Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Just Ok....., July 5, 2004
This dvd contains 2 film noir movies: THE SCAR (1948--80 min.) starring Paul Henreid and THE LIMPING MAN (1953--76 min.) starring Lloyd Bridges.
THE SCAR i would say is the more interesting of these 2 pretty good noir movies. The audio and video quality would rank about a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. They both look pretty good, but they both have several splices and scratches. The audio is fairly clear on both except THE LIMPING MAN has a couple of bad spots. This disc contains an episode of THE STAR AND THE STORY titled "Dark Stranger" starring Edmond O'Brien and a young Joanne Woodward as a bonus. The quality of the bonus episode is very good. It also contains a film noir poster gallery which is cool. All in all this dvd is OK, but it's nothing to cheer about. Let's hope someday an excellent quality disc of both films comes out.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The ending is . . . well, lame., February 8, 2006
This review focuses on the second of the two oddities paired here: THE LIMPING MAN (1953).
Is it a noir? Let's call it a near-noir.
Lloyd Bridges, having survived his encounter with Nabura in the 1945 serial SECRET AGENT X-9, flies into Heathrow and into this British mystery looking a bit older but no worse for wear. As Frank Pryor, he's The American, a fact which unsettles most of the other characters, including one fascinated barmaid who seems to think America is located somewhere out beyond Venus. Scotland Yard has a reason to be interested, though, because the minute Frank steps off the plane the guy walking beside him, who proffers a light, is ventilated by a rifle bullet. Frank hasn't even had a chance to inhale, and suddenly he's looking down at a corpse.
How do we know the bullet came from a rifle? Easy--we see the shooter. Actually, it's not a rifle, it's a crutch; well, not a crutch, but more like a walking stick--a walking stick that you can shoot when you take the little rubber cap off the bottom. Remember when canes all had swords in them? Well, by 1953 they could shoot bullets, which is handy in this instance since the shooter, crouching behind his car, is way too far from his victim to throw a sword.
No one else glimpsed this guy, or his car, sitting by itself in plain view in the field adjacent to the runway, so Scotland Yard naturally interrogates all the passengers on the plane (thankfully we are spared these interviews). They show particular interest in Frank, whom they grill in a cordial, mildly curious way. He's en route to see his wartime girlfriend, Pauline French, so the Yard boys note her address and send him on his way. Then, in an abrupt reversal of cordiality, they put a tail on him.
Pauline, played by Moira Lister (a sultrier name than Pauline French!), is strangely underjoyed to see Frank, though she does her best to put some oomph into her kisses. He learns that Pauline and the dead man, a sleazy character, were . . . well, you know, Frank was way off in America, and the years were long, and the London nights were so foggy and cold. . . . Frank is perplexed: what was she mixed up in? Scotland Yard is suspicious: what other shady connections does she have? And Pauline is a puzzle: why should she be lying to Frank, the American?
There are several good reasons to watch this movie. One is the sheer lunacy of the musical interludes, both of which take place during an onstage magic act. While the magician thrusts knives and other sharp objects through boxes enclosing a supine woman, the woman herself breaks into song ("Hey Presto!" is the engaging title of one number) and keeps it up throughout the act, which we are forced to watch even though we know that the important stuff is happening elsewhere. (When we tire of the singing we can at least distract ourselves with the magician's props, one of which resembles a larger version of the finger chopper that was once every kid's first purchase from the Johnson Smith catalog).
Another good reason is the brief appearance, but only the appearance, of Jean Marsh (she is onscreen for a couple of minutes but has no lines). This was her first movie role (as the landlady's daughter), and she didn't appear in another movie for several years. It's a delight to see this veteran of theater, movies, and TV ("Upstairs, Downstairs," "Doctor Who," FRENZY--it's a long list) as a winsome but saucy 19-year-old in the pointiest bra this side of HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL.
The ending of THE LIMPING MAN: I can't talk about it, and not because I don't want to spoil it for you. No, I want you to watch this thing all the way through so you will suffer as I did. And suffer you will, in the 75th minute of this 76-minute movie. Trust me.
If you can't bring yourself to shell out the asking price for the VCI release, the movie is also available on Alpha and on one of Platinum's Disc's "Mystery" collections.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A nice sampling of low-budget film noir, plus great bonus features, November 29, 2005
Another fine film noir double feature from VCI Entertainment, this disc contains two entertaining B movies, "The Scar (A.K.A. "Hollow Triumph)" and "The Limping Man." Although "The Limping Man" is much more obscure, "The Scar" is by far the better movie on this disc. Having seen two previous versions of "The Scar" on dvd, I was glad to discover that VCI had made at least some attempt to restore the badly damaged public domain print. However, there are still plenty of picture/audio flaws with each movie, but I can almost guarantee that you won't see any better-quality version of either film released on dvd.
1948's "The Scar" stars Paul Henreid as Johnny Muller, a conman and thief who's released from prison after serving a sentence for robbing a payroll. Refusing to learn from his past mistakes, he gets his old mob together and convinces them to rob a gambling club owned by the notorious racketeer Rocky Stansyck. However, the robbery doesn't go as planned, and only Johnny and his friend Marcy escape, the rest being captured and gunned down by Rocky's men. After splitting the stolen $60,000, Marcy heads for Mexico while Johnny goes back to his old job and lays low.
When he discovers that he's an exact look-alike of Dr. Victor Bartok (also played by Henreid), he romances Bartok's sexy secretary Evelyn Nash (Joan Bennett) while learning all he can about the doctor. Johnny eventually kills the doctor and assumes his identity. Dr. Bartok had a big scar on his face, and so Johnny makes an incision on his own face to have the exact same scar. Only after Bartok's death does he realize that his scar is on the opposite cheek of the doctor's. Evelyn discovers Johnny's deception and, angry and heartbroken, plans to leave town.
Refusing to lose Evelyn, whom he truly loves, Johnny makes plans to go to Honolulu with her on a ship. But fate intervenes, and in an ironic twist Johnny's clever scheme backfires. 1948's "The Scar" was produced by Paul Henreid for the "Poverty Row" studio Eagle-Lion, and the legendary John Alton was responsible for cinematography. The plot of "The Scar" is contrived and the ending is gloomy, but the exceptional performances by Henreid and Bennett and Alton's impressive cinematography make this a must in any film noir buff's collection. By the way, Jack Webb has a cameo appearance in this movie!
Next, we have the 1953 British noir "The Limping Man." Frank Prior (Lloyd Bridges) is an American WWII veteran who goes back to England after the war to see his old girlfriend Pauline French (Moira Lister). As he's walking away from the plane at the London airport though, the man right by his side is shot and killed by a sniper. Prior is questioned along with the other passengers, and then released. He does rekindle his romance with Pauline, but the more time they spend together the more he suspects that she's involved somehow in the shooting at the airport.
To make matters worse, Scotland Yard informs Frank that his girlfriend has been seen with known criminals that are connected with the shooting, and Frank finally convinces Pauline to tell him the truth about her past. But Pauline's past catches up with her in the form of a blackmailer, and Pauline must decide the right thing to do, while both Frank and the police desperately try to find those responsible for the shooting. Just when things start to get really exciting, however, there's a twist that changes everything and will definitely leave you disappointed.
Several noir films have a dreamlike quality that drastically affects the story ("Woman in the Window," "The Chase," "Stage Fright," etc.), but in this case it almost ruins the whole movie. Oh well, Lloyd Bridges does a good job in this B movie and it is entertaining enough, until the twist ending. Bonus features on this disc are: An entertaining noir tv episode of "The Star and the Story," called "Dark Stranger" and starring one of the great stars of film noir, Edmond O'Brien. Plus there's a film noir poster gallery and several trailers and dvd previews. Bottom line, this dvd is highly recommended because of "The Scar" and the bonus features.
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