cult film freak: LIZABETH SCOTT AND PAUL HENREID IN HAMMER'S 'STOLEN FACE'

Written by James M. Tate / 1/16/2025 / No comments / andre morell , fifties , hammer films , hammer noir , lizabeth scott , melodrama , paul henreid , romance , russel napier , terence fisher , thriller

LIZABETH SCOTT AND PAUL HENREID IN HAMMER'S 'STOLEN FACE'

1/16/2025 | No comment

Title: Stolen Face Year: 1952 Rating: ***

Passive CASABLANCA French actor Paul Henreid's cheated on again, here in Hammer's noirish-drama STOLEN FACE, describing how Henreid, a plastic surgeon, made a badly scarred female career-criminal look exactly like the beautiful (and surreptitiously engaged) sophisticated pianist he fell for during the first half, resembling more of a Douglas Sirk melodrama than the intended crime-thriller by Hammer's future stock auteur Terence Fisher...

Enter American import Lizabeth Scott, who turned to England what she couldn't find in America, having portrayed both good and bad girls in stateside noir films, and here she plays both... despite only the original classic pianist character baring her own famously sultry low voice, which would have fit better than dubbing the original pre-surgery Mary Mackenzie for consistency (which wouldn't matter given the initial far-fetched premise)...

Lizabeth Scott in STOLEN FACE aka A STOLEN FACE

Although it takes over half the otherwise wispy run-time before Scott turns sneaky, corresponding with a former male crook while preferring taverns to operas, and shoplifting everywhere she goes before the original good girl returns for the previous dramatics to converge...

So it's a shame that Lizabeth couldn't play the femme fatale for much longer, and that initial surgery should have happened from the beginning since STOLEN makes a better second-half crime flick than first-half romance.

Hammer's STOLEN FACE

Paul Henreid and Lizabeth Scott in Hammer's STOLEN FACE

Paul Henreid and Russell Napier in Hammer's STOLEN FACE

Paul Henreid and Lizabeth Scott in Hammer's STOLEN FACE

From Hammer's STOLEN FACE

From Hammer's STOLEN FACE with Lizabeth Scott and Paul Henreid

From Hammer's STOLEN FACE with Lizabeth Scott

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Tags : andre morell , fifties , hammer films , hammer noir , lizabeth scott , melodrama , paul henreid , romance , russel napier , terence fisher , thriller

James M. Tate

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