Here's a star we haven't seen much of : Paul Henreid. In fact, we may not have seen him at all, which is a bit shocking given his reputation as a fine actor who exudes charisma, and among other notable roles was featured in "Casablanca" (which - even more shockingly - we haven't seen either!) Tonight, however, we remedied the situation with a movie called "The Scar"(1948), in which Henreid plays a paroled felon who goes straight back to his gang, to plan the robbery of a casino. His stooges want no part of it, telling him that the casino owner is not someone to mess with : "He'll track you down if it takes twenty years". But Henreid figures he's got the job all figured out, and convinces the boys to go along. "We're gonna score 200 grand", he tells them.
But there's a fly in the ointment, and something happens during the robbery that Henreid didn't plan for. Two of his henchmen end up dead and the others have ratted him out. Now he's on the run.
By sheer Screenwriter's Coincidence, he's walking down the street one day when he sees a man who appears to be following him. Thinking it might be one of the casino man's thugs, he confronts the guy, who turns out to be merely a dentist who has an office nearby. The poor guy's a nebbish, and as he nervously explains to Henreid : "I'm sorry I followed you. It was only because I thought you were someone else. You look exactly like a psychiatrist in my building". And here we have the true raison d'etre for the plot; The Old Impersonation Game once again. We've seen it used recently in "The House on 92nd Street" and it works well as a tension builder. It turns out that while Henreid was in the slammer (prior to the start of the film), he spent time reading up on psychiatry and psychology in the prison library. Isn't it amazing the details a screenwriter can turn up about a guy? But yeah, Henreid is a man of intelligence, who's studied the mysteries of the mind, and if you can believe it (which you can because in movies you suspend disbelief), all of a sudden, after a Man on the Street tells him he's the exact double for a local psychiatrist, he decides to pass himself off as the shrink, which will help steer him clear of both the crooks and the cops.
Henreid observes the man as he leaves his office. They do look alike! The only difference is a lengthy scar on the doctor's face, which Henreid recreates on his own mug when he gets back to his hotel room. Keep the scar in mind, because it will play a role in the outcome (and while I shouldn't have told you that, the movie's title gives it away). Of course, there can't be two shrinks of the same name and look, so Henreid is forced to do away with The Original, which is not too big a deal for him as he's already a hardened convict.
But the thing is, he's a Suave Con, and in fact, as I watched I thought : "I'm not sure I've seen anyone suaver". I think Paul Henried must have invented the 1940s pose of holding your cigarette sideways, between your thumb and ring finger, and twisting your wrist as you bring it to your pursed lips to take a puff through squinted eyes. Yeah, Bogie was good at it too, but he's got nothing on this guy. Henreid was tall and handsome in a slightly rugged way, and he had Just The Right Amount of German Accent (pronounced CHURR-Munn), to occupy the thespian's no man's land, where he could play either Nazis or Wealthy Continentals, or in this case, a criminal who is intelligent enough to pose as a psychiatrist while retaining his All Important Suaveness. That aspect can't be emphasized enough!
After doing away with the shrink, he walks into what is now "his" office, and greets his secretary Joan Bennett, a film noir dame if there ever was one. What he doesn't know is that Bennett (who we saw last month in "The Reckless Moment") had been carrying on an affair with the real doctor. She sees Henreid with his manufactured scar and can't tell the difference. Now he's got himself a new girlfriend along with his new "practice", but will it screen him from his pursuers?
"The Scar" starts strong, and at first it looks like your basic high-stakes Heist Flick. But then the brakes screech and we're thrown into a swerving U-Turn, plotwise. Things bog down for a few minutes, when Henreid meets Bennett and the romance develops, but only because the dialogue feels stiff and forced in those scenes, like they were going for a Bogie/Bergman look in two-shot closeups. It's out of place after all the action we've witnessed, but the lull only lasts a few minutes, then things perk up again for the last half of the movie, as we wait on tenterhooks to see if Henried will be outed as an impostor.
Two Very Big Thumbs Up for "The Scar", and let's look for more Paul Henreid (and when are we gonna finally watch "Casablanca"? Man, what kind of movie fans are we, anyway?)
I apologize for the lateness of the blog this time. I usually deliver it right before going to bed, but I've had a rough couple of days and am worn to a frazzle as a result. Some of it is work related, but I'm also living in an entirely untenable situation in my apartment building, which is so bad that I dread coming home on days off. This is no exaggeration. I live next to The Neighbors From Hell, and so if anyone knows of a quiet building that is reasonably priced, please let me know, I beeseech you. I'm at the point where I'm ready to move all of my stuff into storage and just stay in a motel during my time off from Pearl's. I'm an Alzheimer's caregiver, just trying to do the best job I can. I haven't missed a single day of work in 11 years, and I am extremely good at what I do, but it isn't appreciated, and on top of that, when I come home I am subjected to constant noise in a tenement apartment building. My blood pressure is probably off the charts and I don't want to die.
So, I'm sorry to complain, because it isn't seemly, but I'm aware from my page counter that several people read this blog, and even though no one has ever offered a single comment, nor acknowledged being a reader in my 23 years of blogging, I'm just reaching out because I'm in a very difficult situation, and I could use a helping hand.
One day, you may find me in the Mojave Desert, far away from the insanity of Los Angeles.
End of complaint. Tons of love as always, have a good day. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
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