CARNIVAL OF SINNERS / La Main Du Diable - 1943

Here we go with another week of new posts, we'll begin with this very interesting movie from France made during WWII. It goes like this... Roland Brissot pays a nickel for a talisman that will give him love, fame and wealth. The talisman is a freaking left hand, and, it does change his life as an artist, bringing him everything he desired. But of course, nothing is free in this world, and after one year, the devil shows up and asks for his due...

It stars Pierre Fresnay as Roland, Josseline Gaël, Noël Roquevert, Guillaume de Sax and Palau as the Devil.

It starts with Roland, disheveled and missing his left hand, appearing at an inn in the mountains. The people there are all staring at him, he seems a bit insane to them. Annoyed, Roland has a few choice words!

He sits down with the guests and starts telling the story of what has happened to him...

He tells of buying a talisman that was supposed to bring him fame and fortune. But on the way to his friend's room to see the talisman, an unknown person tells him not to buy the thing!

After paying his successful friend a nickel for a box with a left hand in in it, his luck changes. But he's warned, he must sell the hand within one year or face the consequences.

Everything's falling into place, now, his dream girl Irene wants to marry him!

Well, time flies when you're rolling in the dough. Buyers are lining up to buy his paintings now, instead of painting dogs, his left hand is magically turning out dark visions of Hell, intriguing the public!

Then it happens, a year passes and who shows up? Right, the Devil, aka The Small Man...

Roland didn't sell the hand, so, he's required to pay a fee the next day of 200,000 francs. The Devil speeds up time and Roland is 8 francs short. So, he will owe 400,000 the following day as it doubles every day! Roland's an idiot!

Roland goes to a casino and has amassed a tidy sum only to lose it all on one bet...

Roland's life is surreal, he pays a visit to these costumed people only to find out that they have also possessed the hand and they are all part of a chain of cursed souls...

In performances that made him rich, he realizes that he was delving into unnatural acts.

The curse of the Devil hangs over him...

Then as the Devil is closing in on Roland, the spirit of the actual owner of the hand gives our poor Roland a way out of his predicament, return the hand to the owner's grave!

Everyone is enthralled by Roland's story. He has saved his soul, but is afraid the Devil is plotting to kill him for revenge. There's a sound outside and they find the Devil's hand print burned into the door! Roland runs out of the inn and chases his nemesis...

You can see Roland at the top there, beating the crap out of the Devil... He tries to descend the hill and falls to the ground when he slips!

Roland is dead, the people from the inn have come to see if they can help. They find the box, but, the hand is not in it! Then, they find the grave of the man Roland says he needed to return it to, breaking the chain. Yes, a very complicated story, definitely a film you need to see if you haven't! Tune in Wednesday as we keep on trucking down that stormy old Dungeon trail...