Hollow Triumph (1948)

Director:

Steve Sekely

Writers:

Daniel Fuchs (screenplay)
Murray Forbes (novel)

Release Date:

16 December 1949 (Finland)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

HIS SCAR marked them BOTH!!

Plot:

Pursued by the big-time gambler he robbed, John Muller takes a new identity, with ironic results.

Plot Keywords:

Irony | Psychiatrist | On The Run | Prison Release | Punched In The Face

Cast

Paul Henreid	...	John Muller / Dr. Bartok
Joan Bennett	...	Evelyn Hahn
Eduard Franz	...	Frederick Muller
Leslie Brooks	...	Virginia Taylor
John Qualen	...	Swangron
Mabel Paige	...	Charwoman
Herbert Rudley	...	Marcy
Charles Arnt	...	Coblenz
George Chandler	...	Aubrey - Assistant
Sid Tomack	...	Artell - Manager
Alvin Hammer	...	Jerry
Ann Staunton	...	Blonde
Paul E. Burns	...	Clerk (as Paul Burns)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Deputy
Morgan Farley	...	Howard Anderson

Also Known As:

The Man Who Murdered Himself (USA) (reissue title)
The Scar (UK)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Angel's Flight Railway, Bunker Hill, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bryan Foy Productions

Trivia:

Debut of Thomas Browne Henry.

Quotes:

[Evelyn kisses Muller by mistake]
Evelyn Hahn: What can I do for you?
John Muller: What more could any reasonable man ask?

A crook replaces a lookalike doctor

Paul Henried plays a double role in "Hollow Triumph," a 1948 film also starring Joan Bennett. Henried is John Muller who, the minute he gets out of prison, hatches a robbery plot of a casino with his old gang. None of them want to go along with it, but Muller bullies them into it. It doesn't go as planned. The owner of the casino, Stansyck, is known for hunting people down who wrong him even if it takes years, so Muller is now a marked man. When he's stopped on the street by a dentist who believes him to be Dr. Victor Bartok, Muller begins to hatch an idea. They look exactly alike - except for a scar on Bartok's left cheek.

"Hollow Triumph" or "The Scar" as it's also called is a very entertaining movie even with a preposterous plot. One small point is the casting of Eduard Franz as Muller's brother. Were they separated at birth, with Muller brought up in Germany and his brother raised in the U.S.? Or did someone cast Eduard Franz thinking that because of his name, he had an accent? Paul Henried does a good job in his dual role, though we really don't see a lot of Bartok's personality. Joan Bennett is good as an embittered woman who believes she's unlucky in love.

Seeing "Hollow Triumph" in 2008, one thing sticks out: a guy filled his gas tank for a dollar.