Review of Stolen Face (1952) by Bruce B — 16 Oct 2013
If cosmetic surgeons could create faces like Lizabeth Scott's at will, they would be making even more than they earn now, or did half a century ago when A Stolen Face hit theaters. (But then the surgically created evil twin has been a staple of pulp movies up to John Woo's Face/Off).
On holiday somewhere in England, Paul Henried, as an M.D., meets up with concert pianist (!) Scott. They fall in love, but she's spoken for. Back in grimy postwar London, he finds a patient horribly scarred in the blitz, refashions her into the spit-and-image of Scott, and marries the impudent baggage (a Cockney fadge with one foot in the gutter and the other on a banana peel).
Their marriage, for some reason, does not go well. Re-enter Lizabeth Scott, who now has to play a double role.... The movie's not terrible, at least, though these noirish exercises set in Britain always have a fusty, half-hearted feel to them, more a mug of white tea than a snort of bonded Bourbon.
Both Scott and Henried were well into the downslope of their careers -- which may, more than the locale, account for the enervated pace and commitment. 3 stars 10-17-13.
This review of Stolen Face (1952) was written by Bruce B on 16 Oct 2013.
Stolen Face has generally received mixed reviews.
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