jameselliot-1 के द्वारा समीक्षा

Physically, the charismatic and handsome Curtis (until he got into drugs and booze in the 70s) was nothing like Demara, a portly looking chap. The real Demara played a doctor in the horror film The Hypnotic Eye (1960) starring Jacques Bergerac and Allison Hayes. He has a scene tending to one of the women who disfigured herself on the order of the crazed hypnotist. Demara was a puzzling figure. He didn't do his impersonations for money or to harm anyone and the question still remains why he was compelled to become one of the most successful flim-flam man of the 20th century. Today with cameras, smart phones and social media, it would be impossible to fool so many institutions and people in person to the extent he did. The film was shot and lit well, and Mancini's score fluctuates between light and frothy and dark and dramatic. The use of black and white instead of color creates a distancing effect. No matter how dangerous and stupid Curtis's Demara behaves at different points in the film, his movie star charisma and the film's lighthearted approach to a possible sociopathic personality guarantees the audience enjoying his exploits and brushes aside the emotional damage he inflicted on the women he romanced. His attraction to the Catholic church is another puzzle the film does not investigate. The TV series The Pretender has a lead character who has even greater chamelonic powers than Fred.