The Scar (1948) [Film Noir] [Drama]

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Just released from prison, John Muller (Paul Henreid) masterminds a holdup at an illegal casino run by Rocky Stansyck. The robbery goes bad, and the mobsters captured some of Muller’s men and force them to identify the rest before killing them. Stansyck has a reputation for tracking down and killing his enemies, no matter how long it takes, so Muller decides to leave town and hide. He takes an office job recommended by his law-abiding brother, Frederick (Eduard Franz), but quickly decides that working for a living is not for him. A chance encounter with dentist Dr. Swangron (John Qualen) reveals that Muller looks exactly like a psychoanalyst who works in the same building, Dr. Bartok, the only difference being a large scar on the left side of the doctor’s face. Seizing the opportunity, he begins researching Bartok, even slipping into his office to examine his records. He is discovered by the doctor’s secretary, Evelyn Hahn (Joan Bennett). She mistakes him for her employer and kisses him, but quickly realizes he is someone else. He persuades her to go out with him, though she has become embittered and claims to have given up any dreams of finding love.

Muller sets out to impersonate Bartok, aided by the fact he studied psychoanalysis in medical school before dropping out. He takes a photograph of the doctor and uses it as a guide to cut an identical scar on his own face. Unfortunately, the developers of the photograph reversed the negative, so now Muller has the scar on the wrong side. He discovers the mistake only after he has already murdered Bartok and is preparing to dump the body in the river. He has no choice but to go through with the plan anyway. Luckily, no one (except the office cleaning lady, whose suspicions he manages to lull) notices the difference, not even Evelyn or Bartok’s patients. Muller discovers “he” has a girlfriend, Virginia Taylor (Leslie Brooks), and that they frequent Maxwell’s, a high class casino. It also turns out Bartok has been losing heavily. When a worried Frederick Muller tries to contact his brother, the trail leads to Bartok. The scar convinces Frederick that the man he sees is merely a lookalike. Evelyn, previously unaware of the switch (but now very suspicious), reveals that John Muller said he was going to Paris. Frederick Muller tells “Bartok” that his brother no longer has to hide; Stansyck was convicted for “income tax problems” and is scheduled to be deported.

Afterward, Evelyn realizes that Muller is an imposter and that he must have killed the psychoanalyst. Though he admits to her he did, she does not turn him in to the police; instead she purchases a ticket to sail to Honolulu. Muller finds out and promises he will go with her, but she does not believe he would leave such an opportunity to enrich himself. Muller arranges for other doctors to take over his patients and heads to the dock. There, however, he is intercepted by two men who want to discuss Bartok’s $90,000 gambling debt. When Muller tries to break away, they fatally shoot him. Evelyn sails away, unaware that Muller lies dying on the dock.

This movie is also known as “Hollow Triumph”.

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Directed by Steve Sekely, produced by Paul Henreid, written by Murray Forbes (novel) and Daniel Fuchs, starring Paul Henreid as John Muller & Dr. Victor Emil Bartok, Joan Bennett as Evelyn Hahn, Eduard Franz as Frederick Muller, Leslie Brooks as Virginia Taylor, John Qualen as Swangron, Mabel Paige as Charwoman, the only person to notice the scar on the wrong side, Herbert Rudley as Marcy, Charles Arnt as Coblenz, George Chandler as Artell, Assistant, Sid Tomack as Aubrey, Manager, Alvin Hammer as Jerry, Ann Staunton as Blonde, Paul E. Burns as Harold, Charles Trowbridge as Deputy, Morgan Farley as Howard Anderson.

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Source: “Hollow Triumph” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 26 February 2012. Web. 02 September 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_Triumph.

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40 Replies to “The Scar (1948) [Film Noir] [Drama]”

  1. OH… so we just walk into a private casino full of cash and guns – turn off the lights (??) and get away with a lot of cash.  Gee – Now that sounds solid.  The movie over all is a good movie for 1948.  America was getting use to movies without Comedy Relief (because of the War).  The US had barely got over Al Capone by the WW2 startup.  Now America was ready to see some blood and guts at the cinema.  It's just that Hollywood forgot to hire decent Crime writers for their flicks.  Robbing a private casino by turning off the Lights ???  Luckily it's the get-away and afterwards that kept the audience's attention – not the Heist itself. 

  2. I wonder why it is that in movies the characters are always having coffee or tea late at night when the story says they're tired and must work the next day ?  I suppose it's just a way for the writers to get more information out to the audience.  So why not Breakfast? the next day ??

  3. So where's the rest of the gang – the ones that got away?  What has their lives been like?  If a person had access to $60,000 in 1948 – that would be equivalent to almost $640,000 in 2014.  I think I could disappear And insure my safety/privacy with that much cash.  In 1948 I would have moved to Western China or India/Nepal regions.  But to stay bouncing around in front of the guys you just rattled – then it doesn't take long for the shit to hit the fan.

  4. I can't believe a scenario that the guy didn't Look at his victim's face Many times before a photo causes him to cut his face.  Its not like he didn't have MANY occasions to study his face and know where the scar was and how it looked.   

  10. Ironic twist. Love these old movies, and enjoy Joan Bennett's voice & wittiness. Yeah, a bit unbelievable, but it was worth watching.

  12. Basically a good plot, but full of holes.  The director ought to be shot for the poor job he did.  What's more, who ever heard of a gambling casino without plenty of security guards and no alarm system?  Sure, it was an illegal operation, but they'd certainly be paying police protection, and could enlist their help in robberies.  Paul Henreid was miscast as a bad egg and Joan Bennett turned in perhaps her all-time lousy performance, thanks to bum directing.  This one really stinks.

  14. On Hollow Triumph (Links to an external site.) (also known as The Scar): Please note: this film is in the public domain, so this is the film for everyone to watch! And don't get confused by the title, Hollow Triumph and The Scar are the same film. 

    To watch now on online for free, go to Archive.org's video of Hollow Triumph (Links to an external site.)

    "It's a bitter little world full of sad surprises, and you don't let anyone hurt you."
    — Paul Henreid, Hollow Triumph

    "Actor Paul Henreid had his first shot at production with the 1948 film noir Hollow Triumph whose fate mirrored its title. Though the picture is a favorite with fans of the genre, particularly because of John Alton's atmospheric cinematography, it ended up a financial failure through no fault of Henreid's. Like many actors in post-World War II Hollywood, Henreid had been chafing under the restrictions of the studio system. After his second film with Bette Davis,Deception (1946), he had left the studio to freelance. The popular actor found himself courted by MGM, where he had made his first post-Warner's film, Song of Love (1947). Although that turgid biography of the Schumanns (with Katharine Hepburn as Henreid's wife) had been a critical and box-office disappointment, studio executives felt they could profit from his presence on the lot. When Henreid refused the encumbrance of another long-term studio contract, it triggered a rift between the actor and his agent, MCA's Lew Wasserman. Instead, he accepted an offer from Eagle-Lion, the recently formed U.S. arm of English producer J. Arthur Rank, to produce and star in a movie. With financing from railroad magnate Robert Young, he put together a production based on actor-novelist Murray Forbes' Hollow Triumph, the story of a criminal on the run who scars himself to take the place of a prominent psychiatrist, not realizing his new identity may provide more problems than those he had been fleeing in his own life. Henreid had heard of the novel from Hungarian director Steve Sekely, who had been languishing in B movies since his arrival in the U.S. in 1939. In gratitude, he hired Sekely to direct the film." (TCMDb)

  19. The treatment more than adequately portrayed the dark theme; the atmosphere of the film portrayed that dark theme. Paul Henreid, who might best be called a minimalist actor, does an outstanding job of portraying a patholigcal killer. And in the end, fate determines the moment of judgement and justice for John Muller.

  24. It's very strange to see Paul Henried as a bad guy, compared to his role as the noble Victor Laslow in Casablanca. Remember Ned Beatty as the unfortunate sodomy victim in Deliverance? Typecasting or a notorious role can be a drag on an actor's career.

  26. "Film Noir" doesn't mean complete darkness so no-one can see what's happening.
    Hollywood always got carried away with the doppelgänger scenario. Most (like this one) were simply not credible and the writer's lost control of the story until the whole thing just got silly.

  34. Very nice b-movie, well realized including very original ideas… However, I think It would have been so much better to learn the truth about the left-right misunderstanding later during the movie – not by the photographers, but when the hero is learning it in the car…

  39. Such a trumped up love story. They spent 5 minutes with the "love" of Muller and the chickey, then, at the end, she is ALL IN??? Even after she knows he is a murderer and after he hits her in the face. WEAK!

  40. How dumb. As if he wouldn't have known the pic was reversed. Extremely intellegent, observant, etc. Ruined the whole movie, not that there was much to ruin.

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