Stolen Face

Paul Henreid stars as a celebrated plastic surgeon, who meets concert pianist Lizabeth Scott on a brief holiday. He quickly falls for her, but she disappears before telling him she's engaged to a man who has helped her in her career. A confused, sullen Henreid returns to his practice, which includes his charitable work with female inmates. Henreid believes if he can change their looks, he can change their lives. When he learns that Scott is going to be married, he decides to 'recreate' her on badly scarred thief Lily (Mary Mackenzie).

Then, to give her a better environment, he decides to marry Lily much to the disapproval of his friends. It isn't long before Lily reverts to old pals and old ways--stealing jewelry and furs, but Henreid makes excuses to the shops and pays her bills. One day, Scott shows up. She decided not to marry and she sees a picture of 'herself' (Lily) on his desk. You would think this would elicit a 'that's really creepy' response, but it's brushed aside a little too easily. Lily finds out that she's just a Scott knock-off, and makes it clear that now she's going to do as she pleases, Henreid can't stop her and her life gets wilder. How will this all work out? Watch and find out.

Scott is the standout of the cast, playing both demure musician and party girl with equal skill. I first thought she was even changing her throaty whispers to become Lily (who gets more Cockney as her behavior spirals downward) but Mary Mackenzie voiced Lily throughout (there is a similarity). There are shades of Vertigo in the plot, and the score by the London Philharmonic is quite good, Odd choice for Heinreid in the cast, since he played a double part in "The Scar" just four years earlier.

Hollywood star Paul Henreid came to Britain to play a plastic surgeon who finds out the hard way that beauty is only skin deep in this very poor man's 'Vertigo' after operating on shrewish kleptomaniac Mary Mackenzie in what is possibly the most eccentric film ever made by Hammer Films in their Exclusive days which offers the truly surreal sight of Lizabeth Scott incongruously blessed with the ability to play the piano yet dubbed with the voice of guttersnipe; an experience that is probably one of the most surreal Hammer ever provided with Malcolm Arnold's romantic piano score adding to the impression.

Up front I must admit I am a die-hard Paul Henreid fan, and I want to reassure any potential viewers of this movie that he was professional enough to put as much effort into this role as every other one I have seen him play, despite the fact that he made this film as a blacklisted and (consequently) underpaid actor.

There were basically two things I couldn't believe regarding the plot of this movie: 1)That an intelligent, established, professional man would marry a thievin' Cockney wench even if he did make her look like his lost true love; and 2) That his lost true love, on returning to him, didn't do a mad dash the other way when she found out he had actually made someone else look like her & then married that woman. I mean, isn't that a little twisted or something?

Overall the film was pretty good, & the romance between Henreid & Scott at the B&B truly enjoyable. I thought it delightful the way Henreid nursed Scott through her nasty head cold, & I like seeing a guy who is 6'3" sit on one bar stool with his feet on the next bar stool & look perfectly comfortable. It was only when the plot wanted me to believe the unbelievable that I had some trouble enjoying the film.

Ah, but the ending was pretty darn cute, & worth the 'huh?' I uttered during the dubious parts.

In 1950, American producer Robert Lippert formed a business alliance with Hammer studios. Under the agreement, Lippert would provide American acting talent - frequently shop-worn stars or just supporting actors who fancied a profitable trip out of the country - while Hammer would supply the rest of the cast and the production facilities. Together they would split the profits. Famous for his concern with the bottom line, Lippert produced over 140 films between 1946 and 1955, characteristically genre pieces such as I Shot Jesse James or Rocketship XM. For the British deal, most of the films were noir-ish thrillers - and include this title.

Stolen Face (1952) offers the characteristic noir idea of loss, or confusion, of identity often through surgery, as seen in the plots of such titles as Dark Passage (1947), or Hollow Triumph (1958). In the present film, which has echoes of both Pygmalion and Vertigo, a plastic surgeon falls in love with a concert pianist during a vacation, thinks he has lost her to another man, and sets to copy her features when restoring the looks of another woman - incidentally a habitual criminal - whom he thereupon marries. If this sounds far fetched, then it is, but is carried of well enough by the two leads Paul Henreid and Lizabeth Scott, who between them produce sympathetic moments enough during early scenes that almost makes one forget limitations elsewhere. Another standout element of this film is the musical score by the late Malcom Arnold. There is also an interestingly ambiguous ending.

"A Woman's Face" meets "A Stolen Life." Paul Henreid is a famed, highly principled plastic surgeon. We see him refusing to work on a society matron who is beyond his help. He is taken to meet a badly scarred young criminal. She isn't terribly nice but he is intrigued and takes on the case pro bono.

He is then persuaded to take a vacation. On his trip he meets a concert pianist. She is none other than Lizabeth Scott! Well, add to the movies this resembles, though in this case considerably predates, the classic "Vertigo." We can also toss "Pygmalion" int the pot, though Scott is no Wendy Hiller.

I can't give too much away but you can guess who the bad girl ends up looking like after surgery.

Scott is quite good. She given a little more range than some of her other movies gave her and she does well. The rest of the cast is good too.

The movie is, I suppose, film noir. I wouldn't say it's campy. But it is fun.