Wonderland Burlesque's Let's Go To The Movies: Face Time - Part VIII

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's Go To The Movies: 

Face Time

Part VIII

That look, that face...

It's all in the face. It can be read like a book. Or so these films would have us believe. 

The silver screen has been home to so many beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) faces, lighting up the dark, showing us the way, sharing celluloid dreams. It seems only fitting that we take them at their word and look a these films one face at a time.

Yes, these faces may belong to a bygone era, but in the movies?

A face lives forever.

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The Hidden Face

(1916)

When Rev. Martin Preston falls in love with pretty Helen Claude he must aske her uncle, Francis, a candidate for congress, for her hand. Preston is a foundling, and that is enough reason for Francis Claude to refuse. The whole village is talking of the affair, as it vies for attention with a great murder mystery; that of Judge Green! Joe Trimmer, the miller, has been accused and convicted on circumstantial evidence. Mrs. Royal, keeper of the village inn, tells Rev. Preston that she will see that Francis Claude gives his consent. She meets with Francis Claude and reveals herself to be none other than Grace Goodman, the girl he deserted in his youth. Mrs. Royal has a daughter about to marry Tom Carroll, a quick tempered young man of the village. To secure Claude's consent, Mrs. Royal reveals to him that Martin Preston is, in fact, their child, born out of wedlock. Claude is overcome by this confession. Not only does he write a note to his niece giving his consent, but he also indicates in it that he wishes Preston to inherit all his property. He also secretly gives a sum of money to Tom Carroll, since he is about to marry Mrs. Royal's daughter. That very night Francis Claude is murdered in the same manner that Judge Green met his death - stabbed by an assailant with a hidden face. Mrs. Royal enters the room at the precise moment of the murder. She rushes to the window and sees the minister on the lawn. She assumes he is the murderer, seeking vengeance upon his recreant father. Determined to keep what she has seen secret, she struggles, for the man her daughter is to marry is then accused. The circumstantial evidence is the money Claude gave him secretly just before his death. Even the new residents in the village, as led by Jerry Drake, are wrought up over the affair. Finally suspicion points toward Rev. Preston, as well, and he is arrested. Mrs. Royal watches the detectives who have invaded Preston's home. While doing so she spies a mysterious figure visiting a dry well and concealing a package. The man is extremely like her son, whom she thinks guilty of murder. When she approaches the man, he accosts her. Screaming for help, detectives run from the Rev. Preston's home to her aid. They seize the man, and discover it is none other than Jerry Drake! Evidence of both murders is found upon his person and he is led off to prison. The innocent men are released, and soon wedding bells ring for the two happy pairs.

This American melodrama was directed by Edwin Middleton and stars Henry W. Pemberton, Mabel E. Treneer and Iva Shepard.

Gaumont Co. a French company who'd made considerable inroads in the British Market, dominated the motion picture industry in Europe until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. After the war, their fortunes diminished greatly when faced with competition from the established studios in Hollywood.

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The Lost Face

(1948)

AKA: Das verlorene Gesicht, Secrets Of A Soul

In Stuttgart, a lost and disorientated young woman is found. It is assumed she is from Tibet. She receives care from a doctor and falls in love with a lawyer. However, quite suddenly her face and voice change and she emerges as a completely different woman.

This German drama was directed by Kurt Hoffmann and stars Marianne Hoppe, Gustav Fröhlich and Richard Häussler.

This film drew inspiration from the British melodrama Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) starring Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger and Patricia Roc, which had been extremely popular on its release in Germany.

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The Magic Face

(1951)

An actor becomes Hitler's valet, murders him and takes his place in order to ruin Nazi Germany's war efforts.

This American drama was directed by Frank Tuttle and stars Luther Adler, Patricia Knight, William L. Shirer, Jaspar von Oertzen, Anton Mitterwurzer and Peter Preses.

Luther Adler would also portray Hitler in The Desert Fox (1951), released two months after this movie. He would also briefly impersonate Hitler again in the 1960 Twilight Zone episode, The Man in the Bottle.

As part of Columbia Pictures' publicity campaign for this picture, they offered a $10,000 reward to any audience member who could prove the story was not true. They never paid out a dime.

You can watch this film in its entirety for free on YouTube (though the print is of poor quality).

Patricia Knight

Patricia Knight appeared in several movies during the 1940's. She was the wife of actor Cornel Wilde and the two performed together on stage and screen, most notably in the the 1949 film noir Shockproof.

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The Getaway Face

(1963)

AKA: A Face To Escape, Una cara para escapar

Parker, a man on the run, goes under the knife, changing his face to escape the mob and a contract on his life. Along the way he scores his biggest heist yet, but there's a catch - a beautiful, dangerous catch.

This Mexican/American thriller was directed by Agustín P. Delgado and Robert Gordon and stars Alida Valli, Eduardo Noriega, and Guillermo Murray.

Eduardo Noriega

A probable unauthorized adaptation of a Donald E. Westlake AKA: Richard Stark novel. The book, The Man With The Getaway Face came out in January of 1963 and the movie was filmed in 1963, but not released until August of 1965. 

Alida Valli

Alida Valli, was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, spanning from the 1930s to the early 2000s. She was one of the biggest stars of Italian film during the Fascist era, once being called "the most beautiful woman in the world" by Benito Mussolini, and was internationally successful post-World War II. According to French critic Frédéric Mitterrand, Valli was the only actress in Europe to equal Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo.

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The Lost Face

(1965)

Czech physician Bartos devotedly attends poor patients in the city suburbs, at the same time researching the possibilities of regeneration of human tissues after transplantation. His former colleague Rosen, now working as an assistant at the private clinic of surgeon Kirchenbruch, considers the research a mere utopia. The disappointed Bartos, trying to verify his theories, therefore accepts the outrageous proposal of Marion, owner of a brothel - to surgically replace the face of her lover, a wanted thief, Cutter, with the face of murdered Father Hopsasa. Bartos is well paid but his successful operation remains a secret.

This Czechoslovakian comedy/crime film, set in the 1930's, was directed by Pavel Hobl and stars Vlastimil Brodský, Fred Delmare, František Filipovský, and Marie Vásová.

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The Naked Face

(1984)

Chicago psychiatrist Judd Stevens is suspected of murdering one of his patients when the man turns up stabbed to death in the middle of the city. After repeated attempts to convince two cops of his innocence, Dr. Stevens is forced to go after the real villains himself, and he finds himself up against one of the city's most notorious Mafia kingpins.

Based on the book of the same name by Sidney Sheldon, this American thriller film written and directed by Bryan Forbes and stars Roger Moore, Rod Steiger, Anne Archer, Art Carney and Elliott Gould.

The film cast includes two Oscar winners: Rod Steiger and Art Carney; and two Oscar nominees: Anne Archer and Elliott Gould.

This movie was made because The Cannon Group, Inc. had wanted to make a movie with Roger Moore, in order to cash in on his James Bond popularity. Moore was able to persuade them to back this movie, using Sidney Sheldon's 1970 novel (his first) as its basis, and to hire two of his best friends, writer/director Bryan Forbes and actor David Hedison.

 

This movie was made on-location in Chicago with the supporting cast obtained (very inexpensively) from the ranks of local theater actors, some of whom were making their first movie.

When Rod Steiger turned up on-set, the make-up people had to quickly scramble, because he had just had plastic surgery to hide his age, and the wounds were still fresh on his face.

Despite the fact that this movie was running on schedule and under budget, The Cannon Group, Inc., and the production manager slashed several weeks from filming, and took away a hefty chunk of the budget. All of this was due to the fact that Cannon's previous line-up of movies had all severely underperformed.

Bryan Forbes said the film "was a nightmare from beginning to end." Production was mostly smooth, but when Sir Roger Moore's mother fell ill in England, Forbes granted him a week off to go visit her. When Moore returned to the shoot, he discovered that producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, the heads of The Cannon Group, Inc., had blasted Forbes for his kindness. From then on, the studio treated cast and crew poorly. Moore and Forbes, however, remained friends up until Forbes' death in 2013.

The Cannon Group, Inc. spent hardly any money at all on advertising for this movie's UK release. And although this movie was well reviewed by the U.K. press when it was released, it ultimately failed, because it was given the restrictive 18 rating by the country's censors.

The story featured an early equivalent of psychological profiling. Sidney Sheldon wrote its source novel in 1970, before psychological profiling became a widely accepted method of forensic crime-fighting work.

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And that's all for now, folks!

Tune in next time...

Same place, same channel.

The Naked Face - Movie Trailer

(1984)