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Stolen Face
Stolen Face
Directed by	Terence Fisher
Screenplay by	Martin Berkeley; Richard Landau;
Story by	Alexander Paal; Steven Vas;
Produced by	Anthony Hinds
Starring	Paul Henreid; Lizabeth Scott; André Morell;
Cinematography	Walter J. Harvey
Edited by	Maurice Rootes
Music by	Malcolm Arnold
Production; company	Hammer Film Productions
Distributed by	Exclusive Films (UK); Lippert Pictures (US);
Release date	23 June 1952;
Running time	72 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Stolen Face is a 1952 British film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Paul Henreid, Lizabeth Scott and André Morell.^[1] The screenplay was by Martin Berkeley and Richard Landau based on a story by Alexander Paal and Steven Vas.

A plastic surgeon falls in love with a pianist, but she is engaged to someone else, so he remodels the face of an ex-convict to resemble the pianist, and marries her instead.

Plot

Lady Harringay arrives in her chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce at the offices of her plastic surgeon, Dr. Philip Ritter, in central London. She is disappointed when he tells her that he can do no more for her.

Ritter drives with a friend to Holloway Prison and interviews Lily Conover, a female convict whose face is badly scarred. He believes her disfigurement is the cause of her criminality. After almost having a car crash on the way back, he decides to take a holiday in the countryside.

At a country inn, he meets and soon falls in love with Alice Brent, a gifted and beautiful concert pianist. However, Alice is already engaged to be married to David and, afraid to tell Ritter, she runs away. Ritter is devastated.

Back at his surgery, Ritter receives a phone call from Alice, who tells him of her engagement. Meanwhile, Ritter's new patient is Lily, now released from prison. The love-struck surgeon believes he can change her criminal ways by constructing her new face to resemble that of Alice. He does so, and they marry.

However, Lily has not changed her ways. She soon grows bored with Ritter's sedate lifestyle, and returns to a life of crime and partying. She is reckless in her behaviour, and unabashedly flirtatious with other men, and he comes to despise her.

As Alice completes her latest concert tour, David knows there is something wrong. He guesses she is in love with someone else, and calls off the engagement. Alice goes to see Ritter, who confesses what he has done.

Later, an upset Ritter leaves London for Plymouth, believing that the situation can never be reversed. Lily follows him, however, and takes the same train, where she becomes drunk and aggressive towards Ritter. Alice believes Ritter is so upset he may harm Lily, or even kill her if provoked, and she too joins the train. She arrives just as the two are arguing, and engaged in a physical struggle as Ritter tries to prevent the intoxicated Lily from falling out of the carriage. As Alice enters, Lily accidentally falls against the loose carriage door, and falls out of the train.

Lily is discovered dead at the side of the tracks, and Ritter and Alice are reunited.

Cast

Paul Henreid as Dr. Philip Ritter
Lizabeth Scott as Alice Brent / Lily Conover, after surgery
André Morell as David
Mary Mackenzie as Lily Conover, before surgery
John Wood as Dr. John 'Jack' Wilson
Arnold Ridley as Dr. Russell
Susan Stephen as Betty
Diana Beaumont as May
Terence O'Regan as Pete Snipe
Russell Napier as Det. Cutler
Ambrosine Phillpotts as Miss Patten as Fur Department clerk
Everley Gregg as Lady Millicent Harringay
Cyril Smith as Alf Bixby, innkeeper
Richard Wattis as Mr. Wentworth, store manager
Dorothy Bramhall as Miss Simpson as receptionist
Janet Burnell as Maggie Bixby
Alexis France as Mrs. Emmett
John Bull as Charles Emmett
Bartlett Mullins as farmer
Anna Turner as maid
John Warren as railway guard
Hal Osmond as photographer

Production

The film was shot at Hammersmith's Riverside Studios with sets designed by art director Wilfred Arnold.

Critical reception

In contemporary reviews Variety said: "Pacing is laborious though Henreid and Scott provide some substance. ... Picture’s chances are mild.";^[2] Boxoffice wrote: "What started out as an admirably original and highly engrossing idea to background a dual-role performance was virtually ruined through mallet-handed scripting and direction, resulting in over-dramatic delineations and situations."^[3]

Leslie Halliwell reviewed the film as: "Quickie melodrama which proved fairly popular because of its Hollywood stars."^[4]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as “mediocre” and wrote the one-word review: ''Grim.''^[5]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Take this early Hammer melodrama with a ton of salt and you may enjoy its wild fantasy about sexual obsession and the incredible achievements of plastic surgery. Two 1940s stars, past their prime, were dragged to Britain to boost international sales."^[6]

Writing in his biography of Terence Fisher, Peter Hutchings says: "Stolen Face is [hard] to classify; sometimes linked with SF and horror because of its subject matter – a surgeon operating on a woman to transform her into a replica of another woman – it is probably more accurate to think of it as a rather perverse romantic melodrama."^[7]

References

^ "Stolen Face". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
^ "Stolen Face". Variety. 186 (12): 22. 28 May 1952.
^ "Stolen Face". Boxoffice. 61 (6): 1382. 7 June 1952.
^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 962. ISBN 0-586-08894-6.
^ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 379. ISBN 0-7134-1874-5.
^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 881. ISBN 9780992936440.
^ Hutchings, Peter (2001). Terence Fisher. Manchester University Press. p. 63. ISBN 0719056373.