Strange Impersonation (1946)

Director:

Anthony Mann

Writers:

Lewis Herman (story)
Mildred Lord (writer)

Release Date:

16 March 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir

Plot:

A research scientist conducting experiments on a new anaesthetic finds herself being blackmailed by...

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Research | Experiment | Laboratory Accident | Anesthetic

Cast

Brenda Marshall	...	Nora Goodrich
William Gargan	...	Dr. Stephen Lindstrom
Hillary Brooke	...	Arline Cole
George Chandler	...	J W Rinse, plaintiffs' atty.
Ruth Ford	...	Jane Karaski #1
H.B. Warner	...	Dr. Mansfield, plastic surgeon
Lyle Talbot	...	Insp. Malloy, chief interrogator
Mary Treen	...	Talkative nurse
Cay Forrester	...	Miss Roper, interrogation witness
Dick Scott	...	Detective

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Company:

W. Lee Wilder Productions

Quotes:

Nora Goodrich: [after being groped passionately in her laboratory] Stephen, remember - science!

Compact B-noir enlivened by Anthony Mann's direction

"You cannot escape the person you are," says plastic surgeon H.B.Warner, holding up a bony finger. Nevertheless, leading lady Brenda Marshall tries, which puts her in the postwar vanguard of stars doing identity switches [see Bogart in DARK PASSAGE and Stanwyck in NO MAN OF HER OWN]. The script also stirs in elements from A WOMAN'S FACE, plus a dash of mad-scientist hubris, then shakes it into a film noir cocktail.

Marshall plays a research chemist who tries an experimental anesthetic on herself ["nothing can go wrong"], but ends up disfigured, then takes on the identity of extortionist bad girl Ruth Ford. The switch involves several plastic surgery montages, but mostly results in a new coif, a dark rinse, and make-up adjustments.

The plot also plays out the popular postwar subtext of Send-Rosie-the-Riveter-Back-to-the-Kitchen: when scientific professional Marshall turns down a marriage proposal in favor of finishing her own work, she suffers for it at the hands of scheming Hillary Brooke, and then has to fight to get another chance at that marriage ring. This conventional message is somewhat at war with the subversive noir style, but this script includes: the unsuspected hostile motives of a friend, the nightmare chain of events, and the police station third-degree. The novelty here is the woman protagonist, who herself shifts into a femme fatale. In fact, the film centers on a trio of femmes fatales: Marshall and Brooke and Ford. The man involved is William Gargan, relaxed and charming, so hardly an homme fatal.

Republic's studio style-- aimed at simple feel-good entertainment, with invariably stodgy decor---was not exactly a natural home for noir. However, Anthony Mann delivers lean direction, with exceptionally fluid camerawork, some striking high and low angles, and smart playing from all [poor Marshall has to spend a good half-hour with her face wrapped up in bandages]. However, a few years later Mann worked out the situation-- two women tussling over a man--more pointedly, and with lots more shadows, in the superior RAW DEAL.