Carnival of Sinners (1943)

Carnival of Sinners (La main du diable)
Directed by Maurice Tourneur
Written by Jean-Paul de Chanois from a novel by Gérard de Neval
1943/France
Continental Films
First viewing/Hulu Plus

[box] “Son, the greatest trick the Devil pulled was convincing the world there was only one of him.” ― David Wong, John Dies at the End[/box]

The highlight of this supernatural tale is Pierre Fresnay’s performance.

A group of travelers is trapped in an Alpine inn by an avalanche.  Into their midst runs a clearly terrified stranger, Roland Brissot (Fresnay), carrying a mysterious parcel.  He panics even more when the parcel is stolen during a power outage.  Then he figures he has nothing to lose by relating his sad history.

A little over a year ago, Brissot was a painter with big ideas (like painting the scent of flowers) but no talent.  His girlfriend and muse had grown disgusted with him.  She walks out on him before their food can even be served at a restaurant.  Despondent, he begins to drink with the chef.  The chef takes the opportunity to tell him about a talisman he has that will grant Brissot all the fame, fortune, and love he could ever want.  In an upstairs room, he shows him the secret – a severed human hand in a casket shaped box.  Although the chef tells him frankly that owning the talisman means forfeiting one’s soul to the devil unless one can sell it at a loss to someone else, Brissot, an unbeliever, agrees to buy it.

The talisman works by giving Brissot a new left hand which paints very strange pictures that are praised by the critics and sell for a fortune.  His girlfriend becomes his adoring wife.  But the Devil, a polite little man dressed in black, comes to claim his due.  Brissot finally grows desperate to rid himself of the hand and the Devil tortures him by offering to take it back for a penny, a price that doubles each day the artist does not and, finally, cannot, come up with the cash.

The film was made by the 70-year-old elder Tourneur in the twilight of his career.  The storytelling is a little creaky and drags at points but nevertheless, has a certain fascination and a fine central performance.  Fresnay ably gives us all the nuances of a pretentious callow youth, a sophisticated artist, and a man on the run from fate.

Clip (no subtitles)