The Scar (1948) and The Limping Man (1953)

Here is a pair of films noir on one DVD from VCI Entertainment Company, a public domain publisher. The films are public domain, meaning any copyrights they once had have lapsed and anybody who wants to can publish the movies. Unlike some public domain publishers, VCI has given a little bit more than the minimum with this title, including a 1950s TV film noir episode starring Edmond O'Brien and Joanne Woodward as an extra feature. The two main attractions are The Scar and The Limping Man and they are reasonably well preserved for movies that are over a half century old.

The Scar is a real classic, by far the better of the two movies, although The Limping Man only begins to pale once you have seen the ending, but more on that later.

The Scar (also known as "Hollow Triumph") stars Paul Henreid, whom you'll remember from Casablanca. In this movie, he is far from heroic, however, he is a brilliant man who has a crooked nature that would rather steal money than work for it. As the film opens, we are given a voice-over that lists his impressive accomplishments, medical school, etc., then we realize it is a parole officer reading and Henreid is being considered for parole from prison.

He is released and given a job to report to, but once on his own he immediately seeks his old crowd and reestablishes himself as the leader. After a short time he announces a new caper - they will rob an illegal gambling joint he knows, and the plan sounds workable, except like most capers, things do not go according to plan.

The robbery miscues and two of the gang are captured. They rat out Henreid and the other guy, thinking they will be allowed to walk away. The ones they robbed are known for their long memory and willingness to go to great lengths to punish those who wrong them. Henreid and the other guy split up; in fact, Henreid goes and reports to the job he was recommended for. This keeps him under wraps long enough to make some more plans. This time, it's a real doozy...

Henreid has become aware he is a double for a very successful psychiatrist, who has a prominent scar on one cheek. Once he finds this is on the level he begins to scheme how he can take the place of this other man, as this will allow him to hide in plain sight. He begins to diligently work toward this goal, aided by the Dr's beautiful secretary (Joan Bennett - Scarlet Street). I'll let you watch how the rest plays out yourself, but I will tell you that it is ironic how things work out.

Directed by Steve Sekely, The Scar benefits from the legendary noir cinematography of John Alton, who was among the very best. Of course, with a cast headed up by Joan Bennett and a double dose of Paul Henreid, it makes for a compelling little suspense movie that should be better known.

The Limping Man stars Lloyd Bridges as an ex-GI who returns to Britain to see if the girl he knew during the war still has feelings.

As he deplanes, he gets right in the middle of an assassination and is detained for questioning, whereupon he learns that his friend has not come to meet him and moreover is somehow involved in some undercover operations that may be on the wrong side of the law.

The movie has a good rhythm to it and introduces some interesting characters and situations, maintaining your interest right up until the last minute or two when a reveal makes you feel like you've been had. If they would have figured out a proper ending, this would have been much better. As it is, it is a fairly decent movie and worth seeing through once.

The Scar is worth four stars, easily and if restored would be worth five. The Limping Man is only worth a weak three stars, due to the cop-out ending. Together, I'll give the two movies three stars, with the understanding that The Scar is well worth the price of the disk all by itself.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD