A drifter is bailed out of jail by a lawyer, who hires him to impersonate a millionaire until the man can be declared legally dead and the estate settled. However, the man soon finds out tha... Read allA drifter is bailed out of jail by a lawyer, who hires him to impersonate a millionaire until the man can be declared legally dead and the estate settled. However, the man soon finds out that things are not exactly how they seem.A drifter is bailed out of jail by a lawyer, who hires him to impersonate a millionaire until the man can be declared legally dead and the estate settled. However, the man soon finds out that things are not exactly how they seem.
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- Cop
- (uncredited)
- Vagrant
- (uncredited)
- Bailiff
- (uncredited)
- Judge
- (uncredited)
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When David is picked up for vagrancy, someone pays his fine, and has a proposition for him: He is to pretend to be a millionaire, who had disappeared several years prior. Even the millionaire's wife can't tell he is an impostor, but things start to go wrong. The man he is impersonating wasn't very well liked, and David must find out why. Viveca Lindfors gets top billing as "the wife", but it's Janis Paige as the sister- in-law who (rightfully) steals the show. Watch for Monte Blue as the Sheriff. The acting isn't anything special, but the story is mildly compelling, and since we know right from the start that David ends up in the well, we get hooked on finding out how he ends up there.
Written by Richard Sale, who had several novels and screenplays made into films. This one IS available on DVD, although you can catch it on Turner Classic Channel about once a year. Directed by Richard Bare, who wrote a book on the proper technique on film directing.
The story is told in flashback, as we see in the beginning that Cummins is in grave danger -- as he tries to save himself, he goes over the events that brought him to his present problems.
Fairly interesting story. I'm sure for Lindfors, a wonderful actress brought over from Sweden, this was hardly the stuff of star-making, but she does a good job. Paige is gorgeous.
All in all, fast-moving and satisfying.
Dishevelled, down at heel vagrant, Kent Smith, comes under the gaze of suave, sophisticated, savvy but scheming lawyer Robert Douglas. With his educated English accent and pencil thin moustache, he is the template for the Tom Helmore character in 'Vertigo'. Smith scrubs up sufficiently well to pass for dapper, prosperous Malcolm Taylor, seven years missing and about to be pronounced officially dead, which will spark serious financial repercussions for his estate.
That a grubby, random, homeless man could be so remarkably transformed, have the confidence, poise audacity and chutzpah to pull off such a stunt, even for BIG money, certainly stretches credibility. To then arrive on the doorstep, after seven years without trace or explanation and greet 'wife' Viveca Lindfors with a slightly sheepish, "Hello Evelyn" is almost as laughable as The Disaster Artist's 'Oh! Hi Mark' moment. Smith also has to deal with hostility from brother, John Alvin, who loathes him and the advances of sister in law, Janis Paige, who loves him. All minor fare compared with the relentlessly barking, snarling, howling dog, Angel, who would gladly eat him...... before moving on to the main course!
Smith may look, sound, act and even smell like Missing Malcolm, but as always the Devil is in the detail. Small revelations start to arouse suspicion concerning his veracity. As the double crosses double, every ten minutes, the absurdities of the plot ultimately give way to something altogether more intriguing and absorbing. Whilst the stark, forbidding settings evoke the aura of the best goth noir. The largely second tier cast turn in convincing performances, with Janis Paige's femme fatale especially memorable in a movie which emerges with greater integrity than initially anticipated. Undiscovered by myself, until recently, 'This Side of the Law', is an interesting addition to my ever expanding noir catalogue.
I'm not sure why this little noir-- and it is a noir (hand of fate, a web of intrigue, a spider woman, & dark atmosphere)-- remains so obscure. This Warner Bros. entry may not be top-flight, but it is respectable. That opening scene with the pin-light on Cummins' (Smith) ravaged face is a grabber. Several other moody scenes emerge along the way, plus a neat plot twist, that makes this thriller an entertaining 70-minutes.
I'm guessing one reason for the film's obscurity is the cast, especially the lead, Kent Smith. He performs well enough. The trouble is he lacks screen presence, almost fading into the background at times. On the other hand, Lindfors and Paige split the women's time, such that neither is able to establish much presence of her own. John Alvin, however, comes across vividly in the thankless role of the weakling brother. Also, I'm surprised director Bare manages the dark material as well as he does, given that his previous career was exclusively with comedy shorts. (Note, for example, how Cummins has to work at getting a name off the ID bracelet—a good realistic touch.)
Nothing memorable here, just a solid little noir.
Did you know
- TriviaProduced in October and November of 1948, but not released until June of 1950.
- GoofsWhile in the garden with Nadine, David takes her hands from around his neck. It is at this point that she notices he has no scar from when his brother used a knife on him in his boyhood. She noticed this in the dark, in the garden, where there are no lights, which is most improbable.
- Quotes
Philip Cagle: [encountering Cummins as he has just been released from jail for vagrancy] Better out here, isn't it?
David Cummins: You paid my fine.
Philip Cagle: You're abrupt, Mr. Cummins, but true.
David Cummins: Is there any reason I should thank you?
Philip Cagle: I talk better over a cup of coffee, how 'bout you?
David Cummins: That depends on what I have to talk about.
Philip Cagle: I paid fifty dollars to get you out here, the least you can do is let me tell you why I did it.
Philip Cagle: Fifty dollars for me? Inflation's here to stay.
[gets into the car]
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- El que no volvió
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- Runtime1 hour 14 minutes
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- 1.37 : 1