TinsHeadline Touches You

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

morrison-dylan-fan Taking part in a Film Noir challenge on ICM,I started trying to decide which two US Noir's I could watch as a double bill. Checking up titles on IMDb,I remembered a Noir fellow IMDber XhcNoirX had told me about,which led to me meeting a guy,whose face looked oddly similar.The plot:Arriving home, Charles "Chick" Graham is faced with his wife Cora Cox Graham saying she has never seen him before,and a lookalike of Chick's called Albert "Bert" Rand,who is pretending to be him. Failing to get the police on his side,Chick goes undercover,when he finds out that Bert has linked him to a bank robbery. Surviving an attempt on his life,Chick sets his sights on unmasking his fake self.View on the film:Shot on location in Puerto Rico, director Edward Montagne & cinematographer Fred Jackman Jr. give the Noir face off a sun-kiss elegance against rugged rocks and dusty tunnels underneath the welcoming sights of Puerto Rico. Made on a low budget,Montagne does give the place the feeling of being a small village,with the leads easily crossing paths with each other,and it looking like the island only has one cop.Slowly sinking the realisation into Chick that he has been played, the writers give their adaptation of Samuel W. Taylor's book a Noir playfulness that covers some of the sketchy marks over how Bert was able to make everything perfectly fall into place,thanks to a murderous dog keeping the exchanges between Bert and Chick clouded in a mood of danger. Playing not one,but two roles, Barry Nelson gives terrific performances as Charles 'Chick' Graham / Albert 'Bert' Rand,thanks to Nelson balancing Chick being at his Noir wits end with Bert's abrupt wise-guy asides to the man whose face he's stolen.

XhcnoirX Barry Nelson and his bother-in-law John Harvey co-own a small company on Puerto Rico. Nelson's wife Lynn Ainley is supposed to pick him up from work one day, but she doesn't show up. When he calls her up, she does not know who he is. And when he takes a cab home, he finds the spitting image of himself there, and everybody thinks he's not the real husband, including their dog! Quickly he finds out his doppelganger staged a heist years before and came up with an elaborate plan with switched identities to frame him for it, and everybody's in on it. He turns to ex-flame Carole Mathews for help, who he left for Ainley, and they try to figure out a way to clear his name and expose the real doppelganger.The plot, based on a 1948 pulp novel, makes little sense and is void of any logic. But if you stop to think about it and just sit back, it's enjoyable enough. It also includes a trained doberman, providing some exciting moments, but whose presence also telegraphs the ending early on in the movie.The acting is mediocre across the board unfortunately. Whoever cast Nelson ('Johnny Eager') probably didn't read the full script, as Nelson is completely unsuited to play a 'bad' person. Ainley did exactly 2 movies according to IMDb, the other one 'Undercover Girl', and she lacks charisma as the femme fatale here. Mathews ('Chicago Deadline') does a better job, but has very little to do.Director Edward Montagne ('The Tattooed Stranger') and DoP Frank Jackman Jr. ('Chicago Syndicate') are the redeeming factors, breathing some life and excitement into this movie. But don't expect miracles, this movie feels like a cheap B-feature from start to finish. A decent time-waster, if you can switch off your brain. 6/10

mark.waltz Barry Nelson finds out that two faces are not better than one in this film noir set in Puerto Rico and featuring a chilling climax in the famed Fort El Morro. It's unfortunate, however, that the plot that surrounds the intriguing beginning and riveting conclusion is as iffy as Caribbean weather. Nelson narrates a brief history of the island (including Columbus's landing in 1493, it was already discovered) and his arrival there in 1942. He's married to the pretty Lynn Ainley, but when he returns home one day, he finds his brother-in-law there as well as a look-alike who insists that he is Chick Graham, not an impostor, and the framed Nelson must find his way out of police custody to prove who he really is. He visits an old flame (the sweet Carole Mathews) who agrees to help him, and in the process, finds more intrigue than he ever intended to find in this American territory.While the premise is intriguing, the execution of the plot is another matter, and what goes on for the next hour can at times be downright confusing and more often than not frustrating. Chinita Marin has an excellent small role as the former girlfriend of the impostor who is as confused by the look-alike's presence as the audience is with the plot, and the presence of a nasty doberman doesn't make the love of this sometimes vicious dog any easier. The dog is trained to kill at the will of the impostor, and when the film finally does become interesting, it involves the famous mission where Nelson is being chased in the seemingly never-ending source of tunnels. But there's a twist of course at the end, unfortunately not giving me a real conclusion as to why everything was going on the way it did. Still, it makes good use of the Puerto Rican location shots. Jack Warden and Henry Lascoe have memorable supporting roles. It's just too bad I can't say that about the script.

mackjay2 THE MAN WITH MY FACE is a better-than-average B movie with some of the attending convenient plot devices, but enough twists and turns to satisfy most Noir fans. Visually, it has enough Noir style to appear connected to the main Noir cycle. The film's plot fits Noir expectations neatly, and it's only limited by a few B movie contrivances. With its unusual setting and well-played lead performance, this is a movie deserving a look by all Noir enthusiasts.Only two well-known names appear in the cast: lead Barry Nelson and Jack Warden (in a very small role). Nelson shows himself to be more than capable in a dual role. He doesn't differentiate the characters terribly much, but plays them both with conviction. There is a timely reference for Barry Nelson too: he was the first James Bond seen on screen by US audiences, in the 1954 TV version of CASINO ROYALE. As Cora, Lynn Ainley is very hard-edged and unsympathetic. Even her final act speech of regret won't soften most viewers toward her. She's a greedy harpy who deserves her fate. Everyone else is just fine in the film, with an interesting appearance by Jack Elam-look alike Jim Boles, as Meadows the Doberman trainer. Director Edward Montagne (THE TATTOOED STRANGER) made a mark later in TV sitcoms (especially MCHALE'S NAVY). Author Samuel W. Taylor should not be confused with the Samuel A. Taylor credited with the screenplay for VERTIGO, despite some slight connections between the stories.Right from the opening credits, it's clear that THE MAN WITH MY FACE will not take place in typical Noir territory. And like many other superior B movies, the locations are used to advantage. The city of San Juan, beaches, hotels and shops contribute a unique look and atmosphere. Several local amateur residents are given small acting roles as well. The final chase sequence appears to have been shot at the decayed Fort San Cristobal. It provides plenty of dark passageways and vertiginous precipices to keep things interesting.Synopsis **SPOILERS AHEAD**The plot is pure Noir, with a fairly original twist. "Chick" Graham (Barry Nelson) works for a small insurance company in San Juan, partnered with his brother-in-law Buster Cox (John Harvey). One day, Chick leaves the office and heads home. When he arrives there, his wife Cora (Lynn Ainley) and her brother claim not to know who he is. The two are very insistent, and even Chick's beloved dog doesn't seem to recognize him. What's going on? A very confused Chick is then stupefied when a man identical to himself (also played by Nelson) walks in and claims to be Chick Graham. Cora threatens to call the police, and in fact does so when the real Chick becomes insistent that the whole thing must be a gag. Poor confused Chick is carted off by San Juan policeman. But he manages to escape when a vicious Doberman meant to attack him instead knocks over the policeman.Now a familiar Noir narrative begins, as Chick sets out to determine just what has been happening, and who this mysterious Chick #2 can be. Sitting in a hotel bar, Chick (#1) is greeted by a salesman who recognizes him and Chick tells the man to meet him at the office later to help with his investigation. But greed gets the best of the salesman and he cooks up a scheme to blackmail Graham. Unfortunately for him, the salesman proposes his scheme to Chick #2 (now revealed to be a man named Al Grant), who with his henchman makes quick work of the salesman by way of the vicious Doberman. So Chick is back to square one. He contacts a former girlfriend he jilted before marrying Cora. The girlfriend, Mary Davis (Carole Mathews) obviously still loves Chick and despite the insistence of her cynical brother (Jack Warden), she agrees to help him solve the mystery. At this point, another woman, Juanita, enters the film, a former romantic associate of Al Grant. Juanita, accosts Chick on the street and angrily insists he come to her apartment. Thinking he will gather more information for his quest, Chick goes along. After convincing Juanita that he is not the man she thinks he is, Chick leaves. Later, poor Juanita is found dead and Chick Graham is the prime suspect for her murder. With his handsome visage on the front page of every San Juan newspaper, Chick really needs to work fast to clear his name. Eventually, Chick and Al meet again, and Al plans to kill Chick so that Al and Cora can flee on the next plane, along with several hundred thousand dollars in embezzled funds. Fortunately, Chick outsmarts even the tenacious Doberman left to guard him. He escapes and, after a very effective chase sequence, manages to expose the criminals for what they are.THE MAN WITH MY FACE has a combination of the "wrong man" theme (best seen in Hitchcock's THE WRONG MAN) and the doppelganger idea (exemplified in THE SCAR). The film has a strongly Noir sense of oppression, felt mainly in the narrative and not supported very much by the visual style. It's a well-done B movie with a unique location, some exciting episodes and a fine performance by Barry Nelson. A worthy submission to any B-Noir catalog.