Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Mad Love Blu-ray Movie Review

Digit-ally remastered.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 28, 2021

Karl Freund's visually inventive Mad Love, an adaptation of Maurice Renard's 1920 book The Hands of Orlac (previously made into a 1924 Austrian silent film adaptation starring Conrad Veidt), marks the American film debut of Peter Lorre, already well-known for his performances in Fritz Lang's M and Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. Lorre portrays Dr. Gogol, an incredibly gifted -- and therefore insane -- surgeon whose reputation is that of a miracle worker. He's also an avid patron of the Théâtre des Horreurs, almost single-handedly keeping the show in business by always reserving their most expensive box seat to watch lovely Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake) perform.

Unknown to Gogol, tonight marks her final show and, after the farewell party and a disturbing encounter backstage, he buys the theater's wax model of Yvonne for his, uh, personal collection. But soon, tragedy strikes: Yvonne's husband Stephen (Colin Clive), a famous concert pianist, is involved in a terrible train wreck that night and both hands need to be amputated. When she begs Gogol to save her husband's career, he does so in a way that's both cruel and deceptive: he secretly uses the hands of a recently guillotined murderer (Edward Brophy) and tells no one but his assistant, Dr. Wong (Keye Luke). Once Stephen slowly regains the use of his new limbs, he also develops violent urges that he carries out on a collections agent and even his own estranged father, Henry (Ian Wolfe). It's all part of Gogol's complicated plan to separate man and wife, as the mad doctor truly believes lovely Yvonne is his for the taking.

Mad Love still holds up in unexpected ways, such as Lorre's portrayal of an obsessive stalker and moody, memorable visuals that mix German expressionism with traditional film noir. The editing and scene transitions are first-rate, and its on-the-nose ending wraps up this short and sweet 68-minute mystery with a bow. In other ways it hasn't, such as the pervasive presence of a hard-nosed newspaper reporter (Ted Healy) who digs deep to find skeletons in the doc's closet; this is a 1930s picture, after all. [SPOILER ALERT] Mad Love also devolves into camp after Stephen's truly disturbing nighttime rendezvous with a mysterious man claiming to be the resurrected murderer: it's really Gogol in disguise, who laughs his way back home while spelling out the entire plan for Yvonne to hear. [END SPOILER] Other than that stupid Scooby-Doo moment, Mad Love is a hard film to find fault with: it's gleefully twisted and lots of fun to watch, both for its top-to-bottom great performances and unwavering commitment to horrify unsuspecting audiences.

Luckily they've been warned, or at least they have been now: Mad Love went relatively unseen for decades but was resurrected in the late 20th century and, more recently, in 2006 when Warner Bros. released it on DVD as part of their Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection; all were trimmed of a short audio-only disclaimer similar to the one Universal used before Frankenstein in 1931. It's been reinserted on Warner Archive's new Blu-ray (for the first time, perhaps?), which as usual serves up a terrific A/V presentation and extras ported over from that earlier DVD edition.

Mad Love Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It's tough to evaluate Mad Love from a visual perspective, as the film's infrequent appearance since its original release makes any kind of source material gauge almost impossible. (That, and the fact that Warner Archive rarely details said source materials in their press releases anymore.) Our only reliable jumping-off point is the 2006 DVD, which this Blu-ray clearly blows out of the water from every angle: film grain, texture, fine detail, shadows and contrast, etc.), as most of Mad Love displays that velvety appearance we've come to expect from nitrate films released by the boutique label. But it gets off to a rough start during the first reel or so, when several pervasively dark scenes exhibit chunky and even frozen noise that's only mildly distracting but very noticeable. Whether a mixture of source materials or age-related wear and tear are to blame, the rest of Mad Love shows obvious improvements across the board -- none more so than the overcast execution scene and its handful of jaw- dropping close-ups. Even its many complicated dissolves and transitions are handled beautifully. And even during those early scenes of "frozen grain", the overall image remains alarmingly clean thanks to the studio's careful use of manual cleanup that eliminates dirt and debris while preserving the film's original texture. I'll defer to someone more intimately familiar with Mad Love's source material and history to fill in those nagging blanks, but rest assured this is still a very fine presentation that fans will largely appreciate.

Mad Love Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

No worries at all on the audio front: Warner Archive's DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track preserves Mad Love's one-channel roots with a split mono presentation that combines crisp dialogue, sound effects, and the outstanding original score by prolific Russian composer Dimitri Tiomkin, whose other works include High Noon, The Guns of Navarone, and Dial M for Murder. No extraneous amounts of hiss, popping, or distortion could be detected along the way, with the whole track maintaining a fine level of clarity that carries plenty of sonic intrigue at the right moments.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only.

Mad Love Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release, as usual, ships in a standard keepcase with striking cover artwork sourced from the film's original window card design... not the one-sheet poster, as pointed out by an eagle-eyed reader. (Supporting actress Isabel Jewell's name has also been removed, since her scenes were deleted from the final cut.) No inserts are included, and both the included bonus features are ported over from an earlier DVD edition -- in this case, the Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection released by Warner Bros. almost exactly 15 years ago.

• Audio Commentary - This informative full-length track features film historian Steve Haberman, no stranger to classic horror commentaries. It gets off to an odd start because he repeats the introductory "disclaimer" -- which didn't appear in previous home video versions, but is re-inserted here -- and has a habit of dropping in several Peter Lorre impressions, but those new to the track will find it entertaining. Topics include the original 1920 book by Maurice Renard (The Hands of Orlac), the great 1924 Austrian silent film adaptation starring Conrad Veidt, cinematography and editing, German expressionism, bit parts and cameos, and much more.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:04) - An enjoyably meta promotional piece where Peter Lorre, as himself, takes a leisurely evening phone call from a female admirer. See it here if you haven't already.

Mad Love Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Karl Freund's Mad Love offers a visceral interpretation of a twice-told tale, standing out for the lead performance by Peter Lorre -- his first in an American film -- and striking production design that combines German expressionism with traditional film noir. Story-wise, there are a few speed bumps but it holds water in a uniquely enjoyable way. Warner Archive's Blu-ray, not surprisingly, leaps beyond an earlier DVD edition released by their parent company in 2006; the bonus features are identical, but WAC's restored 1080p transfer supports the film nicely despite a few early hiccups. This one's firmly Recommended for fans and first-timers alike, even if it shows up after Halloween.