Leonard here. The following column is written by my colleague Mark Searby highlighting British cinema past and present. Please enjoy A Bit of Crumpet.
Beauty is only skin deep, as the saying goes. And as one of the characters in Stolen Face says. This 1951 Hammer Films movie has a lot to say about looks and how many would go to great lengths to change how they look, and some do. Especially here as faces are changed, for better and worse.
British plastic surgeon Philip Ritter is jilted by a concert pianist after a whirlwind romance. Still clinging to her memory, he remakes disfigured criminal Lily in Alice’s image. But Ritter soon discovers that what’s underneath did not change for the better.
If this film had buckets of blood then it would be a Hammer Horror. But as Hammer’s leaning towards the scary wasn’t in full flow when Stolen Face was released, it is a Hammer thriller but with a touch of mad scientist about it all (so, maybe an unofficial Hammer Horror?). Ritter, the Dr on a mission, becomes obsessed with remaking an ugly woman into a beautiful one. Initially, a little side project, as he works with inmates from Holloway prison where he changes their faces and this causes them to not commit crimes ever again. But when he is faced with the scarred face of young Lily Conover (geddit? Con Over? Yeah, very good) he see’s an opportunity to play God in the vein of Dr. Frankenstein, by breathing new life into someone who is living, but living behind bars. While there aren’t operating theatres full of test tubes bubbling away, there is still the impression that Ritter is so obsessed that he will stop at nothing to make Lily into a new woman by any means necessary. Lily, the young Cockney, is happy to be having a make-over worthy of John Travolta/Nic Cage. She see’s it as a new shot at life, real life. A path to the straight and narrow. When the operation is a success, she falls for Ritter. Their love extending beyond the operating table. But the old ways come creeping back to Lily (now known as Alice Brent). Soon she returns to her thieving ways. But this time from high-end department stores. Causing embarrassment to her husband who has to continue to cover for her, and pay for the items she has half inched (cockney rhyming slang for pinched).
It’s fair to say that at only one hour and fifteen minutes this film flies by. There are no baggy parts (pun intended) and the story is lean & mean. What starts as a story about lust and desire, on several levels. Soon turns to sex. Then to dread and deviousness. It’s a film that see’s Dr. Ritter go from being the good guy to the bad guy and then to someone being emancipated by his glamorous wife. Something he never intended or saw coming. Paul Henreid is entertaining as Dr. Ritter. A steely determination to see his “creature” come to life. But then jealousy and hatred take over. Henreid plays it with a stern, straight face throughout apart from when he finally see’s Lily’s face after the op. Then he is filled with joy and happiness alongside a lot of pride for what has been accomplished. However, it is the performance by Lizabeth Scott as Lily/Alice that truly steals the film. When we first meet Lily, she is dowdy and melancholic not just about being in prison but also about her face and how nobody will ever love her because of it. It’s a performance that invokes some sadness, even though Lily is a criminal. It seems underneath it all, there is a scaredness to her. It’s a little bit endearing. Yet it is when she transforms into Alice that we see a thoroughly entertaining performance from Scott as she becomes the woman she always dreamed Lily would be. Out-going, personable, jovial and entertaining. We see her plonking away on the piano in a pub, the regulars joining in for a sing-song. Alice is getting used to the new life and new social class she has found herself in. The confidence oozes through Scott’s performance as Alice. She is unafraid of anything with the new face. Even in the quieter moments, Scott’s performance has a touch of class to it. Her beaming smile and perfectly created hairstyle give off a regal look. Her clothes are designed to accentuate every single curve on her body. Almost becoming a 1950s sex symbol. Scott’s dual performance is something to be wowed by, especially when she is playing Alice as it becomes a glamorous Jekyll & Hyde performance as she wrestles new life versus old life. It’s a wonderfully understated Cockney performance from Scott as Lily and an equally wonderful glamourous performance by Scott as Alice. A character to fall for on both sides.
Hammer Films ventured into Film Noir/B-Movie territory with Stolen Face. However, I feel that is doing a disservice to this film, as it comes across more as a film about obsession and desire. A film about, as the saying goes, a Leopard can’t change its spots. Lily may have a new face and look & act the part as high society Alice. But her deep down criminal tendencies start to bubble to the surface. A cautionary tale. Then there is the story of Dr. Ritter’s (mad) scientist and his obsession and desire to remake a woman in his own image. Another cautionary tale. A thought-provoking film on several levels. Not forget the outstanding performance(s) from Lizabeth Scott, who pins the whole film together.
Stolen Face is released through Hammer films in the UK on the 16th February.
