O Filho Perdido

It Seems that the Sharp, Dark, Rough World of Film-Noir was just too Much for the Newly Emerging Conservative 1950's.

The Forces that be were Out to Tame Film-Noir and Morph the Style into Police Procedurals, and Other Easily Digested Movies "Sweetening" the "Sour".

Case-in-Point, "Two of a Kind", this one had All the Signs of the Genre .

But were Proven a Slight-of-Hand, sort of, or a Mis-Direction.

Starring Noir Icon's Edmond O'Brien and Lizabeth Scott and a Poster that Shows Not a Hint that it will Take a "Detour" to Comedy, and a Light-Hearted Approach as the Con-Game is Played-Out.

When Terry Moore's "Screwy" Character Shows-Up, it No-Longer even Tries to Maintain its Bona-Fides as a Film-Noir.

It has One Extremely Disturbing Scene, "The Car-Door", but the Rest of the Story is so Breezy and Aloof as to be Distracting to Anyone who was Expecting a More Serious, Gritty Story.

Overall, it can be Enjoyed as a Light-Crime Con-Game with Good Actors and Good Cinematography.

The Genre of Film-Noir, to This Day, is Exploited and the Label is Slapped on Movies that Just Don't Cut-It. The True Essence and Meaning of the Descriptive has been Lost Almost Completely.

This Whole Thing Started Around 1950-51 and is Still Around Today.

For Film-Noir Purist, be Prepared for a Let-Down.

Edmond O'Brien, Lizabeth Scott, Alexander Knox, and Terry Moore star in "Two of a Kind" from 1951.

Brandy Kirby (Scott) and an attorney, Vincent Mailer (Knox) for a wealthy man, William McIntyre find the perfect person in Lefty Farrell (O'Brien) to pretend to be the long-lost son of McIntyre's. He will then inherit $10 million, and since McIntyre and his wife are old, there won't be long to wait until he inherits.

Brandy seduces Lefty into taking the job. In order to do it, he has to lose part of his little finger, as the McIntyre's son did. A friend of Brandy's (MooreO who is the McIntyre's niece, introduces him to them when she sees his finger and asks questions. It's looking good that Lefty will be accepted as the son and inherit a fortune.

I had a few problems with this noir. The writer tried to lighten it up with the presence and perky acting of Terry Moore, which was way out of place and came off as overdone.

Lefty is supposed to be a real charmer and a chick magnet. I'm sorry, Edmond O'Brien? Good actor but hardly oozing with sex and good looks. Under contract at that time were William Holden and Glenn Ford. I doubt many women would have turned them down.

Lizabeth Scott, one of the noir queens, looked great in her gorgeous clothes and shorter hair and, with that smoky voice of hers, was very effective. Knox really didn't have much to do. O'Brien was good as usual but for me, wrong for the part.

Without the Moore character and better casting of Lefty, the film would have been stronger. Instead, it was just passable.

The dialog is splendid, so is the acting, Lizabeth Scott more sparkling with her beauty and intelligence than ever, Edmond O'Brien is always a reliable ace card, and Alexander Knox for once is the bad guy, but what is all this really about? Is it a criminal comedy, an aborted noir without any crime, a satire on all the films of racketeering business, a twisted romance with too many lovers and relationships involved with each other, and yet it is fascinating all the way, and in the last 15 minutes things start to happen for real, everything being turned upside down, when all the cards of the game suddenly are exposed and everyone finds himself a loser. It's a witty intrigue with a lot of twists to the tricky and intelligent set-up, which seems absolutely perfect, until someone changes his mind. It looks really bad from a moral point of view all through, but by an odd turn honesty upsets the racket and love conquers all. In all its criminal intrigue with a perfect perspective of a noir, it is actually a comedy of romance heavily spiced with all the elements of a very crooked noir design, but with a very satisfactory outcome.

Two of a Kind is directed by Henry Levin and written by James Edward Grant, James Gunn and Lawrence Kimble. It stars Edmond O'Brien, Lizabeth Scott, Terry Moore, Alexander Knox, Griff Barnett, Robert Anderson and Virginia Brissac. Music is by George Duning and cinematography by Burnett Guffey.

Plot has O'Brien, Scott and Knox try to con a rich old couple that their son, who disappeared when he was three, has resurfaced in the older body of O'Brien. Thus they hope to get the $10 million inheritance due to the heir upon the death of the parents…

It all starts so very well, Scott's sultry blonde hunts out O'Brien's shady player to do a major con and he falls for her feminine whiles hook line and sinker, even agreeing to have his little finger mangled in a car door for the con cause. Sadly this is where the picture falls apart and unfurls in a lightweight manner.

Interesting possibilities are ignored, such as Moore's sprightly niece character who likes to straighten out bad men (it ends up playing as something that should be in a Cary Grant screwball) and a murderous plot that threatens to make the ending more lively (by this time the O'Brien/Scott pairing has become sickly nice), to leave us with what turns out to be a quite repugnant ending.

Guffey's black and white photography is crisp but just like the film itself, it really isn't noir at all. Levin and the cast try hard, but saddled with an unadventurous screenplay it rounds out as a minor B movie of little substance. 5/10

It's a nifty premise that fails to fulfill an early promise. Seductress Brandy (Scott) lures wiseguy Lefty (O'Brien) into a million-dollar fraud scheme. All it will cost him is time in a swanky beach house and half a finger. But that's okay because he'll still have nine and a-half left, plus a big inheritance from a wealthy old couple. Then too, if he gets cold feet, slinky Brandy is always there to warm him up. Mastermind Vincent (Knox) has hatched what looks like a sure thing.

However, I'm with reviewer bmacy. After that promising start, especially with the slamming car door, the movie takes an irretrievable tumble. And that's when Terry Moore's loopy overacting hits the scene. Catch that night time set-up where Lefty breaks into Kathy's (Moore) place and she squeals with delight over what appears a potential rapist or killer. Sorry, but that's about as poorly written and ill conceived a scene as I've witnessed in some time. And who was it who decided to insert Lefty's face-making as comedic accompaniment to Kathy's description of him. It's not only unnecessary, but unsubtly attacks the whole surrounding mood. As bmacy points out, by the time the movie recovers from such ruptures, it's already too late.

At the same time, director Levin appears to have little feel for the material, his career being mainly in light comedies. As a result, the story simply unfolds in pedestrian fashion without any distinguishing touches or development. As a result, and despite its two noir icons, the 80-minutes comes across as more disappointing than gritty crime drama.