In the Palm of Your Hand (1951) User Reviews (6)

Guilty Hands

[richardchatten · 7/10 · 28 July 2019]

A lively Mexican hybrid of 'Double Indemnity' and 'Nightmare Alley' that proves still timely today as both the rich and the poor seek solace in the slick patter furnished by fraudulent medium Arturo de Cordova; lit by Alex Phillips with the same hard elegance supplied by greedy and seductive femme fatale Leticia Palma - as sleek and deadly as the silenced pistol de Cordova presents her with

After a delirious final half-hour the entire cast is decisively upstaged at the finale by the amazing set on which it's played out, worthy of Anton Grot in his Warner Bros. heyday twenty years earlier.

"Disinterest is a condition of my trade."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 21 August 2022]

Checking the HOME website, I found out that the cinema in Manchester was soon holding a cinema of Mexico season. Looking down the list, I realized that I for years,I have had the titles waiting to be played. This led to me picking up the first movie, and placing it in the palm of my hand.

View on the film:

Pretending to be blessed with the ability of seeing the path someone will in the future walk down, by looking at the palm of their hand, Arturo de Cordova gives a wicked performance as Karin, whose supernatural skills are used by Cordova to give Karin a devilish cad smile, which Cordova gradually breaks with fear, as Karin sinks into becoming a Noir loner, in Ada's house of horror.

Spending the whole movie wearing black clothes and looking like the bride wore black, Leticia Palma gives a sizzling Femme Fatale performance as Ada, with Palma emphasizing a seductiveness which places all men under her spell,that Palma has Ada twists to a hard, snap viciousness, as Karin raises some doubts over the recent, sudden death of Ada's rich husband.

Laying out the cards to Karin's long- con across an overlapping opening montage of newspaper headlines over Russia getting the nuke, co-writer (with Luis Spota and Jose Revueltas) / director Roberto Gavaldon & cinematographer Alex Phillips unveil a silky supernatural (not Horror) Film Noir atmosphere, via superbly framed, push-in reflecting shots on the mirrors where Karin and Ada attempt to hide the tricks being their deceiving spells, which are broken by Gavaldon & Phillips with stylish superimposition close-ups on Karin's death face facing Noir loner despair.

Chipping through every layer of Karin's razzmatazz image, the writers wonderfully use Karin's fake palm reading, to pull him further down a doom-laden line, leading to him meeting Ada, who shares the same belief of being just one more con away, from having all riches, in the palm of her hand.

but Who's driving this car?

[andrabem · 10/10 · 16 September 2007]

"Profesor" Karin (Arturo de Cordova) is a fortune teller. He works in conjunction with his assistant Clara (Carmen Montejo), whose job in a hairdresser's helps her to get information about Karin's clients. Clara is also Karin's girlfriend.

One day reading a newspaper Karin learns about the death of a millionaire, Vittorio Romano, leaving an inheritance of millions to his widow Ada Cisneros (Leticia Palma) and his nephew Leon (Ramon Gay). Karin sees something fishy in the business and decides to investigate the story on his own and maybe get his share.

He goes to Vittorio Romano's deathwatch and approaches the widow Ada, insinuating that Vittorio was his client and he knows a lot but he's a discreet man. Karin's fishing in troubled waters, he knows, but the result can be very rewarding from a financial point of view.

Karin notices that Ada (Vittorio's widow) and Leon (the nephew) stick together and the logical conclusion comes to his mind. Ada is afraid and wants to play with Karin, to watch his movements, and maybe....

Now we enter a cat and mouse play. We don't know who's really in control. And the story is somewhat misleading - what looks like a triangle ("Profesor" Karin, Ada Cisneros and Leon) is perhaps a twosome, or even a onesome. Karin thinks that he has everything under control. Has he? He has read Ada's hands and said something like that: "Your hands are beautiful and cruel. You like to crush things with your little teeth".

Ada (the stunning Leticia Palma) is incredibly beautiful and seducing. It's impossible to read her Mona Lisa smile, that bares little teeth that could belong to a hungry tigress. Underneath her ambiguous sweetness there's an iron will and, as Karin rightly diagnoses, the killing accuracy of a guillotine. He's on a game where he thinks he's the master. But who's driving this car? And Leon, what's his real place in this story? And what about Karin's girlfriend, Clara? We have here a psychological thriller told in all its shades and lights. Subtle suspense and sensuality permeate the story that grows to a crescendo till the surprising ending.

The best Mexican Film Noir

[mg-artea · 10/10 · 23 September 2018]

I don't know why this is not often considered a Film Noir, it has all the elements, it easily competes with the best Noir from France and US. A very well written story by Luis Spota and superbly directed by Roberto Gavaldón.

It was written in the stars .

[ulicknormanowen · 9/10 · 5 August 2022]

Roberto Gavaldon's thrillers compare favorably with the best American ones ; "en la palma de tu mano " ,like " la otra" or "el nino y la niebla", is a peak of film noir , with two extraordinary actors ,Arturo De Cordova and leticia Palma (what a name for this part!)

It suggests the presence of obscure forces , of a supernatural fate written in the stars ,without all the special effects which mar today's thrillers;although the so called witch is a charlatan , with his two-bit paraphernalia,although his crystal ball is a simple glass globe, it seems that he unleashes evil powers which go against him ; the scene with the mother,Carmelita, although he leads the poor woman up the garden path ,has something magic (after all ,he tells the truth , and he wants to leave her her illusions ).

This blackmailer is not cardboard and the same goes for the millionaire's widow; they form an unexpected team ,and never the viewer knows who dominates who : the femme fatale who uses him to satisfy her dirty deeds ,or the man who might possibly possess real powers ?

The screenplay is extremely strong,and Galvadon's directing is up to scratch : the scene of the spare wheel can rival with the best of Hitchcock ; the places are impressive ,from the house of the faux magician with its eyes that spy on everything to the huge morgue , where the hero is overcome by an incredible twist of fate (the unexpected end comes aside as a shock ,and curiously ,it's just after a strange vision on the street -the only supernatural element in the whole film -.)

The beginning may remind some viewers of Hitchcock's ulterior "family plot" (1976) , but "en la palma de tu mano " is much stronger and leaves Hitchcock's final effort far behind .And Sir Alfred is my all time favorite director.

spellbinding

[myriamlenys · 9/10 · 10 April 2024]

A fraudulent clairvoyant called Professor Karin makes his living through various dishonest schemes. Much of his information comes to him courtesy of his female accomplice, who works in a beauty parlor humming with gossip. When Karin learns that a prodigiously rich man has died, he looks for a way to turn the situation to his advantage, for instance by putting the screws on the new widow...

"En la palma de tu mano" is an outstanding noir made in Mexico. The movie tells a tale about a scoundrel getting dragged ever deeper into a whirlpool of lust, deceit and greed. The various twists are cunning and the final one deserves cinematic immortality.

Our fake clairvoyant makes for an interesting protagonist. As a complex individual - some fine acting here, by the way - he is capable not only of blackmail, but also of generous kindness. It will make his eventual downfall amidst guilt and shame all the more terrible.

The Mexican origin of the movie delivers a nice change in terms of cultural background and aesthetic sensibilities. Still, it is remarkable how much the theatrical panoply of "soothsayers", "mediums" and "clairvoyants" looks alike, all over the world. It's also remarkable how little this panoply has changed over the decades.

Fun note : I hail from the northern half of Belgium and in this part of the world "Karin" is a girl's name, just like its equivalents "Karina" or "Carine".