The Beast with Five Fingers

It's the turn of the nineteenth into twentieth century in the town of San Stefano, Italy. Living in Villa Francesco, renowned pianist Francis Ingram (Victor Francen) is an angry and controlling man, the anger in having suffered a stroke leaving his right side paralyzed, including his right hand, he now confined to a wheelchair. Composer and pianist Bruce Conrad (Robert Alda) has transcribed existing music for Ingram to be able to play solely with his left hand. While he receives small favors from Ingram, Conrad is forced to sell trinkets to tourists in town to live. Julie Holden (Andrea King) is Ingram's personal nurse, who he brought back from New York a year ago, there where the stroke occurred. He now considers her his savior. Conrad is also happy with Julie's presence as the two have fallen in love. Someone else happy with Julie at the villa is Hilary Cummins (Peter Lorre), Ingram's personal secretary as she acts as a buffer with Ingram to allow Hilary to do his research in what he considers his sanctuary, the villa's library. Julie, however, is contemplating going home for good in not being able to deal with Ingram's control. Things change when Ingram dies in an accident. Coming for the funeral are father and son Raymond (Charles Dingle) and Donald Arlington (John Alvin), Ingram's brother-in-law and nephew, Donald Ingram's only living blood relative who expects, as such, to inherit the entire estate. But shortly after the funeral, all indications point to Ingram still controlling the proceedings from the grave, most specifically what is discovered to be his severed right hand. With all the players still at the villa, the town's Commissario, Ovidio Castanio (J. Carrol Naish), decides to take residence at the villa to see if he can discover what is happening and if there truly is a beast with five fingers causing havoc.