{"id":25247,"date":"2012-04-11T11:58:42","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T18:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25247"},"modified":"2021-01-18T16:30:20","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T23:30:20","slug":"mad-love-1935","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25247","title":{"rendered":"Mad Love (1935)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I, a poor peasant, have conquered science; why can&#8217;t I conquer love?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Poster-156x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"156\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-25248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Poster-156x300.jpg 156w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Poster-66x128.jpg 66w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Poster-534x1024.jpg 534w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Poster.jpg 1284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 156px) 100vw, 156px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA mad surgeon (Peter Lorre) obsessed with an actress (Frances Drake) is distressed to learn that she&#8217;s happily married to a renowned concert pianist (Colin Clive). When Clive&#8217;s hands are mangled in a train accident, Dr. Gogol (Lorre) secretly replaces them with those of a recently guillotined murderer (Edward Brophy), and proceeds to take advantage of Clive&#8217;s increasingly disturbed state of mind.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Colin Clive Films<\/li>\n<li>Horror<\/li>\n<li>Mad Doctors and Scientists<\/li>\n<li>Mental Breakdown<\/li>\n<li>Obsessive Love<\/li>\n<li>Peter Lorre Films<\/li>\n<li>Plastic Surgery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary refers to this &#8220;first sound remake of [the] 1924 [German] classic <em>The Hands of Orlac<\/em>&#8221; (not listed in <em>GFTFF<\/em>) as an &#8220;underappreciated horror gem&#8221;, one which &#8220;gives definition to the term &#8216;sleeper'&#8221;. He calls out Peter Lorre&#8217;s performance as &#8220;one of his truly great screen portrayals&#8221;, and nominates him as one of the Best Actors of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>. He notes that while &#8220;of course, Lorre dominates the eerie proceedings&#8221;, &#8220;Clive and Drake, as one of the strongest, most intelligent women in the horror cinema, are superb&#8221; as well:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Clive-Drake.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Clive-Drake.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-64249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Clive-Drake.png 576w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Clive-Drake-300x217.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Clive-Drake-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Clive-Drake-374x270.png 374w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and that &#8220;thoughtful&#8221; casting leads to even the smallest parts being &#8220;well written and played&#8221;. However, he ultimately argues that the &#8220;picture&#8217;s success&#8221; is primarily attributable to its &#8220;eerie visuals&#8221;, with the finale particularly &#8220;surreal&#8221;; and he notes that the entire affair possesses an overall &#8220;hard-edged poetic quality&#8221;, with a &#8220;haunting atmosphere&#8230; created by&#8230; imaginative use of the camera&#8221;. Indeed, one would expect nothing less from a film helmed by noted DP Karl Freund (whose American directorial debut was 1932&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18821\"><em>The Mummy<\/em><\/a>), and photographed in part by another noted DP, Gregg Toland.  <\/p>\n<p>Peary&#8217;s review succinctly sums up the fine qualities of this most enjoyable &#8220;Grand Guignol&#8221; horror flick, one which afforded Peter Lorre his breakthrough role in American movies, and which remains a gruesomely absorbing tale of obsessive love. Peary is right to call out the performance by wide-eyed Drake (who co-starred the following year in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18492\"><em>The Invisible Ray<\/em><\/a>); she&#8217;s a memorable heroine-in-distress, with more to do and say than Clive (whose character feels oddly underdeveloped, though Clive does a fine job showing his increasingly distraught state of mind). Meanwhile, the intermittent presence of a wisecracking reporter (Ted Healy) feels decidedly out of place, though I&#8217;m fond of the humorous character played by May Beatty as Gogol&#8217;s tippling housekeeper. But this is really Lorre&#8217;s show all the way: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-64252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre3.png 576w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre3-300x217.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre3-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre3-374x270.png 374w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>He takes the material and runs with it, managing to present his villain as vaguely sympathetic, despite his nefarious plans to win Drake at any cost (he does save children&#8217;s lives through surgery, after all!). Watch for his &#8220;disguise&#8221; in the second half of the film (see second still below) &#8212; kudos to whoever was responsible for its design!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Peter Lorre as Dr. Gogol<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre.png 576w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre-Disguise.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre-Disguise.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre-Disguise.png 576w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre-Disguise-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Lorre-Disguise-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Frances Drake as Yvonne<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Drake.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Drake.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Drake.png 576w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Drake-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Drake-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Accomplished direction by Freund<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25254\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets.png 576w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography (by Gregg Toland and Chester Lyons)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Cinematography.png 576w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Cinematography-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Cinematography-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine Expressionistic sets<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"416\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets2.png 576w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets2-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Mad-Love-Sets2-300x216.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an early horror classic. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0026663\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1935\/08\/05\/archives\/the-screen-peter-lorre-in-his-first-american-photoplay-mad-love-on.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasticmoviemusings.com\/2014\/12\/04\/mad-love-1935\/\">SciFilm Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/moria.co.nz\/horror\/mad-love-1935.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/classic-horror.com\/reviews\/mad_love_1935\">Classic Horror Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/293\/mad-love#articles-reviews?articleId=36827\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.tvguide.com\/mad-love\/review\/105060\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/mad-love\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I, a poor peasant, have conquered science; why can&#8217;t I conquer love?&#8221; Synopsis: A mad surgeon (Peter Lorre) obsessed with an actress (Frances Drake) is distressed to learn that she&#8217;s happily married to a renowned concert pianist (Colin Clive). When Clive&#8217;s hands are mangled in a train accident, Dr. Gogol (Lorre) secretly replaces them with those of a recently guillotined murderer (Edward Brophy), and proceeds to take advantage of Clive&#8217;s increasingly disturbed state of mind. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=25247\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25247"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64253,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25247\/revisions\/64253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}