STRANGE IMPERSONATION (DVD/B&W) DVD

Strange Impersonation
Nora Goodrich (Brenda Marshall) is a dedicated research scientist who is very close to a breakthrough in her field of anesthetics. She allows herself to be used as the subject of an experiment, and becomes the victim of sabotage by her jealous assistant (Hillary Brooke), who is her rival for the affections of the same man (William Gargan). Nora is scarred by the accident, but fate takes a hand when a vicious blackmailer (Ruth Ford), part of an extortion scam that was being worked on her, breaks in to her apartment. In the ensuing struggle, the lady grifter is killed and then mistaken for Nora, while the real Nora goes into hiding. Taking the identity of the dead woman, she realizes how she has been betrayed and maimed and plots an elaborate revenge, undergoing reconstructive surgery that changes her whole appearance. She then reintroduces herself into the lives of her former associates, in her new guise, and begins her revenge. Before her plans can be concluded, however, her masquerade backfires on her, when she finds herself accused by the police -- of the murder of Nora Goodrich. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Cast n/a

Crew Anthony Mann - Director John Link - Editor Alexander Laszlo - Musical Direction/Supervision Robert Pittack - Cinematographer W. Lee Wilder - Producer William Wilder - Producer Lewis Helmer Herman - Screen Story Mindret Lord - Screenwriter Anne Wigton - Short Story Author

Strange Impersonation
Anthony Mann's Strange Impersonation is a movie that promises more than it ultimately delivers but has enough twists to justify a good look at it. The movie trades in the images and elements of film noir, and Mann deftly handles the myriad elements -- there's enough plot here for three movies -- but takes a few strange turns that may disappoint fans of the genre. The whole picture has an eerie, otherworldly tone, especially as the plot's pacing begins to quicken and events unfold ever faster and more improbably in the second half, though this is explained rationally in the denouement. Mann does his juggling act well, helped ably by a decent cast and some good makeup work by Bud Westmore. The twists and digressions -- which, at times, make this seem like a good, competent version of an Edward D. Wood Jr. crime drama -- prevent Strange Impersonation from being a major movie, or even a major minor movie, in Mann's output; as its title implies, however, it is one of the stranger and more interesting minor movies in that filmography. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: Sound Processing: 1: PCM mono Additional Features: none specified DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 68 min