Customer Reviews

Hollow Triumph (aka The Scar) [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The great John Alton's cinematography is dimmed but not nearly destroyed by Alpha's contrasty and weathered-looking transfer. But as this isn't an easy film to get hold of in any shape, I can put my qualms about Alpha's typical technical quality aside in this case.

John Alton was born in Austria-Hungary in 1901, and after working his way through the ranks in allied studio positions (film labs, etc) he eventually photographed many of the films that define the noir style for us today. In most every case, these films are worth watching more for the atmosphere his brilliant eye hewed out of the dark for them than for their story content. As DP he had a major impact on the visual style of such noir essentials and cult favorites as T-Men, Raw Deal, He Walked By Night, The People Against O'Hara, I, The Jury, The Big Combo and others. He was better than most anyone at taking the location shooting that was often necessitated by budget on noir films (which were not the "prestige" productions of their time) and making it work, investing it with a poetry and capturing the gritty atmosphere.

You realize in its first couple of minutes, from a simple scene of a man walking down a hallway, that The Scar is going to be a film of visual distinction. Without Alton, The Scar would still be a neat film because of the plot, the nifty twist and the memorable finish. But Alton lifts it to another level of visual eloquence and feeling. It remains rivetingly watchable. I give this copy of The Scar 5 stars and recommend this DVD -- one of the few Alpha DVD's that I would recco-- without reservation.

The highest ranked film noir in the massive "Film Noir Bible" is Steve Sekely's THE SCAR a.k.a. HOLLOW TRIUMPH.

Fresh out of prison John Muller is disgusted to find out that the members of his old crew have all gotten jobs. He pressures them into helping him rob a gambling hall that's run by the toughest boss in town. The heist is a bust and only John and one other guy get out alive, they split the dough and John goes into hiding in Los Angeles.

On the lam, John gets a normal 9 to 5 job then one day while out running errands a guy (John Qualen from THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE and THE SEARCHERS!) mistakes John for a local psychiatrist. This gives John an idea. He starts romancing the doctor's secretary and learns everything he can about the doctor. Finally he's trained himself to a perfect double except for the huge scar on the doctor's cheek. John better hurry and make the switch soon cause the goon squad is closing in. There's much more to the story but I can't say anymore without giving it all away.

For a low budget picture THE SCAR looks great (wish I could say the same for the fuzzy Alpha Video DVD) with dark, brooding shadows and imaginative camerawork. There's one shot towards the end that tripped me out. I rewound it four times because I liked it so much.

A definite must see for noir fans.

Hey Criterion how about a lesser known noir box set with THE SCAR, DETOUR, ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, THE HITCH-HIKER, PRIVATE HELL 36 and ACT OF VIOLENCE.

Dark and suspensful,"The Scar" is a real sleeper. It seldom appears on anybody's list of essential films noirs. Part of the reason is surely confusion with the alternate title "Hollow Triumph". Nonetheless, this independently produced gem contains the very essence of noir. Paul Henreid memorably plays a convict who tries to change his own fate by taking advantage of a fantastic coincidence: recently released from prison and looking for a fresh start--he stumble upon a successful psychiatrist who is his exact double. The rest of the film spins a wonderful web of intrigue. And it doesn't hurt to have Joan Bennett along for the ride. Really a well-produced B movie, "The Scar" does utilize some plot cliches, but it proceeds with an unrelenting feeling of doom. Directed by Steve Szekely in a Fritz Lang-influenced style, this film should appeal to fans of "The Woman in the Window" or "Scarlet Street".

An awful lot of classic films noir revolve around doubling - mistaken identities - stolen identitities - and other troubling and eerie manifestations of the concept that our individualities, our selves, may not really be as uniques as we wish them to be. I'm not sure that any film in the style goes as far into the psychological ramifications of such issues as Steve Sekely's 1948 masterpiece, produced by and starring Paul Henreid.

Henreid must have wanted to get away from the often bland continental romantic leads that he'd been playing for the previous several years. This was the first film he produced, and it led off a very successful second career as a producer/director, mostly in TV - though he was to remain, and still remains well after his death, known to all but the fairly serious film buffs only for his role in CASABLANCA. Here Henreid plays medical school dropout/criminal John Muller, getting out of prison in the first scene with the promise of a boring but respectable straight job in California. He doesn't want it and soon gets into trouble knocking over the gambling operation of a bigger gangster in Florida - and going on the run to avoid a bullet-riddled fate.

Muller tries to play it safe and straight for a little while in Los Angeles, but a chance encounter with a dentist who swears that he looks just like Dr. Bartok, the psychiatrist that works in the same medical building changes his mind. Investigating the psychiatrist's operation he finds that indeed he bears a startling resemblance - a fact not unnoticed by Bartok's secretary and apparent paramour Evelyn (Joan Bennett), who soon falls under Muller's slick charm and ends up half-knowingly helping him out in his scheme to find out as much as possible about Bartok.

I won't spoil what happens when Muller is finally ready to take over Bartok's identity and life, and the complications that ensue; suffice it to say that he makes a very large and obvious mistake - but soon finds out that people don't often see the facts that are right in front of their very eyes. And so he is lulled and fooled into a sense of false security - and manages to convince Evelyn that he has, in fact, managed to become a different person more-or-less; until he finds out that the doctor and he had something else in common that he in his arrogance overlooked just as the people around him overlooked his own mistakes.

THE SCAR has a lot to say about how we fool ourselves, and the folly of arrogance - and of those who trust the arrogant and self-confident men who are really unable to face up to their own mistakes. It's about the power of psychological masks and how they oftentimes can completely overawe and sublimate the physical masks we make for ourselves. Henreid manages an almost impossible task - making a truly despicable person almost likeable - or at least believable and pitiable; and Bennett is fine as well. John Alton's photography is as good as ever, which is saying an awful lot. I first watched this film a couple of years ago in a mediocre St. Clair Vision transfer - alas the print on this Alpha disc isn't any better but a second viewing really helps to piece together both the wonderful psychological ramifications of the story and the physical beauty of the film, even if it is somewhat hidden in the poor dupe transfer. The noir enthusiast is probably best off getting the similarly priced VCI edition of The Scar/The Limping Man which also offers Cy Endfield's fascinating Brit-noir THE LIMPING MAN and a terrific half-hour noirish TV program from 1955 with Edmond O'Brien, THE DARK STRANGER.

"If you think I'm going to get myself mixed up with you, you're crazy. You're pretty good and you've got style, but first comes you, second comes you, third comes you. You're one of those egotistical smart alecks with big ideas. You think you've got a right to get away with murder, and I imagine you often do, but not with me."

That's Evelyn Hahn (Joan Bennett) speaking. She's standing under an awning while the rain buckets down. She's just had an evening out with John Muller (Paul Henreid), a man she met when he came to the office of Dr. Victor Bartok because he'd heard he looks just like Bartok. Bartok is a psychologist and Evelyn Hahn manages things for him. And Evelyn Hahn, unknowingly, has Muller pegged. He's a smart, me first, anti-social criminal who thinks he should have the best. Now he's on the run because a gambler he tried to rob is after him. After seeing Bartok, Muller realizes he's got an escape hatch handy. The two are as identical as twins, except that Bartok has a scar on his cheek. A little boning up on psychology, a little practice mastering Bartok's handwriting, a little self-inflicted scar-making with a scalpel, and a little murder...and Muller becomes Bartok.

Getting to this point has been interesting, but now we have the rest of the movie to get through. Some of it holds up. Muller begins to learn that Dr. Bartok has some secrets of his own, including high stakes gambling. The Doctor was anything but a sympathetic man, and was unreasonable enough to have his scar on the other cheek than the one Muller gave himself. (A mirror and a flipped negative for a photo caused the problem.) Evelyn notices but stays quiet, which makes us wonder.

But then suddenly we learn Evelyn, a woman we like, has had a rough time of it with past relationships. She says she doesn't feel sorry for herself, but, of course, she feels sorry for herself. "What's the use," she says, "because you can never go back and start again, because the older you grow the worse everything turns out. You don't see it happen to you, it just happens. You wake up one morning and anything goes and that's alright, too." Huh? This comes to us out of the blue. Like the coincidences in the plot and the journeyman storyline (Meeting an identical-looking stranger? Faking psychology counseling? Fooling the real doc's office manager?), the change in Evelyn becomes nothing more than slack story telling. With this development we're hip deep in soap opera noir, made even more irritating because it wastes Joan Bennett. With no idea Evelyn Hahn was going to become Stella Dallas, we have no emotional commitment to her fate, along with no illusions as to what fate has in store for Muller. Although the movie ends with what is supposed to be ironic justice laced with tragedy, Evelyn's teary eyes just make us shrug.

The Scar (aka Hollow Triumph) features great John Alton cinematography. The movie is always a pleasure to watch. Alton often was able to make a B movie look like it might have A movie potential. Paul Henreid, who produced the film, wanted to shed his image of being nothing but a sympathetic nice guy. He does a fine, assured job as Muller, a self-centered, manipulating egoist for whom murder is just another solution to a problem. Briefly seen is Leslie Brooks, a scheming fixture of low budget films, as gorgeous arm candy with Muller/Bartok. To see a real noir mellerdramer, watch her as the star of Blonde Ice, made the same year.

Joan Bennett, however, has almost nothing to do. One can't help wondering why she took the role unless possibly as a favor to Henreid. To see just how good she was, watch her in Jean Renoir's The Woman on the Beach [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ], made the year before with Robert Ryan, and Max Ophul's The Reckless Moment (The Blank Wall) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ], made the year after with James Mason.

The Scar is worth watching for noir fans, but buy it only if the price is low enough. The movie is in the public domain. My version has a poor transfer from an obviously damaged master.

One of the many stunning qualities of this film is John Alton's mysterious photography--but you won't see anything near to what he created in this dreadful transfer from second- or third-generation source. It's not even black and white! More like some murky sepia. Wait till somebody responsible puts this out right.

I highly recommend this film. It is very interesting and a well made film. I think it is well worth seeing. Both Paul Henreid
and Joan Bennett are great in it.

The Scar, 1948 film

Two men discuss a candidate for release from prison. "It's a good job." $35 a week for Muller. Johnny has to catch up with life. "What's her name?" His friends have jobs. Johnny wants to rob a gambling casino, but it is dangerous even if you get away. They hold up the cashier, people at the gambling tables don't notice them. But there is a hitch in the plan. Two are caught and squeal. The man with Johnny is scared and wants to go to South America. Johnny settles down to a 9 to 5 job. Who is following Johnny? Could someone look like him? Rocky Stanzig's boys are looking for Johnny now. Where can he hide? Johnny is a schemer. Can he imitate another man's voice and signature? [Does this story become unbelievable?]

Johnny applies for a job at the Clover Garage. Can he impersonate Victor Bartok? [Did he make a mistake?] "Check the oil." Is Johnny hiding in plain sight? Will Johnny do a bad thing? People don't notice anything, they only think about themselves. The patients talk. A telephone call from a woman is handled smoothly. His brother is looking for Johnny. Evelyn Hahn gets an idea. Stanzig was arrested, Johnny isn't being hunted. Evelyn isn't happy anymore. [Corrosive cynicism?] Will Johnny give up his sweet life to leave with Evelyn for Hawaii? Two men follow him. Bartok has an unpleasant surprise. His pursuit of happiness runs out of time for an ironic ending. Johnny can't escape his fate.

Parts of this story seem incredible, but it is all part of a morality play where the bad are punished in the end. Most people live in the community they were born in. It would be difficult for a stranger to impersonate a member of the community, but not to join as a distant relative. There were other stories about people who impersonated someone only to find more problems.

Henreid is terrific in his role. His character's shrink-theory philosophy - most folks are so wrapped up in themselves that they notice little else - is played out nicely as the film rolls along. Except for Bennet's character. That she didn't see the switcheroo from the get-go is so unbelievable it ruined the story for me right there. The dialog is great, as is the pacing. Too bad the print copy doesn't do the original cinematography justice.

This version is a nice remaster of an interesting but minor noir title. Paul Henried delivers a good performance but Joan Bennett is the one to watch here. It's a shame the film didn't focus on her more.