie that I discovered when looking for horror films from 1943. It took me a bit to find and had to watch it through the Criterion Channel. When confirming that this was the right movie, I noticed that last name of the director, Tourneur. It turns out that Maurice is the father of Jacques, a director that I've been watching more of their works as of late. Other than that, I came into this one blind.

Synopsis: Roland Brissot (Pierre Fresnay) bought a talisman for a nickel that gives him love, fame and wealth. The talisman is a severed left hand and it works perfectly. Of course, nothing is free in this world and after one year, the devil comes and asks for his dues.

We start this with a great shot of picturesque mountains. Nestled in them is a cabin. This seems like a resort. There is buzz here as the roads leading in and out are blocked. Volunteers are asked to help. I should point out that these are the Alps close to Italy.

A stranger then arrives. He only has one hand. This turns out to be Roland. Since coming in, his presence draws attention. He also has a package with him. There are gunshots and then the police show up as well, looking for someone dressed in all black. The lights go out and when they come back on, Roland is upset that his package has been stolen. He then tells us the story of what led him here.

Roland is a painter. He is struggling, but his girlfriend has faith in him. Her name is Irène (Josseline Gaël). She takes his works to sell it. There are events where Roland encounters a man who is trying to sell a box. Inside is the severed hand from the synopsis. He cannot give it away and it must always be sold at a loss. Without thinking much of it, Roland buys it. That night he blacks out, paints with his left hand and it turns out to be his best work.

It is from here that he is a success. There is a gallery opening and things are looking up for Roland. He keeps the hand in the box. We see an interesting scene where with only his left hand, he wraps the box in paper and ties it up. This amazes Irène. Roland also sees this small man that is dressed nice with a hat. No matter where Roland goes, he sees him. This guy even comes to the gallery opening. It is then that he reveals his identity. He lays out the rules of the hand. Roland's soul belongs to this man. There is no way for Roland to sell it for less than what he bought it for.

The terms then become, for every day from here out that he has it, the item doubles in value. If he gives up, he loses everything. If decides to keep it, then the deal stays the same. The stress of this decision weighs on him and the devil is truly in the details as well.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is that I didn't realize what type of story we'd get here. This feels like classic with being almost a variation on Faust. I did see this is based on a novel so I'm taking it that this used the premise to do its own thing. There are also vibes of the Monkey's Paw. This talisman brings you material things and being happy, but just at what cost.

This premise is where I'll go then. I'm taking that before Roland obtained this talisman, he was a struggling artist. It looks like he has talent, he just hadn't found his place that would allow him to take off. When he buys this item, he does it just on a whim. I don't think he believes that it will do anything. There is an interesting concept to explore. Does this item have power of is it in his head? It made me think of things like Space Jam when Michael Jordan comes up with the idea of the secret drink to give them confidence. Having this item could be giving Roland this confidence. It is shaken when this guy comes, claiming to be who he is and that payment is due. This could be the event to shake his confidence. He then worries about money and lashes out at Irène. I like that this could all be in his head. Or may have struck up a deal with the devil, giving him what he needed to succeed.

Now there is a religious angle here. Roland has an experience or a dream of sorts where he meets the other owners of this item. They all meet different ends. The origin of the hand is revealed and it belonged to a monk. There is an interesting loophole here that I don't love. It does fit in line though with the idea that you can't enter an agreement on false pretenses. Heck, there is a commentary here on reading the fine print before agreeing. It does feel like something like Bedazzled could be borrowing elements from this novel as well. What also works, there is a way to read it that Roland's success comes from confidence and that there are not supernatural elements. This is him continuing to reconcile in his head. Personally, I think his deal and everything happened. I just like that there is an argument against it that I don't think is wrong either.

I'm not sure if there is more that I can go into for the story so then over to the acting. Fresnay is good as our lead. I like that at first, he doesn't believe. It isn't until he is stressed about being able to pay off his deal and when that is taken, he panics. The stress gets to him which is good. That raises tension. Gaël works as his counterpart. What I like is that she seems madly in love with him before he is successful. When he's made it and he is deciding what to do, she does subtle things with her character that makes you think if Roland gives up the item, he loses her. Their arch together is heartbreaking. I'd also credit Palau here. He plays this villainous character in a way where you don't know if he is who he says. He isn't over the top and he just plants seeds of doubt. I was a fan there. I'd say that the rest of the cast works with them to push Roland to where he ends up.

Then all that is left is filmmaking. I did have a slight issue with the story starting. It took me about the first 15 minutes to settle in. Once I figured out what we were doing, I went for the ride. This has good cinematography so that helps. I love when Roland is seeing this man everywhere and it makes him nervous. It almost feels like It Follows may have borrowed this idea. The man is just non-descriptive which adds to it. There aren't the need for effects here. No issues with what we get. I like the look of this severed hand. I'd also say that the soundtrack fits for what was needed without standing out as well.

In conclusion, this is an interesting little story. It's basic in its plot. This man buys an item that might give him luck to succeed. It could also be in his head where he now has the confidence due to purchasing it. What helps there is the acting of Fresnay. I'd say it is him and the rest of the cast are solid. This is a well-made movie. The cinematography would lead the way there. This is one that I'd recommend to fans of this era of cinema. It doesn't do anything great, but I like the ride that it took me on. Be advised that this is from France and from the 1940s.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Carnival of Sinners (1943)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Excellent French horror film from director Maurice Tourneur about a talentless painter (Pierre Fresnay) who is given the opportunity to buy a mysterious chest and with it a certain power that will bring greatness and fame. It doesn't take long for the painter to realize that he's actually sold his soul to the Devil and he must try and find a way to get it back. I had never heard of this film until it recently was shown on Turner Classic Movies and afterwards I really couldn't wait to tell others about it. It's really hard to believe that this movie isn't better known because it's certainly one of the best horror films from this period that manages to hold up extremely well and it remains quite creepy. The story of one's soul being sold isn't exactly original but director Tourneur does a masterful job at showing how one could go crazy trying to figure out a way to gain his soul back. I really loved the way the film drew you into the greatness that would come with fame and riches and it also did a great job at showing how difficult it would be to give this stuff up. The film is quite thoughtful in the way it shows the highs and lows of this mysterious box and the finale is just downright chilling to watch. Fresnay is terrific in his role, which requires him to act out various emotions throughout the picture. I thought the actor did a fantastic job and especially during the scenes where he begins to realize the mistake he's made. The supporting cast is equally strong as well. The film has some wonderful cinematography and the use of shadows is quite impressive. CARNIVAL OF SINNERS shows what a talented director can do to a familiar story and in the end this here is certainly one of the better films of the genre and deserves much more attention.

Most excellent story of dealing with the dark forces and all it entails told from the French point of view and in their language. The devil cannot win but he has the ability to manipulate and falsify reality to a point. Those that play along are his prey while the innocent are under the protection of God almighty whose permission must be given now a days for the devil to do anything. It is also interesting to note how cheap a mans soul can be bought for. It is traded for tangible, temporary earthly gains that after one acquires them are meaningless after a while as depicted in every story using this theme. They also take on the same requests: Money, power, fame, women, excesses and the like. However you can have or not all that for free especially in America! Why trade your soul for the shortcut? I am always reminded of drug dealers who made fortunes living in obscurity in foreign places in mansions with all the toys. They will do anything to have what respectable people have but never achieving respectability by the way they do it. The devils deal? 80 years or so of pleasures here & now in return for giving up eternity with God? Who in their right mind would make that deal? The movie starts out slowly but it is necessary to set the hook. Then, you are transfixed as the story unfolds. The ending does not let you down either. Bon Appetit.

The macabre French horror parable LA MAIN DU DIABLE was released in the U. S in 1947 under that title (a more direct translation would be: The Devil's Hand). Loosely based on a short story by Gerard de Nerval, it's essentially a variation on the Faustian bargain legend where a person sells their soul in exchange for earthly success and riches. (one of de Nerval's earliest credits is translating Goethe's Faust)

The soul seller here is a failed painter, Roland (GRAND ILLUSION's Pierre Fresnay), who becomes the toast of the Paris art scene when he buys a talisman from a once successful chef. When the devil pays him a visit its time to pay the piper. Called just "the little man" here, he is played by one-name actor Palau with an impish cackle (Palaou appeared in the classic CHILDREN OF PARADISE and his last film was the cult movie THE KING OF HEARTS).

What distinguishes CARNIVAL from so many similar projects is the detailed manner in which both the bargain, and the consequences are laid out. Director Maurice Tourneur gives the film a foreboding atmosphere and the highlight is an expressionistic dinner sequence. The film was shot by Armand Thirard (DIABOLIQUE, WAGES OF FEAR). Tourneur's son, Jacques directed famed horror films such as CAT PEOPLE and CURSE OF THE DEMON (another devil's pact classic).