Watch The Hand For Free

Good concept, poorly executed.

Boring

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

An elderly alcoholic called Charlie Taplow (Harold Scott) who claimed to have had his right hand amputated in exchange for £500 is found murdered. Two more deaths follow and Inspector Munyard (Ronald Leigh- Hunt) links the crimes to three ex-servicemen; Corporal George Adams (Bryan Coleman), Private Mike Brodie (Reed de Rouen) and Captain Roberts (Derek Bond) who served together in Burma during the Second World War. They got captured and, whilst being interrogated by a sadistic prison officer at a Japanese POW, they had their right hands severed for refusing to talk. Yet, it appears that one of them may have cracked under pressure and, as a result, was spared the fate of his fellow men. Could the murders be a revenge plot?Grisly semi-horror story that marked a change of pace for b-pic specialists Butcher's Film Service who usually made run of the mill crime dramas. It has some effective moments such as a reasonably passable Burma-set prologue in which the interrogation and amputation scenes are reasonably unsettling and carry some tension. There is a good suspense sequence set on board a London-Norwich express train in which a little girl with a doll she calls Belinda innocently gives the killer away to his travelling companion by noticing that he has half a button missing from his raincoat. The other half was found at the scene of a murder by the latter who is the victim's brother: "Would you like Belinda to sew one on for you?" asks the child before her mother tells her not to pester the gentleman before leaving the compartment and unknowingly leaving his fellow passenger's life in danger.It is competently acted and the most notable performers are Ronald Leigh-Hunt as the Scotland Yard man, Reed de Rouen and former 1950's matinée idol Derek Bond as the villain. Director Henry Cass directs with brisk paced efficiency, but the whole thing is let down by a confused narrative - either due to a poor script or a botched editing job. This seriously hampers what is otherwise an above average film for its type. It was produced by Bill Luckwell, a former publicist, who made seventeen b-pics in ten years!

I'm still giving it '7' for sheer weirdness more than anything else. As 'Malcolm' the reviewer of 26.5.2013 states, it mysteriously starts off with a caption of: 'Burma, 1946'. I wondered where that was going as strangely, it looks like WW2 - with British commandos being tortured by the Japanese. The latter threaten to cut off the hands of the soldiers unless they tittle-tattle their military secrets. Two don't and have their hands cut off. One, Derek Bond, alias 'Crawshaw', looks more nervy and it's left there, before going to the present day (well, 1960). It seems like a tramp has had his hand cut off in the present day by Crawshaw's bent, or lent on brother, who on police investigation by Ronald Leigh-hunt, is trying to get to the bottom of that. Brodie, one of the soldiers who had his hand cut off ends up dead after Crawshaw has visited him in the meanwhile. This can be a vague story, but as one other reviewer says perhaps some credit should go to 'Run for Your Wife' Ray Cooney who wrote and stars in it. It 'does' seem as if Crawshaw who retained his hand by not telling the Japanese soldiers the secrets, may have tried to ease his conscience by 'producing' a hand to Brodie and the other chum to show it wasn't him, or that his secret was out in the open as a sort of traitor. The cops eventually catch up with Crawshaw when he visits the other officer who wouldn't blab (and one-handless of course), Crawshaw runs off and you can guess what happens - let's say he may as well have held back in WW2. Strange, but loved the London locations. So much so (is this sad?) I looked them up and went to see them - quite interesting, most hadn't changed apart from one side of the road churned up for a council estate. Worth watching for the weird factor as well. (Okay, I admit, I've recorded it for my collection of British B-flicks!)

I am extremely indebted to the other reviewers of this Butchers B Movie since i realised after viewing it that i had rather lost the plot.I just could not fathom out what was happening.Mind you when a film starts with the subtitle "Burma 1946" and starts with scenes set in the Second world war you are bound to be a bit mystified.As has been stated by other reviewers the best part of the film is the opening 7 minutes set in Burma.The rest of the film rather lets it all down.The climax in particular is extremely badly handled.The ending is predictable and ironic but there is a total lack of suspense.You would think that with just an hour to tell a story that it could be kept fairly straightforward,but alas the producers of this film failed to achieve that.

Lurid little thriller tells the story of the police search for the story behind a drunk having his hand cut off. Later as the police investigate the drunk is murdered and the hunt for the killer is on. The story begins in Burma during the Second World War when three commandos are captured by the Japanese and interrogated. The Japanese solution to get the answers is to cut off some hands. The repercussions of what happened so many years ago is what drives this little movie.This is a neat little film that never fully makes 100% sense. We follow as the police try to unravel what has happened and why but in the end I don't think that everything is perfectly clear. Not that it matters since the movie is so dark and lurid at times you can't help but get drawn into the action. The violence is brutal and the language is course (at least by 1960 standards). Its a movie that doesn't behave like your typical by the numbers crime drama and is better for it.I liked this movie a great deal. Its far from perfect, but it does hold your attention. Definitely worth seeing if you run across it.