The Crawling Hand (1963)

Paul (Rod Lauren) , a young student, discovers a severed arm on a beach and decides to take it home as a souvenir. The arm is from an astronaut that died in a crash. Unbeknownst to Paul, an alien is in control of the arm and it attacks and kills his landlord (Arline Judge). The local sheriff (Alan Hale Jr.) suspects Paul is responsible. The alien gains control of Paul and forces him to start attacking people, including his girlfriend ( Sirry Steffen ). Meanwhile fingerprints at the murder site point to the dead astronaut which gets the attention of space officials (Peter Breck & Kent Taylor). They join the search for Paul. He and the arm are trapped at a junk yard. Feral cats attack the arm and start chewing on it. This causes Paul to come out of his trance. Paul and everything is back to normal and the arm is locked away for a trip back to space headquarters.

The Cast

Peter Breck starred in The Big Valley from 1965 to 1969
Kent Taylor appeared in many tv shows including The Rifleman, Tombstone Territory, Peter Gunn and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Rod Lauren made appearances in Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C and was one-hit wonder with “If I Had a Girl” in 1960.
Alan Hale Jr. co-starred as the Skipper on Gilligan’s Island from 1964 to 1967.
Sirry Steffen is a former Miss Iceland and was as Mrs. Drysdale’s maid onThe Beverly Hillbillies
Arline Judge worked mostly in low-budget B-movies and was nicknamed “One-Take Sally.” She passed away a year after this movie was made at the age of 61

I enjoyed this episode. The movie is very silly. Peter Breck and Kent Taylor seem to know they are in a bad movie and are just mugging for the camera. Rod Lauren’s over acting is first-rate and the arm is not the least bit scary.

Here’s a few shots from the film.

Paul and his girlfriend find the arm on the beach

The arm attacks the landlord.

Paul fights with the arm.

Under the control of the arm.

The sheriff and the space officials search for Paul.

Here are some the better riffs from the Joel and the bots.

##You spent a hard day loading bodies, and you got one more than you bargained for. It’s Miller time.

##Every time she gets a boyfriend, he crushes her windpipe.

##Dear Skipper: 
Why haven’t you sent help? 
Signed, The Castaways

##One Adam Twelve, see the appendage corner of Drugster and Main. Subject is arm and dangerous

##With an extra hand around the house, just think of the stuff I could do!

I give this a 3 out of 5

               Allen Hale Jr

            Peter Breck

            Kent Taylor

             Rod Lauren

               Sirry Steffen

            Arline Judge