IN SAYING
EVERYTHING ABOUT A MOVIE?
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IN SAYING EVERYTHING ABOUT A MOVIE? |
| MAN WITH MY FACE, THE (director/writer: Edward Montagne; screenwriters: from the novel by Samuel W. Taylor/Samuel W. Taylor/Vin Bogert/T.J. McGowan; cinematographer: Fred Jackman Jr.; editor: Gene Milford; music: Robert McBride; cast: Barry Nelson (Charles 'Chick' Graham / Albert 'Bert' Rand), Jack Warden (Walt Davis), Carole Mathews (Mary Davis), Lynn Ainley (Cora Cox Graham), Jim Boles (Meadows), John Harvey (Buster Cox), Henry Lascoe (The Police Sergeant), Johnny Kane (Al Grant), Chinita Marin (Juanita); Runtime: 79; MPAA Rating: NR; producer: Edward F. Gardner; United Artists; 1951) |
| "The
B film has a good premise over mistaken identity,
but a lousy execution."
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz Psychological thriller directed by Edward Montagne
("Project X"/"The Tattooed Stranger"/"McHale's
Navy").
The B film has a good premise over
mistaken identity, but a lousy execution. Montagne
keeps it good enough
as a diversionary time killer, but it's just too bad
it never was
convincing. It's based on the
novel by Samuel
W. Taylor. Ex-GI Chick
Graham (Barry Nelson) settled down in San
Juan,
Puerto Rico after the war and married material girl
Cora (Lynn
Ainley). She's the
sister of Buster Cox (John
Harvey),
Chick's army buddy and
partner in the accounting business. Returning from
work one day an
imposter, named Albert Rand (Barry Nelson), claims
to be Chick and
that's verified by his wife and Buster. The pair of
liars convince the
police sergeant (Henry
Lascoe) summoned that lookalike
Rand is the real
Chick. Outside the police station where
Chick
is taken into custody, Rand's henchman, dog trainer
Meadows (Jim
Boles), orders his Doberman pincher to kill Chick.
The dog mistakenly
attacks the policeman and Chick escapes. Wishing to
clear his name,
Chick contacts the sweet Mary
Davis (Carole Mathews), his former girlfriend,
the girl he
should have married, and along with her brother Walt (Jack Warden) they investigate this
strange tale. It all becomes clear
after
awhile that Rand stole $1,000,000 worth of
bonds in a
Florida bank, and this elaborate scheme for Rand to
escape detection
was cooked up when Buster and Chick were in the army
together. The
rotten wife and her back-stabbing brother make a
deal with Grant to
steal Chick's identity, while Chick is supposedly
made the patsy who
gets accused of the robbery. Rand's treacherous
partners are content in
splitting the stolen loot with the ruthless criminal
and are so
heartless they could care less about what happens to
Chick. Warning:
spoiler in the next paragraph. The
most exciting scene is the climactic one, where the
killer dog is
primed to kill Chick but instead is fooled into
attacking Rand. It was
filmed on location in Puerto Rico, in black and
white. REVIEWED ON 2/12/2011 GRADE: B- Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |