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{{Short description|1963 film by Herbert L. Strock}}
'''''The Crawling Hand''''' was a 1963 sci-fi movie starring Rod Lauren, Peter Breck and Alan Hale. It was directed By Herbert L. Strock. It was featured on the televison show Mystery Science Theater 3000.
{{Infobox film
| name = The Crawling Hand
| image = Crawlinghand.JPG
| caption = One-sheet
| director = [[Herbert L. Strock]]
| producer = Joseph F. Robertson<ref name="lat900904"/>
| screenplay = [[Wm. Idelson]]<br>[[Herbert L. Strock]]
| based_on = from an original story by<br>[[Joseph Cranston (producer)|Joseph Cranston]]<br>Malcolm Young<br>[[Wm. Idelson]]
| narrator =
| starring = [[Peter Breck]]<br>[[Kent Taylor]]<br>[[Rod Lauren]]
| music = Marlin Skiles (uncredited)
| cinematography = [[Willard Van der Veer]]
| editing = [[Herbert L. Strock]]
| distributor = Donald J. Hansen Enterprises
| studio = A Joseph F. Robertson Production
| released = {{Film date|1963|09|04|Hartford, Connecticut}}
| runtime = 89 minutes
| country = United States
| language = [[English language|English]]
| budget = $100,000 (estimated)<ref>Internet Movie Database {{better source needed|date=June 2018}}</ref>
| gross =
}}


'''''The Crawling Hand''''' is a 1963 American [[science fiction film|science fiction]] [[horror film]] directed by [[Herbert L. Strock]], and starring [[Peter Breck]], [[Kent Taylor]], [[Rod Lauren]], [[Alan Hale (actor, born 1921)|Alan Hale]] and [[Allison Hayes]].<ref name="lej631102"/> It was later featured on the television shows ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' (''MST3K'') and ''The [[Canned Film Festival]]''.<ref name="lat860610"/>


==Plot==
{{sf-film-stub}}
An astronaut, coming in for a crash landing, makes odd statements over the radio, including "my hand... makes me do things.... kill.... kill!" Strangely, by then, ground control was under the belief that he was already out of oxygen.


Later, Paul, a naive student, discovers a disembodied hand near the crash site and takes it home as a grisly souvenir. He is not aware that the hand is possessed by a strange, murderous alien.
⚫
[[Category:MST3K movies|Crawling Hand, The]]

The hand murders Paul's landlady. The sheriff, played by Alan Hale, suspects Paul, who begins to act more and more strangely as the hand begins to have more and more influence over him. The fictional federal agency responsible for space flight is called to the small town because fingerprints found at the first crime scene match the missing, dead astronaut.

Paul, now under control of the Crawling Hand, attacks other people around the town, including his own beloved girlfriend. Horrified at what he's been doing, Paul attempts to take the hand to the beach to destroy it, where he's confronted by federal authorities. The hand, now wounded, is held down by cats who try to eat it. Authorities capture the hand.

Paul, recovering in the hospital, appears to be forgiven.

Meanwhile the federales charged with transporting the offended appendage open the box used to confine the apprehended hand. The film ends with a quick zoom to the inside of an empty box as the words "the end" appear on black.

== Cast ==
*[[Peter Breck]] as Steve Curan
*[[Kent Taylor]] as Dr. Max Weitzberg
*[[Rod Lauren]] as Paul Lawrence
*[[Alan Hale (actor, born 1921)|Alan Hale]] as Sheriff Townsend
*[[Allison Hayes]] as Donna
*[[Sirry Steffen]] as Marta Farnstrom
*[[Arline Judge]] as Mrs. Hotchkiss
*[[Richard Arlen]] as Lee Barrenger
*[[Tristam Coffin]] as Security Chief Meidel
*[[Ross Elliott]] as Deputy Earl Harrison
*[[G. Stanley Jones]] as Funeral Director
*Jock Putnam as Ambulance Attendant
*Andy Andrews as Ambulance Attendant
*[[Syd Saylor]] as Soda Shop Owner
*Ed Wermer as Prof. Farnstrom
*[[Beverly Lunsford]] as Patsy Townsend
*Les Hoyle

Note: character names are not indicated in on-screen credits.

==Home media==
''The Crawling Hand'' was featured in Episode 6 of Season 1 of the TV series ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''. This episode was released on [[VHS]] by [[Rhino Entertainment|Rhino Home Video]] in October 1999 and on DVD in June 2002, including the uncut film as a bonus feature.

==In other media==
[[Rick Moody]]'s novel ''The Four Fingers of Death'', released in July 2010 by [[Little, Brown and Company]], is a [[metafiction]]al novelization of an imagined 2025 remake of ''The Crawling Hand'' (which means that Moody's fictional 'novelization' is set in a future very different from that of the 1963 film).<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/books/review/Martin-t.html?_r=0 | work=The New York Times | first=Clancy | last=Martin | title=Book Review - The Four Fingers of Death - By Rick Moody | date=August 6, 2010}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="lej631102">{{cite news |first=Johnny |last=Robinson |work=[[Lewiston Evening Journal]] |page=4-A |title=Next Week's Films |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zrUgAAAAIBAJ&pg=3343,252166&dq=the-crawling-hand&hl=en |date=November 2, 1963 |accessdate=December 6, 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="lat860610">{{cite news |first=Lee |last=Margulies |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |title='Canned Film Festival' on TV, Worst of the Big Screen On Its Way |page=10 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58617354.html?dids=58617354:58617354&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104151010/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/58617354.html?dids=58617354:58617354&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |date=June 10, 1986 |accessdate=December 6, 2010}}</ref>
<ref name="lat900904">{{cite news |first=Rick |last=Vandergriff |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |title=Aspiring Mogul Back in Action Film |page=F1 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60121030.html?dids=60121030:60121030&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104151043/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60121030.html?dids=60121030:60121030&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |date=September 5, 1990 |accessdate=December 6, 2010}}</ref>
<!--ref name="pi891005">{{cite news |work=[[Philadelphia Inquirer]] |title=Four New Releases Run the Comedy Gamut |page=D04 |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB95FD795F9B404&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |date=October 5, 1989 |accessdate=December 6, 2010}}</ref-->
}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0056961|The Crawling Hand}}

=== Mystery Science Theater 3000 ===
* {{IMDb title|id=0776193|title="Mystery Science Theater 3000" The Crawling Hand (TV episode 1989)}}
* [http://www.mst3kinfo.com/?p=8412 Episode guide: 106- The Crawling Hand]

{{Herbert L. Strock}}

⚫
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawling Hand, The}}
[[Category:1963 films]]
[[Category:1963 horror films]]
[[Category:1960s science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:American science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Herbert L. Strock]]
[[Category:1960s monster movies]]
[[Category:Films set in California]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s American films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction horror films]]
[[Category:Mystery Science Theater 3000]]

Latest revision as of 18:56, 23 November 2024

The Crawling Hand
One-sheet
Directed byHerbert L. Strock
Screenplay byWm. Idelson
Herbert L. Strock
Based onfrom an original story by
Joseph Cranston
Malcolm Young
Wm. Idelson
Produced byJoseph F. Robertson[1]
StarringPeter Breck
Kent Taylor
Rod Lauren
CinematographyWillard Van der Veer
Edited byHerbert L. Strock
Music byMarlin Skiles (uncredited)
Production
company
A Joseph F. Robertson Production
Distributed byDonald J. Hansen Enterprises
Release dates
  • September 4, 1963 (1963-09-04) (Hartford, Connecticut)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100,000 (estimated)[2]

The Crawling Hand is a 1963 American science fiction horror film directed by Herbert L. Strock, and starring Peter Breck, Kent Taylor, Rod Lauren, Alan Hale and Allison Hayes.[3] It was later featured on the television shows Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and The Canned Film Festival.[4]

Plot

[edit]

An astronaut, coming in for a crash landing, makes odd statements over the radio, including "my hand... makes me do things.... kill.... kill!" Strangely, by then, ground control was under the belief that he was already out of oxygen.

Later, Paul, a naive student, discovers a disembodied hand near the crash site and takes it home as a grisly souvenir. He is not aware that the hand is possessed by a strange, murderous alien.

The hand murders Paul's landlady. The sheriff, played by Alan Hale, suspects Paul, who begins to act more and more strangely as the hand begins to have more and more influence over him. The fictional federal agency responsible for space flight is called to the small town because fingerprints found at the first crime scene match the missing, dead astronaut.

Paul, now under control of the Crawling Hand, attacks other people around the town, including his own beloved girlfriend. Horrified at what he's been doing, Paul attempts to take the hand to the beach to destroy it, where he's confronted by federal authorities. The hand, now wounded, is held down by cats who try to eat it. Authorities capture the hand.

Paul, recovering in the hospital, appears to be forgiven.

Meanwhile the federales charged with transporting the offended appendage open the box used to confine the apprehended hand. The film ends with a quick zoom to the inside of an empty box as the words "the end" appear on black.

Cast

[edit]

Note: character names are not indicated in on-screen credits.

Home media

[edit]

The Crawling Hand was featured in Episode 6 of Season 1 of the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. This episode was released on VHS by Rhino Home Video in October 1999 and on DVD in June 2002, including the uncut film as a bonus feature.

In other media

[edit]

Rick Moody's novel The Four Fingers of Death, released in July 2010 by Little, Brown and Company, is a metafictional novelization of an imagined 2025 remake of The Crawling Hand (which means that Moody's fictional 'novelization' is set in a future very different from that of the 1963 film).[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Vandergriff, Rick (September 5, 1990). "Aspiring Mogul Back in Action Film". Los Angeles Times. p. F1. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  2. ^ Internet Movie Database [better source needed]
  3. ^ Robinson, Johnny (November 2, 1963). "Next Week's Films". Lewiston Evening Journal. p. 4-A. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  4. ^ Margulies, Lee (June 10, 1986). "'Canned Film Festival' on TV, Worst of the Big Screen On Its Way". Los Angeles Times. p. 10. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  5. ^ Martin, Clancy (August 6, 2010). "Book Review - The Four Fingers of Death - By Rick Moody". The New York Times.
[edit]

Mystery Science Theater 3000

[edit]
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