Les Mains d’Orlac (English: The Hands of Orlac) is a French science fiction novel written by Maurice Renard. The plot involves a celebrated pianist who loses his hands in a track crash and has them surgically replaced with those of an executed murderer. Soon, the transplanted hands assume the personality of its psychopathic donor. Renard’s novel was one of his many science fiction stories he wrote in the early 20th century and was initially published in 58 episodes in L’Intransigeant from May 15, to July 12, 1920. The pianist Stephen Orlac suffers a railway accident that gives him serious head injuries and deprives him of his hands. The famous and controversial transplant doctor Cerral gives him new hands, transplanted from an executed murderer. Afterward, Orlac finds the appendages assuming the personality of the donor. He seems to suffer from hallucinations and sinks into depression. His wife attempts to save him, but the couple are caught in a spiral of conspiracy, mystery and crime.
First Appearance Les mains d’Orlac by Maurice Renard serialized in L’Intransigeant (15 May–12 Jul 1920)
First Publisher L’Intransigeant
Appearance List Les mains d’Orlac by Maurice Renard serialized in L’Intransigeant (15 May–12 Jul 1920); Les mains d’Orlac (Éditions Nilsson, book edition, 1920); Orlacs Hände / The Hands of Orlac (silent film, 1924/1925) — Dir. Robert Wiene; The Hands of Orlac (E. P. Dutton, 1929) — translated/adapted by Florence Crewe-Jones; Les mains d’Orlac (Plon, 1933); Mad Love (film, 1935); The Hands of Orlac (film, 1960) — Dir. Edmond T. Gréville; Hands of a Stranger (film, 1962) — Dir. Newt Arnold; Les mains d’Orlac (1970) collected in “Domaine fantastique” (French reissue); Les mains d’Orlac (1978, Marabout paperback reissue).
Description Les Mains d’Orlac (English: The Hands of Orlac) is a French science fiction novel written by Maurice Renard. The plot involves a celebrated pianist who loses his hands in a track crash and has them surgically replaced with those of an executed murderer. Soon, the transplanted hands assume the personality of its psychopathic donor. Renard’s novel was one of his many science fiction stories he wrote in the early 20th century and was initially published in 58 episodes in L’Intransigeant from May 15, to July 12, 1920. The pianist Stephen Orlac suffers a railway accident that gives him serious head injuries and deprives him of his hands. The famous and controversial transplant doctor Cerral gives him new hands, transplanted from an executed murderer. Afterward, Orlac finds the appendages assuming the personality of the donor. He seems to suffer from hallucinations and sinks into depression. His wife attempts to save him, but the couple are caught in a spiral of conspiracy, mystery and crime.
