Strange Fascination

A well directed, well written and sad film like this calls to mind the works of Max Ophüls and Stefan Zweig, it's the same kind of deep melancholy pervading the whole work, giving it a dimension of bottomless despair. Josef von Sternberg's "The Blue Angel" bringing Marlene Dietrich to Hollywood also comes to mind, it's the same kind of story, an accomplished master in his field is brought down by his own strange fascination with a cheap nightclub dancer, who actually originally is intent on bringing him down and sabotaging his concert, but instead she gets a kick out of his fantastic Chopin interpretations although she understands nothing about classical music, and he commits the mistake of taking her seriously and falling for her, making of himself a self-destructive idiot. Of course he is foolish, getting carried away by his jealousy of a woman who could be his daughter, but he just can't help it, and Hugo Haas makes a very convincing character of a great man at a loss against his own weakness. Almost all Hugo Haas' films have the character of a sad pathetic self-revelation and self-confession, and here he plays the lead in his own film of such a case. It is extremely sympathetic in all its pathetic deplorability, but the case is saved by the fact that he actually keeps smiling. And the music, like in all Haas' films, is absolutely exquisite in its blend of the highest quality and the lowest vulgarity.

Hugo Haas was a middle-aged character actor who began writing, producing and starring in (though playing second fiddle to glamorous blondes) low-budget films in the 1950's. His first two films as "auteur" starred Beverly Michaels but it was his seven collaborations with beautiful Cleo Moore that are better remembered today. STRANGE FASCINATION was their first film together and one of the more conservative, less lurid of the bunch, a fairly conventional drama of a renown concert pianist (Haas) who becomes attracted to and marries a nightclub dancer (Moore) which starts him on the road to ruin. A few years later, Moore's character would have been a bad girl who took him for everything he had, here she's rather sweet girl who is really not responsible for his problems. Since the melodrama here is low key this is one of the duller Moore/Haas romps but Cleo looks close to her most beautiful with a pageboy hairstyle and cute clothes and for movie buffs there's 1930's starlet Mona Barrie in a featured part.

I won't belabor you with plot details -- other reviewers have done that just fine.

I do disagree with most of the ratings that precede mine. Greatness here? No. But definitely watchable with two very real characters (that's scripting) and two solid performances.

I have no idea what the cost of making Strange Fascination was. It seemed low-cost but not corner-cutting. I'm no high-brow musically, I never heard of Hugo Haas and barely knew of Cleo Moore. I didn't enter with great expectations. I came away pleasantly surprised. I found a good mix of on-screen chemistry, despite the characters' wide variance in background and age.

Directors who act in their own films would probably want to be their own lawyers. (This means you, Heywood Allen.) Here, Haas comes out OK both in front of and behind the camera. Moore is appropriately attractive, as well as being effective.

Good, tight, well executed B-plus film. Worth your while. Mine, anyway.

The Czech actor Hugo Haas was a very popular film star. However, after fleeing the Third Reich he came to America and his career never reached the same heights. He mostly appeared in lower budgeted movies, though a few times he managed to do what he did in "Strange Fascination"...he directed, wrote, produced AND starred in it!

Paul (Haas) is a concert pianist who is unknown in America. Through the help of a rich American lady, he is brought to the States for a concert tour. While this works well, things start to go amiss when he falls for a trampy dancer, Margo (Cleo Moore). She is an expert at playing men and the middle-aged Paul hasn't a chance with her. Soon she is a major part of his life and he marries her. However, he isn't a rich man and is beholden to his sponsor, Diana (Mona Barrie). And, this sponsor soon abandons him when Paul makes a mess of his life. What's next in this tragic tale? Plenty!

Is this a fun film to watch? Nope. It's pretty tragic and sad. It is, however, well made I also appreciate how Moore's character is conniving but not 100% awful...and many of Paul's problems are self-created. It's not just a 'black & white' marriage. Overall an interesting character study but also a downer of a story. So, if you are feeling depressed, it's NOT a story for you!

I happen to find these Hugo Haas-Cleo Moore films entertaining.

Haas was a famous actor in his native Czechoslovakia until he had to flee the Nazis. Once in America, he became a director and a writer of B movies usually starring a gorgeous blond.

The gorgeous blond in this case is Cleo Moore. Paul is an up and coming concert pianist with a sponsor (Mona Barrie). One night he drops into a bar while a dance routine is in progress, and makes too much noise as far as the female dancer Margo (Moore) is concerned. So, similar to the last film I saw them in, she sets out to ruin his life.

She attends one of his concerts and instead becomes enamored of his music. Slowly but surely she wields her way into his life, and the two marry.

Margo goes along with Paul on his concert tour. It's highly successful until it abruptly stops due to a flooding situation. Unfortunately, in part thanks to Margo, Paul is flat broke. And he can't depend on his female sponsor to help him.

This is where the film for me goes off the rails. The guy hits the skids in like five minutes. If this were Van Cliburn, would the cancellation of one concert cause total destruction? Suddenly he's a big nobody. When Margo tries to work, he becomes jealous and possessive and refuses to let her, mainly because she's a flirt.

It goes on from there. Haas is a very warm actor, and he gives us a sympathetic if unreasonable character.

Moore does a good job and looks very glamorous. It's hard to decide if she loves Paul or was just using him all along. I think she does care about him, but they're both suffering.

Very nice ending.