»The incredible invention of the engineer Dell’Ara is a machine in human form, made of pure steel and exceptionally robust. Its electrical mechanism works by transmitting Hertz waves. From his lab, the inventor can control his monster remotely using various adjustment levers, equipping it with fearsome power and unpredictable speed and, if necessary, making it impossible to be caught up thanks to its electronic fittings. In a nutshell: an infernal invention,« says André Deed in a note on the screenplay for The Mechanical Man.
Gang leader Mado cunningly escapes from prison and takes possession of this giant robot. She uses her full physical strength to direct it from her own control unit. Her motives remain unknown to us; it seems as if she is driven by pure rage and malice when she steers the mechanical human to a big masked ball and causes maximum mayhem there. A spectacular car chase finally culminates in a showdown with her adversary.

All that remains of The Mechanical Man is the last film reel (just over a third of the film): the riotous ending with the freed woman in the laboratory. In 1921, director Deed returned to Milan from France to shoot The Mechanical Man as the sequel to the film Il documento humano. As in the first film, his wife Valentina Frascaroli plays the leading role.