THE MONKEY’S PAW (1948)

At Grimshaw's curio shop, the owner is trying to get an antiques dealer interested in a rare bust owned once by Genghis Kahn, but the dealer wants to buy a preserved monkey's paw. Grimshaw tries to talk him out of it by telling him that it supposedly has the power to grant three wishes for the person holding it, but that tragedy inevitably follows. Still, the dealer wants it, and he soon uses it as barter when he wants a painting owned by the Trelawnes. Mrs. Trelawne doesn't want to sell, but behind her back, Mr. Trelawne, fascinated by the story behind the paw, trades the painting for it. The family has money problems—he is behind in paying some gambling debts and their son Tom has just bought a new motorcycle so he enters a race to win the cash to buy a wedding ring for his fiancée. Trelawne's Irish assistant Kelly relates the story of what happened to the paw's previous owners: Mrs. Lang, upset in her miserable marriage to a drunkard, grabs the paw and wishes for freedom; the paw twists in her hand of its own accord, and shortly thereafter, her husband shoots her dead. She got what she wanted but at a price higher than she would have wanted to pay. It's noted that the lesson of the paw is that man's destiny is ruled by fate and cannot be changed. But the Trelawnes don't take the lesson to heart, and they wish for 200 pounds to cover their debt. That night, Tom takes a spill during the race and is killed, but they get the 200 pound prize in consolation. Mrs. Trelawne, understandably upset, grabs the paw and wishes that Tom would return to them. However, Mr. Trelawne realizes that if Tom returns, he will be a disfigured, decaying corpse. That stormy night, someone is approaching the front door—what can Mr. Trelawne do?

This is a modern adaptation of the classic 1902 short story by W.W. Jacobs, and as the story has been heavily anthologized and adapted, most viewers will be familiar with the plot and outcome, but with a running time of just one hour, this is worth seeing anyway. The tale has been fleshed out with the frame story of the antiques dealer, Kelly's flashback narrative of the unhappy wife, and some background of Tom and his fiancée, though I could have done without the silly comic relief of the Irish fellow. It's decidedly a B-level production, but some creepy atmosphere is provided by the night and storm scenes. None of the actors were on my radar, but the performances are fine (except maybe for the irritating prattle of Michael Martin Harvey as Kelly). [Amazon Prime]