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Pretty Good

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Narrated by William L. Shirer. A Columbia Picture. Copyright 27 September 1951 by Columbia Pictures Corp. New York opening at the Criterion: 30 September 1951. U.S. release: September 1951. U.K release: 31 March 1952. Australian release: 27 June 1952. 92 minutes. The full-length 92-minutes version was released only in Australia. In the U.K. and the U.S.A., the movie was cut by 4 minutes, eliminating the Neville Chamberlain sequence.SYNOPSIS: William L. Shirer, foreign correspondent, is told the following story by a strange woman (Mrs Janus). Janus the Great, a brilliant impersonator, was once the most popular man on the Viennese stage; when the Nazis took over Austria, his wife left him to live with the Fuehrer, and he was sent to a concentration camp. He escaped in disguise, tricked his way into Hitler's service as a valet, killed the dictator and took his place; as the false Hitler, he purposely — by insisting on unwise military and political decisions — led Germany to defeat. In the hour of final defeat, in an underground shelter in Berlin, he revealed his true identity to his faithless wife and escaped to resume his old identity. (Hitler's body was never found).COMMENT: A really weird movie. Independently made in Austria by Mort Briskin and Robert Smith, it was picked up for distribution by Columbia as an exploitation item. Those expecting the real dirt on Hitler were doubtless disappointed, but people like myself looking for a way- out, unusual or preposterous entertainment found this "historical" ratbaggery amusingly off-beat.With its larger-than-life performances, its candidly goofy impersonation plot, its victim-of-the-blacklist director, and even in its somewhat amateurish technical deficiencies such as the jarring juxtaposition of studio and obvious newsreel footage, "The Magic Face" has all the qualities required of a first-class cult movie. I can only wonder why it has never been taken up by the corduroy set and reaped a financial bonanza for its present copyright owners around university campuses.

IMDb is a great bible for discovering unknown B movies, like this Magic Face, never seen in France. Thanks to the reviewers, I was excited for seeing this incredible version of the story of WWII, and I wasn't disappointed, it even explains some German mistakes. One of the writer is Mort Briskin, who has written The Second Woman and A Man Alone, mostly TV products and his two absolutely strong thrillers with Joe Don Baker directed by Phil Karlson, Framed and Walking Tall. The other writer is Robert Smith who has written great titles like I Walk Alone, Sudden Fear, Quicksand, 99 River Street and who also wrote The Second Woman with Mort Briskin. And the director is Frank Tuttle, no need to tell what great noir movies he directed. The three make a very fine team for creating a war movie treated on a noir style.I just wonder why this very surprising gem hasn't ever been released, this incredible story deserves to be a cult B classic.

great story, excellent acting. also, i had the joy of seeing luther adler do tevya in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF maybe 25 years after seeing THE MAGIC FACE.this is one of those movies that stay with you forever...i only wish i could rent it now, to show it to a few friends, and of course see it again.the music was also interesting. i can still remember the melody when the quick change actors go from one costume to another.the introduction by newsman shirer at the top of the movie was also a nice touch, and gave a documentary type of feel to the black and white movie.adler was stunning as Hitler. the resemblance was uncanny.

As i remember it, it was presented as a true story, according to the introduction. It is the only story of Hitler's life that explained many of the unexplained changes that happened during the war. It was very interesting and would love to obtain a copy of this movie for my own collection.