Pesadelo Horrível

The third noir from director Mann – after THE GREAT FLAMARION (1945; which I haven't seen) and the minor but not unentertaining TWO O'CLOCK COURAGE (1945) – also has some very welcome horror/sci-fi trappings that should endear it to fans of those kind of movies as well. Lovely blonde, bespectacled scientist Brenda Marshall (who, in real life, was Mrs. William Holden at the time) keeps postponing her marriage to colleague William Gargan because of her all-important experiments in anaesthesia, until one night her jealous assistant Hillary Brooke contrives to overdo the mixture causing an explosion in the vicinity of Marshall (who is out cold) that leaves her facially scarred. More treachery from the two-faced Brooke manages to bar Gargan from visiting the hospitalized Marshall which leads to their breaking off the engagement. A slight traffic accident on the night of the explosion has also put a blackmailing woman and a snooping lawyer in Marshall's path but, seeing the former fall to her death from the apartment window after a tussle, gives her a new lease on life which enables her to change identities with the dead woman and perform plastic surgery (courtesy of surgeon H.B. Warner). Adopting the facial features of the blackmailer (including shedding her glasses and dying her hair black), she introduces herself to Gargan and Brooke as her own school-friend from chemistry class and is soon employed by the former as his personal aide! In the meantime, Brooke starts looking into this intruder's past and, confronting Marshall with her contradictory findings, is shocked when her new rival reveals she is the old one in disguise, after all. On the other hand, the obnoxious lawyer is still on Marshall's trail and, in fact, almost gets her convicted for her own murder when Brooke refuses to corroborate her story about who she really is! The climatic interrogation sequence is where Mann lets all the expressionistic stops out…until the unexpected (and unwarranted) end revelation that it has all been the heroine's nightmare!! That the film succeeds as much as it does in spite of the meager cast, inexistent production values and cop-out finale is a tribute to the mastery of a film-maker who is just finding a firm footing in a genre he will be making his own in the following year or two.

Does there exist a male baby boomer who grew up watching reruns of "The Abbott and Costello Show" during the 1950s and early '60s who was able to resist falling in love with Hillary Brooke? With her sexy blond good looks and sweet demeanor, no wonder Lou and all the other guys had a major "thing" for her. Viewers may be surprised to learn, however, that before "The A&C Show," Hillary excelled at portraying so-called "bad girls," as the 1946 potboiler "Strange Impersonation" so amply demonstrates. Here, she plays the assistant to anesthesia researcher Brenda Marshall (herself so memorable in one of my Top 10 films of all time, the 1940 remake of "The Sea Hawk"), as well as the best friend from hell. Hillary sabotages one of Marshall's experiments, leading to an explosive fire and the disfigurement of her boss. She then goes about stealing Marshall's fiancé, leading to a twisty story involving betrayal, plastic surgery, murder, blackmail and identity theft. All this in a brief 68 minutes, and topped with a surprise ending that some may find cheap, but that surprisingly explains away the many plot loopholes, inconsistencies and implausibilities that have preceded it; an ending, in addition, that is wholly earned and was set up in the film's opening moments. Yes, this IS another B cheapie made on the quick by Republic Studios, but it certainly is fun. And need I even mention that it is a must for all fans of Hillary Brooke?

They say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. What if they are one and the same? Just ask scientist Nora Goodrich (Brenda Marshall, in real life Mrs. William Holden). She is conducting an experiment with her assistant/friend Arline (Hillary Brooke), but Arline is after Nora's fiancé (William Gargan), a successful doctor. While Nora is out from anesthetic, which is part of a grand experiment -oops, a fire starts in a beaker, thanks to Arline loading it up, and Nora's face is burned and scarred. While she's recovering in the hospital, Arline fixes it so that the fiancé thinks that Nora doesn't want to see him; meanwhile, Nora is wondering why he isn't coming by. Then an unfortunate accident in her apartment causes Nora to get plastic surgery - but with a brand-new face and a name to go with it.

This is kind of a fun B movie with an interesting cast that includes William Gargan as the object of Nora's and Arline's affections -- bad casting -- the role needed a good-looking B film lead like Jeffrey Lynn or Richard Carlson. H.B. Warner, Jesus in the original King of Kings, plays a plastic surgeon, and Ruth Ford, Mrs. Zachary Scott, plays one Jane Karaski, who is important to the plot.

Economically directed by Anthony Mann, this is a pretty good film with a gigantic twist at the end, one that was actually used in a couple of other films. Not the best but satisfying nonetheless.

Don't look for lovely cinematography, camera angles, unusual sets, great clothes, or anything like that - this movie comes to you from Republic Studios.

This film literally illustrates that without expressionist shadows or dark, dreary streets, a film noir plot turns out more like a soap opera, no matter how dark the plot is. That doesn't take away from the nightmarish quality, however, as things go horribly wrong: betrayal, blackmail, disfigurement, murder. It is only because of this that the female lead becomes our heroine but her fairytale rebirth into beauty cannot erase her "guilt" of independence - as someone has already mentioned, the post-war message was encouraging women to return to the home. However, the film cannot indulge in grim fatalism either, preferring to be prescriptive rather than prohibitive, so it displays a 'whatif?' scenario, allowing for an upbeat ending. Philosophically it falls between the more contemporary sci-fi "Dark man," and the recent spanish fantasy "Open your eyes;" perhaps today these genres are the heirs of film noir.

First off, I practically fainted at seeing a Republic Picture that didn't star John Wayne and wasn't one of their few big-budget movies. That studio turned out some excellent films and they are rarely seen. (This even though till about ten years ago our ABC affiliate showed one, sometimes two, every Saturday night.) The movie itself is not Mann at his best but it's very good. He's been given a fabulous cast. Brenda Marshall is a great favorite of mine. Ruth Ford did more on stage, maybe, than on screen. William Gargan was handsome before he moved into character roles. And Hillary Brooke! Wow, what a performance she turns in here! Lyle Talbot is also on board. He's somewhere between his days as a leading man and his time with Ed Wood. He looks a bit pudgy here.

When we first meet the three principals, they're all wearing glasses. You see, they are scientists.

In a parking garage on her way home from work, Marshall accidentally backs her car into the inebriated Ford. And that's all the plot I'm giving.

Brooke is given a very meaty role. It seems like the typical best-friend part. She seems like a low-budget Eve Arden at first. But oh no! That changes. And she is up to every twist and turn of the plot.

The movie is a little bit soap opera, a little bit noir. But it's both highly entertaining on its on and a must-see for fans of the great Anthony Mann.