jameselliot-1

I'm sure I saw some of this movie at a Fanex convention in the late 80s. Some of the camera work was interesting and creative. Cinematographer Fouad Said was the DP on the Cosby-Culp series ISpy after this movie and he is still with us at 92, as of this writing. The movie is super-amateurish in every way and poorly edited but for 20 grand, even for dollars in the early 1960s, Katcher could only do so much. The footage of stripper and the film's poster girl Georgia Holden is barely a measly 5 seconds. I'd have given her 20 minutes.

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.

The cinematography is great, as expected with Jack Cardiff directing. A lot of the shots are ingenious. The story, or lack of a story, is terrible. Denholm Elliot, usually an engaging actor, walks through the film in a sleepy state looking like he's waiting for direction. I can't blame him for that. Peter Lorre is his taxi driver, at least in closeups, and his wisecracking guide. The Cinerama filming is a real treat for me. I've seen several roadshow movies in Cinerama including Ice Station Zebra. Diana Dors has a way too short bikini cameo. The film should have been built around Dors in that bikini. Elizabeth Taylor, wife of the producer, pops up at the end.