The Fake

This British clunker may have had some noble ambitions by its makers, but it emerges as just another mediocre, misguided attempt at providing a modicum of entertainment. Buried in the UA catalogue it's a nothing burger.

As emblazoned in an opening thank you credit, it was shot at London's Tate Gallery -sounds like a big deal. But the low-budget quickie is in black and white, making all the paintings on view nothing to look at. And it's a crime drama, so the dim and moody lighting further detracts. What's the point? Would "Lust for Life" be watchable if given the b&w quota quickie treatment?

Dennis O'Keefe is insufferable playing an uppity investigator from the States in London to solve the mystery of who is stealing priceless Da Vinci paintings. The culprit is obvious from the outset and it's a boring slog until O'Keefe catches him. Femme lead Coleen Gray has little to do.

Simply a bore.

Dennis O'Keefe stars in "The Fake," a 1953 film set in London. There are a lot of these films from the '50s featuring an American or two, such as Cesar Romero, in a British mystery.

O'Keefe plays Paul Mitchell, who is checking on the security of the Tate Gallery (with scenes actually filmed there) as the gallery gets ready to show Da Vinci's Madonna and Child. He is also interested in the $50,000 reward for two other stolen masterpieces where the paintings in their place were found to be fakes. He begins to suspect that the father of an employee (Colleen Gray), who is an accomplished painter, might have painted the fakes. But for whom? This is a pretty good mystery with a nice upbeat performance by the affable O'Keefe, and it's always great to see Colleen Gray in anything. For my money she was underused by Hollywood.

These types of films are usually quite enjoyable and atmospheric, and also on the short side. They make for good watching.

Forget the criticism about this motion picture "The Fake." This is a gem of a movie...with good characters,acceptable plot line and lots of British and American flavor. The male lead is a somewhat obnoxious--but charming--American private investigator who is attempting to solve the case of the disappearance of several Da Vinci paintings. Low budget, but still worthwhile (Hell, some low budget films have earned Oscars!)...and there are a few real chuckles...and some very neat scenes, such as the chemist's lab (took me back to my high school and college chemistry classes...and the Hollywood horror films of the fifties and sixties, with people like Vincent Price and Peter Cushing.. and the museum boiler room.

The romantic development is worthwhile too. Oh...black and white, so it has a film noir air about it. I liked the picture enough to burn to disc...and grinned through much of the action.

Most valuable today for it's record of early fifties London in general and the Tate Gallery in particular (an unlikely place to show a Da Vinci, by the way), the soundtrack is probably the most imaginative thing about it, from the gallery acoustics to the Mussorgsky score.

It is well written with qualified actors, but it's not just a thriller about forgeries and thefts and the madness of a great art collector and lover gone wrong. The most interesting story here is the tragedy of the artist, John Laurie, who is a perfectly honest and meticulous artist who knows his profession and tries hard to stick to his good decent work, but he never reaches recognition and is ruthlessly used by art parasites which dilemma leads to his ruin. Fortunately though he achieves some posthumous triumph by in his last painting giving away his profiteers by presenting it with a clue and a lead, which saves more lives than one. The film is mainly shot within the Tate Gallery, which provides many fascinating scenes and shots, and for music the film makes use of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" aptly enough and no other music. You might object against two Americans given the leads, Dennis O'Keefe and Colleen Gray, in this very British museum drama, while all the English actors are rather played down, even Hugh Williams. Nevertheless, as an art thriller it is interesting indeed and better than most art thrillers.