El hombre de dos caras

"The Magic Face" is a strange film that seems to have debuted a bit late. Had it come out during WWII, it would have worked better....and having a different leading man would have made it a bit more logical.

The film stars Luther Adler, a man from a famous acting family and who made a huge name for himself in Yiddish theater as well as on Broadway. Adler made films and TV appearances as well, but clearly he was more known for his stage work. As I mentioned above, he was an odd choice for the role...and I'll explain this.

The film is a 'what if' film about history. Early in WWII, an angry Austrian actor decides to insinuate himself into Hitler's inner circle as a valet. His plan is to one day kill the fuehrer and take on his identity...which he does early in the war. Then, as the faux Adolf, he deliberately makes decision after decision which ruins the German war effort.

The idea of such a substitution is smart and interesting. After all, up until about 1940-41, Hitler's decisions in running the war were pretty spot on and the Germans were highly successful. Substituting him for a man bent on destroying Germany made some sense, as his decisions in 1941 became completely irrational (such as attacking the USSR and declaring war on the USA). But, there is one HUGE problem. If this had happened, why wouldn't this substitute have stopped the Holocaust or just ended the war?? Having a Jewish actor play a fake Hitler and NOT stopping the persecution of Jews just seemed ultra-bizarro...especially since it got much worse around 1941! The only way this might have made sense was to have the actor be a complete anti-Semite himself...though believing Adler to be such a man was difficult back in 1951. Odd...to say the least.

Overall, a cheaply made and strange film...not always logical but never dull.

I saw this movie in 1951 in a theater in Brooklyn, NY with my grandmother for sure and maybe my mother. I was young, only seven years old.For some reason its always stuck in my mind. I remember Luther Adler and that it was in black and white. Something I can't pinpoint exactly was fascinating about it. Possibly it was Adler's performance, the film seemed grim and dark like the subject of World War Two. I remember him ranting and raving, like Hitler would have. Never knew Adler was related to Stella Adler the acting teacher. If it was available, I'd buy it in a minute. I wish it was. Maybe if enough of us comment on it, they would re-release it in VHS or some other form. Luther Adler was an excellent actor. I remember him as the Israeli Prime Minister in CAST A GIANT SHADOW. I also remember him in DOA with Edmond O'Brien as the bad guy,but can't remember him in DESERT FOX with James Mason, another cinema giant.

Luther Adler is a Viennese actor who imitates the leaders of the day: Mussolini, Hitler, Churchill, he does them all and the audiences roar. Then comes Anschluss and his wife, Patricia Knight walks out on him for, eventually, Hitler. So Adler learns to be a valet, becomes Hitler's valet and replaces him. Unfortunately, he can't just destroy the Third Reich, so he adopts a strategy of making bad decisions: declaring war on Russia instead of invading England and mopping up that front first; delaying the response to the Normandy landing and so forth, up to the Bunker and his disappearance. Plus there's William L. Shirer, speaking before and after about how this story was told to him and he sort of believes it.

I respected Shirer's writing until today. I hope they paid him a lot of money for spouting this nonsense, which is suitable fare for a PRC programmer nine years earlier. To see Frank Tuttle listed as director is astonishing. He had spent many years as a house director for Goldwyn and Paramount, making excellent thrillers. Now, however, he was working for Columbia, so the support network was not something he could manage. Good actors, wasted!

The worst part of it is this is largely the plot of Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR, released a dozen years earlier, in which a Jewish barber takes the place of Hitler. Aren't you supposed to make the melodrama first and the burlesque after?

I recall this movie well. I was fourteen years of age when it was released in 1951 and lived in White Plains,NY. I viewed this picture twice due to it's unique perspective. Luther Adler's view of this period of history was not only interesting, but thought provoking as well as fascinating. Felt Mr. Adler's acting was convincing, along with his unusual look at history. Why can't this interesting movie be made available in either DVD or VHS? I also viewed Adler's role as Hitler in the James Mason film "The Desert Fox". I could be mistaken, but it's my recollection that Mr. Adler, and or the producers challenged viewers to disprove the story; and if proved correct would receive a monetary reward. Please comment!

Very interesting story set around Hitler and a magician and his beautiful wife. Intriguing story which is a very thought provoking possibility as to why Hitler changed tactics during World War II. We wish this movie was available on video so that we could view it again after all these years.