The temptation to quote "Young Frankenstein" with Marty Feldman's moving hump ("What hump?") that goes from side to side made me chuckle with this serious film noir of a sinister career crook (Paul Henreid) who takes over the life of his look-alike. Heinreid's second character is a psychiatrist who seems to do nothing but let the rantings of rich old dames go in one ear and out the other as he whiles away his free time chasing his world-weary secretary (a marvelous Joan Bennett) and gambling with a society dame (Leslie Brooks). Little does the crook (hiding from the owners of a gambling house he robbed who have already killed his on-the-run partner and quickly locate him) know that the psychiatrist has his own demons and this leads to an ironic conclusion that is straight out of "Algiers".Bennett, an outstanding leading lady of three decades of film who later took daytime T.V. by storm, had so many different eras in her career, from the fragile blonde of the 1930's to the Hedy Lamarr look-alike in a series of melodramas (utilizing that Susan Hayward husky voice that tells the men out to use her, "Do it at your own risk") to the wife and mother of the 1950's. She is certainly riveting to watch, perhaps second to Stanwyck as a film noir black widow, yet sometimes vulnerable in spite of her toughness. "I'm tired of knowing all the answers", she tells one of Henreid's characters here, and with that statement, she reveals a lot about human nature which we sometimes don't face about ourselves. She's sick of being sensible and not taking risks, and for that, you really want to see her triumph.Henreid plays two extremely amoral characters here, showing that there's a darkness to both the world of the supposed wrong and the world of the supposed right. Don't expect the romantic leading man of earlier Warner Brothers potboilers, although one sequence is straight out of "Now Voyager". This makes it tough to sympathize with either one, but somehow, you end up rooting for him, even if it is more for the sake of Bennett than either of Henreid's characters. Mabel Paige is sweet and touching in her brief moment as a charwoman who brings out a bit of humanity in Henreid's crook, and the always unforgettable Norma Varden gives a memorable cameo as one of the psychiatrist's patients. There's also the recurring presence of the dependable John Qualen in another one of his pathetic characters who finds he's in the wrong place at the wrong time and never understands what's going on.As directed by the obscure Steve Sekely, "Hollow Triumph" is one of those film noir that manages to be intriguing even if the plot is a bit hard to take because of its absurdities. The presence of Joan Bennett may not stir up memories of her dark dames from "Woman in the Window" and "Scarlet Street", but there's enough darkness in her basically decent character to make her totally engaging and extremely identifiable.

Billed as "film-noir", Hollow Triumph (HT) is an interesting character study of a man who has distinct sociopathic inclinations. As John Muller/Dr Bartok, Paul Henreid gives a chilling performance as the leader of group of robbers who sets up a job to rob a casino of its take (an idea given the comedy treatment in Oceans 11, twelve years later). The heist goes badly wrong though, forcing Muller to flee from the mob and two hit men who are ordered to kill him, regardless of how long it takes (another idea already used in The Killers from 1946, from an Earnest Hemingway story).Muller's gang goes separate ways, and Muller flees to a city a long way from that casino and mob.With the killers on the hunt, Muller is saved, so to speak, by deus ex machina: he stumbles upon a doppelganger who looks exactly the same, except for a large scar on one cheek. At the same time, Muller also finds a fast-talking, breezy secretary – Eveln Harn (Joan Bennett) – who is attracted to, yet somewhat also repulsed by, this smoothie chain smoker who has a mysterious background. Women are always too curious, no?Anyway, Muller, always the pragmatist, concocts a scheme to hide from the hit men by posing as Dr Bartok. That involves killing the good doctor – too bad, it's him or me, Muller reasons – and taking over the practice. Conveniently, Muller has a psych background, having studied psychology long ago. He works out how to get the proper scar onto his cheek – and he's in, safe and sound, and making more money to add to the loot he stole from the casino. He even goes to a local casino where Dr Bartok is well known, and has a swell time at the tables – and loses big time, as the real Bartok mostly did.But, the hit men are still searching, and closing in (check out Jack Webb's film debut as one of those bad guys). So, Muller arranges with Evelyn to scarper – leave on a boat to Hawaii and set up there. Muller forgets one crucial thing, however...This story and movie, although clichéd and predictable to a point, is nevertheless an excellent example of a thriller, and well acted by the whole cast; Henreid is perfect casting for the roles – his expressionless face is well suited to a cold, implacable killer and cool, detached psychiatrist. Joan Bennett – not a femme fatale in this story, but a victim of her gullibility and greed – plays the quick-witted go-getter with aplomb.Of special interest are the photography, editing and direction, all three of which are just excellent, with great, dark visuals that evoke appropriate suspense and edge-of-seat anticipation. The movie should be seen for that alone.Give this one eight out of ten. Recommended for all.February 28, 2013

You can be forgiven if your heart sinks a little when the titles roll: "An Eagle-Lion Film." The plot could have been cooked up in its outlines during a bull session of a few hours. Nothing is likely to discourage the impression that this is a pretty slow and not very interesting second feature -- except maybe the photography by John Alton, which is pretty good, full of noirish shadows and sometimes odd angles. And there's a touching moment near the end when a charwoman apologetically asks if Henreid's scar isn't on the wrong cheek.Paul Henreid is one of those smart crooks who started out well -- medical school -- and then turned back and was finally convicted for a stick up from which he's now being released. Maybe he's not so smart after all. Giving up a career in medicine for the life of a hold-up man? In any case, the moment he's out of the slams, he gets his old gang together for a big heist at some gambling casino. Something goes wrong, as usual. The guy who runs the casino is unforgiving and he soon learns Henreid was behind the deal. Mister Big knocks off the other three gang members and Henreid is on his own. He hold various menial jobs, like gas station attendant. (No mention of all the dough he made off with after than big heist. Maybe he lost his wallet.)In Los Angeles he stumbles across a curious coincidence. He has a Doppelganger who is a psychoanalyst. The only difference is that the psychiatrist has a scar on his, the shrink's, left cheek. Henreid, desperate to change identities, looks into the shrink's background then knocks him off and takes his place. He romances the shrink's secretary and hangs out at the shrink's clubs. So far so good, except that, at the end, there is an O. Henry twist that satisfies the Breen Office or whatever the Cinematic Superego was called at the time.Paul Henreid's career certainly came like water and like the wind it went. He will always be Victor Lazlo and nobody else. The babe is Joan Bennett who is smoothly believable.There are some curious incidents. One is that, upon his release, Henreid is picked up by a friend who offers him a cigarette. Henreid brushes it away, saying, "You know I never smoke." But half-way through the movie, schmoozing with his secretary, all charm and guile, he gently removes a cigarette from her fingers and begins smoking it himself. He smokes like a volcano throughout the rest of the movie.Another thing is that, had the laws of physics been observed, Henreid would have wound up putting his scar on the correct cheek instead of the wrong one.Here's how he does it in the movie. He hold up a full-face photo of the shrink. The scar is near the right-hand border of the photo. Next to the picture, Henreid holds up a mirror and draws the scar on his own right-hand cheek to duplicate the one in the picture. The problem is that the image we see in the mirror is always flipped. In a mirror, our real right hand seems to be the left hand of the image we're looking at.However, nobody behind the movie REALIZES this! Later, Henreid shows up at the photo shop to collect the negative and they're afraid to tell him that they mistakenly flipped it when they printed it! In other words, he is creating a scar on the CORRECT side of his face, due to the incompetence of the two men at the photo shop and the ignorance of the film's writer.Got that? If the photo shop hadn't flipped the negative around, and if Henreid knew what the hell he was doing when he created that new scar, the scar would have been on the wrong side of his face. But because two mistakes were made, in real life the scar would have been accurately placed. And they say two wrongs don't make a right!

Before I begin to discuss the plot, I've gotta get something off my chest. I HATE the cliché in movies when someone is attacked and they NEVER call out to their compatriots for help or to alert them that they are under attack. It's often used in James Bond films (among many others) and is just plain stupid. So, early in "Hollow Triumph" when a robber is caught by one of the gambler's henchmen and he does NOT yell for help, I could see that the writer was just lazy.As for the rest of the film, it's actually pretty good--and it's interesting seeing Paul Henreid playing such an amoral and selfish person--the sort of role you would expect for Henreid (who usually plays nice guys). He also served as the film's producer."Hollow Triumph" begins with Henreid being released from prison. You learn that he's a career conman and robber--and the warden has absolutely no hope that he's learned his lesson. And, true to the warden's prediction, Henreid immediately plans his next robbery. However, the usually brilliant con makes a very stupid decision--to rob a gambling joint run by a VERY tough mug. Two of the men are caught and after being beaten and confessing who their accomplices were, they are murdered. Now, the gambler sends his men to find and kill the other two--no matter how long it takes. One is eventually tracked to Mexico and slain...and Henreid knows he's next unless he comes up with a good scheme. And, he decides to change identities--becoming a psychiatrist who is well-respected. Can the plan work or is Henreid due to soon assume room temperature himself? The film, aside from the cliché I already mentioned, actually was a nice example of lesser-known film noir. Henreid is very good as his Joan Bennett--and the film is quite tough. I also liked that one of the young heavies was Jack Webb--in his first film. Well worth seeing.