Would you do -anything-, even kill, for the chance to escape from an impossible situation into a new life? This is the choice facing Paul Henreid as John Muller in THE SCAR (a.k.a. HOLLOW TRIUMPH-1948).

Muller is a medical school dropout with an abiding interest in psychology turned master thief and criminal. After getting out of a long term in stir, he reassembles his gang and goes after a gambling casino's proceeds. Muller is so egotistical that he ignores the fact that the owner of the resort is one of the big wheels of the West Coast syndicate, Rocky Stansyck (Thomas Browne Henry). His foolish pride is amply rewarded when the raid goes awry and Stansyck puts out a hit on the entire gang.

Eventually, he's the only one left and his vaunted brains can find no way out, until one day when he stumbles across the fabled exact double that everyone is supposed to have, Dr. Victor Bartok, a psychiatrist (also Henreid, of course)! Bartok could be his identical twin, except for the scar on his face. Desperate to avoid both his brother Frederick (Eduard Franz), who wants him to turn himself in, and Stansyck's thugs, each of whom are closing in on him, Muller observes Bartok's routine and then kills him, intending to take his place in a new career (and at the side of his foxy secretary/mistress Evelyn Hahn {Joan Bennett}) in an air-tight escape. However, in the heat of the kill, our master criminal forgets the "mirror effect" and puts the scar on the wrong side of his face. Now the REAL fun begins...

Paul Henreid began to suffer a slump in his film career after letting Humphrey Bogart "beat his time" in CASABLANCA. Unlike other actors, Henreid was astute enough to see the handwriting on the wall and set himself up in independent films which he produced and starred in, released through Republic, mostly film noirs like this one. THE SCAR is the best of the lot, and Henreid effectively conveys the desperation, intelligence and hubris of his criminal character. Dr. Bartok is more of a cipher, but Henreid still does a good job illustrating his ironic coldness to others, given his profession.

Joan Bennett is a revelation to modern viewers. Usually cast as a tramp/femme fatale (cf. THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW & SCARLET STREET), here she's a woman of the world who's not evil or scheming, just disillusioned yet desperately wanting to believe in the possibility of love. For you folks who need a current movie star reference, you could imagine her as a harder-edged version of Kate Beckinsale, right down to the fact that they're both black-haired gorgeous British actresses who can handle American accents.

The rest of the cast, especially Franz (stuck as he is with the "moralizing brother" role) is adequate to the task at hand. Be sure to keep an eye open for Jack Webb as "Bullseye." Steve Sekely's (THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS)direction is taut and effective. The cinematography of John Alton (FATHER'S LITTLE DIVIDEND, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS [Academy Award], & TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON), is a textbook example of film noir style. (in fact, Alton -did- write the book on the style, entitled "Painting with Light")

Murray Forbes and Daniel Fuchs adapted the screenplay from Forbes' novel. It is OK as film screenplays go, with many excellent twists and turns. Its realism lies in seeding the small errors that trip up "genius" criminals (see the real-life case of Leopold and Loeb for some good examples), but it is also rather rotten with coincidence. It's still better than 90% of modern Hollywood product.

Be sure and track this down if you value great suspense movies and want to see an unjustly neglected gem in the film noir genre. You'll be glad you did.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12