The guests at the Hotel de L’abbaye are stuck due to an avalanche. They hang around the lobby of the hotel waiting for dinner to be served when they hear gun shots. Not long after that a young man enters the hotel looking for a room. The young man, Roland Brissot (Pierre Fresnay), has one hand and is carrying a small package. He asks the landlord (Antoine Balpetre), about the ruins of a nearby abbey. Right after that two policemen enter the lobby asking about a man in black. Roland doesn’t fit the description, so they leave. During dinner a phone call comes in for Roland. While he is away from his table the lights go out and the small package goes missing. The other dinners are overly curious about Roland and the package. He decides to indulge the other dinners and tells them his story.
About a year ago Roland was a struggling artist in Paris. He meets Irene (Josseline Gael), a shop girl at a clothing store. They begin seeing each other and Roland tells her he wants to paint her portrait. While out at a restaurant they get into an argument and Irene breaks up with him. The chef sees what happened and approaches Roland. They sit and chat over a cognac. The chef (Noel Roquevert) tells Roland that he has a talisman that will bring him good luck and that he will sell it to him for one cent. He takes Roland to his room and shows him a tiny casket. Inside the casket is a hand, a left hand to be precise. He tells Roland that if he buys the talisman he will be rewarded with a strength and skill. He hypes up the hand and Roland finally buys it. The chef then tells him to make sure he sells the talisman for less than he purchased it, before he dies or he will be condemned to hell. With the transaction complete, the chef’s left hand suddenly disappears.
Roland’s life changes almost overnight. He gains notoriety as the greatest painter of the time. He marries Irene and becomes wealthy. A year later he is having a one man show where he is heralded as a great painter. This is when a little man in black (Peirre Palau) shows up to collect Roland’s soul. The man tells Roland that since he can’t sell the hand and pass it on to another he is willing to buy the talisman back for one penny, but he will lose everything he has gained. Roland is not yet ready to give up his lifestyle. The man then says that if he waits, the cost, to take back the hand, will double each day. Roland decides to wait but the clock is ticking. Eventually the cost of returning the hand is more than Roland could possibly come up with. In desperation Roland turns to the previous owners of the talisman for guidance.
“Carnival of Sinners” AKA “La Main du diable” or “The Devil’s Hand” was released in 1943 and was directed by Maurice Tourneur. It is a French fantasy supernatural horror movie. The film is based on the 1927 short story “La Main enchantee” or “The Enchanted Hand” by Gerard de Nerval.
It is a surrealistic view of the standard “Monkey’s Paw” story, which in turn is Faustian based. The movie starts out mysterious and interesting. It does, however, bog down a little during the extended flashback, which incorporates the bulk of the film. The slowness is necessary to flesh out the main characters of the film. Later it begins to get interesting again, especially when Roland is meeting with the previous owners of the talisman. Altogether it’s not a bad little film, especially the surrealistic and impressionistic touches.
The film was directed by Maurice Tourneur, the father of Jacques Tourneur. Jacques directed a few of Val Lewton’s films.