Stolen Face (1952)

Posted by JeffMarkham

Of course this film is never going to get real notice, but I think it should. It is one of noirs more bizarre outings, like Decoy incorporating sci-fi elements that require a HUGE suspension of disbelief, but Decoy was nowhere near as farfetched as this. Add to it you’ve got Bette Davis’s cardboard cutout leading man and Lizabeth “Just grin and look at the camera” Scott. But that being said, it’s over the top premise only makes this noir stand out more than the rest and its actors are far better at this stage than history has credited them to be.

But here it’s really the two leads who give this film life, making it far beyond another noir programmer and adding new dimensions two there characters, making us at least buy the farfetched premise of the story. Of all people, it’s really Lizabeth Scott who delivers the film.

It’s an interesting bridge between Terence Fisher’s gap between his noirs and Hammer horror films. Here we have a story of a man so obsessed with the ideal woman that he creates a femme fatale in the making, and yet he manages to have to technology to make this woman an exact duplicate of the original. It’s not a masterpiece, but certainly an entertaining, and very well done curio. It does of course tread into programmer comedy during the first quarter, but Fisher does add a great montage showcasing Lizabeth Scott’s unhappiness on tour and Paul Henreid’s unhappiness with his new creation.





Though I had poor words to say about Henreid, he really hit his stride in his noir outings. His ‘leading man’ career only served to bounce off the larger than life personalities of Bogart, Bergman, and especially Davis (and though still wooden, he complemented her very very nicely, especially in Now, Voyager). Beginning in the 1947 Davis-noir a different side of him came along. Here he was playing a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown with violent tendencies, and to me he drives the suspense of that film. A year later he would be doing Hollow Triumph, managing to play two roles and a complex anti-hero. In Stolen Face, he gives a very poorly written role something far more, making his Dr. Phillip Ritter someone beyond mere obsession with a woman, so infatuated he will go to the greatest measure to obtain her. His confession to Scott of his creation does not even feel like it is out of guilt, but out of profession of his love towards her.

Lizabeth Scott’s the surprise here. I’m one of the many who finds her acting far too one dimensional and mechanical, but here she’s different. At this point in her career far past her glory, she seems to be actually trying, whether it be to move out of the poverty row rut or maybe finally maturing into an actress. She manages to create two very different characters and breathes life into each. Her Alice Brent, though far less interesting than her doppelganger Lily Conover, is a woman who has no clue what she wants out of life, never certain over the decisions she has to make. Shall she choose a life with a man whom she barely knew but fell head over heels for, or a man who has dutifully stood by and cared for her throughout her career? Should she continue a life as an esteemed concert pianist, or live a simple life with a man who she has been swept away by. Her lack of assertiveness makes her choice to stay with a man who has become psychotically obsessed with her at least somewhat plausible.

As Lily Conover, on the other hand, she truly shows her growth as an actress. Lily Conover is incredibly complex, incredibly vulnerable and yet recklessly destructive to everyone around her. She’s a twisted version of Eliza Doolittle, who only causes more destruction when managing to become a ‘lady.’ She now can both charm her way to get what she wants in addition to her many criminal impulses. However Scott adds a childlike demeanor to this femme fatale, making her vulnerable and incapable of telling right from wrong. I certainly do feel this film marks a real turning point for her (though lets face it, she does a horrible cockney accent and still can not make it believable that she is the same woman as pre-surgery Lily), I’d be very curious to see how she fared in her final two noirs after this, Bad for Each Other and The Weapon.

It’s an incredibly entertaining noir, featuring a very disturbed femme fatale and a man who is both a victim and responsible for her and her actions. And with a story that is of a man who manages to make an exact physical duplicate of a woman with hazardous results, how can this not be at least a fun ride?