JohnHowardReid Double identity drama about a diplomat with amnesia commences in fine style, but sags in the telling due both to lack of action and a surfeit of dialogue. Perhaps even more important, however, is the lack of a credible plot - so many details are either blatantly wrong or ring so bewilderingly false, few viewers will not be three or four jumps ahead of the allegedly intelligent but naive and slow-witted William Powell character. Even his empty-headed wife who spends just about the entire movie modeling the most exquisite gowns has more sense. And why would such a ravishingly attractive girl saddle herself to such a poor fish of a dimwit who can't even make up a good excuse to keep a rendezvous with the police? Why not simply tell the truth? But then of course there'd be no film. The director strives mightily to maintain interest though this increasingly disheartening charade with all sorts of pictorially striking shots and even cuts, such as the sequence on the bridge with the camera dollying in from an incredibly high angle and then dissolving from long shot to medium to close-up to ultra-close. It's also a sad waste of fine players - Claire Trevor for example, and particularly Rathbone whose character is such an unintentional cretin we have little interest in him at all. Rathbone seems to have realized the emptiness of this pasteboard villain. His acting is dispirited. He just goes through the motions.

jacobs-greenwood Directed by Jack Conway, with a screenplay by Guy Trosper, this slightly above average mystery has its ironies: William Powell plays an amnesiac, two years and three films after playing one in the comedy I Love You Again (1940) (with Myrna Loy), who's married to Hedy Lamarr, as he was in his next film, the comedy Heavenly Body (1943), and only other pairing with her; all three films were made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Even though this one is not a comedy, it is a fairly compelling mystery, featuring two twists in the final 15 minutes. Excellent support is provided by Claire Trevor (whose character sings), Basil Rathbone, Margaret Wycherly, Felix Bressart, Sig Ruman, and H.B. Warner.David Talbot (Powell) and his newlywed wife Lucienne (Lamarr) have just celebrated three months of marriage when he receives a mysterious letter. Though it's unsigned, it insists that Talbot pay his debt of one million francs in a most unusual & discrete way. Talbot, a diplomat that expects to become France's ambassador to Brazil soon, pretends to follow the instructions so that the authorities can arrest La Duc (Vladimir Sokoloff, uncredited). In court, La Duc claims that Talbot is really Jean Pelletier, a man who borrowed the requested sum 13 years prior. During the proceedings, Talbot's friend Dr. Tessier (Bressart) testifies that Talbot has suffered from amnesia, that Talbot was badly injured around the time of the date in question and doesn't remember anything prior to when Tessier found him, and helped him to recover. The prosecuting attorney (Warner) introduces Dr. Dubroc (Ruman), who successfully counters Tessier's testimony. He also introduces Michelle Allaine (Trevor), who solidifies the prosecution's case that Talbot and Pelletier are one in the same. However, Henri Sarrou (Rathbone) comes forward and exonerates Talbot, given legal documentation that proves Pelletier is dead.Later, however, Sarrou arrives at the Talbot's and privately demands one million francs from the diplomat. He claims that Talbot really is Pelletier, that as such he participated in a theft of two million francs 13 years ago and even suffered a powder burn on his hand from killing the messenger during the robbery. Later, Michelle visits Talbot at his office and shows him a locket she wears around her neck which contains an intimate picture of the two of them. She also tells him that he should be ashamed of letting his mother live in poverty, giving him the address. Talbot visits the elderly Madame Pelletier (Wycherly) who convinces him, without overtly admitting it, that she is indeed his mother. Throughout all of this, Talbot keeps his wife in the dark and tries to cover his tracks. However, she begins to suspect there is something going on and visits Tessier for council & comfort. Tessier is intrigued enough to visit Sarrou himself. When Sarrou then visits Talbot at a diplomatic luncheon, the hopeful future ambassador is pressured into a deadline by his blackmailer.The film keeps one guessing right up until this point, one doesn't really know what to believe and Powell does an excellent job playing the role such that one's not sure if he was in fact Pelletier. It is then revealed that Sarrou, Michelle, and Madame Pelletier, who is really La Duc's wife, are scamming the diplomat. After an elaborate embezzlement attempt at the embassy, in which the suspicious wife who'd followed her husband also finds herself, the police arrive to arrest everybody. Then Talbot plays the game, pretending to think that he must be Pelletier and therefore guilty of murder in order to get Michelle to crack and admit the ruse.Apparently, Talbot had alerted the authorities beforehand about the robbery to setup the all too convenient confession. If not for this, and the loose end of the powder burn on Talbot's hand (e.g. how did Sarrou know it was there?), I would have given this film an even higher rating.

LeonLouisRicci A foreign setting that adds little to this mystery and probably makes it more of a struggle to enjoy. This story is solid enough and the need for a French setting is ambiguous. The fine cast delivers enough to hold it together, but the locations and most of the interiors are insignificant and uninspired.Things pick up dramatically in the second half after a slow start, but the ending was in no need of a "standing around" explaining everything exit. This a a talky, tedious affair that has just enough intrigue that keeps it from becoming fully dull and disappointing. The lackluster direction, sets, and exposition renders this rather boring with some sparks of energy in an otherwise flat and dismal drama.

misctidsandbits Claire Trevor is my pick for interest in this, though William Powell is always engaging. He does well in a different sort of part for him, a man who has cause to doubt himself. But character shows true, not something you can hide with such close alliances as in his life and over time. He just does not have the criminal bent about him. But you begin to wonder as it goes along. The marriage is one of those society types, where it's always "darling" and other formalities, yet they demonstrate a solid bond. Good Hedy Lamarr vehicle for a deeper sort of character and inner attractiveness. It's not just the background and beauty here that make up her weight. But Claire Trevor has that intriguing woman thing down in this, doing both the refined veneer along with the bald adventuress well. Rathbone has a different role type also, having more of the nervous edginess, needing side coaching from the Trevor character. The old lady playing the fake mother is good also. As one said here, there is the formula element about the film, but there is depth of interest as well.