The Defendant: Hollow Triumph AKA The Scar (1948)

Hollow Triumph AKA The Scar, starring Paul Henreid and directed by Hungarian-born Steve Sekely.

Henreid is med school dropout John Muller, who turns to a life of crime, and when things go wrong after a robbery at a casino, he has to find a way to go to ground, before the casino’s mob trigger men find and kill him. Things start looking up when by chance he finds out that a man who looks exactly like him is in the same neighborhood – the only difference is that this man, a psychiatrist, has a scar on his cheek. Faster than you can say Prisoner of Zenda, Muller has concocted a scheme to take over his life & identity. Of course this being film noir, things don’t go quite the way he expects, and as clever as Muller is, he just can’t quite dodge fate, which dogs him on every turn.

The highlights for this film are the fabulous photography by John Alton, with outstanding location shooting, including the Angels Flight in Bunker Hill, a great screenplay by Daniel Fuchs, whose next script would be Criss Cross. Joan Bennett is her usual dependable romantic lead, but her part is overshadowed by the dual roles Henreid plays as both the gangster and the psychiatrist.

Judge Noir Verdict: Solid, iconic film noir – the film has all needed credentials, but also remember than The Official Noir Rules state any B&W location shooting in that era using Angels Flight is film noir until proven otherwise.

And the best part about watching this film is that finally – after all these years – you can learn what really happened to Victor Laszlo after leaving Casablanca with Ilsa. Seriously, try watching Casablanca and this movie as a double-feature and try not seeing this as what happened to Laszlo four years after the war.