• A fascinating true story of forgery and deception- fits with Fuller’s obsession with exposing the sordid underbelly or ugly truth
  • Shot by James Wong Howe (Hud, Seconds – both would come later of course but Body and Soul before)- a great coup for Fuller to get him in in just Fuller’s second feature with not a ton of budget
  • Vincent Price is both good in his performance and impeccably cast as well—shrewd, dominant
  • Told in flashback structure with cigars and brandy and men in tuxedos
  • You can tell Fuller sort of admires the character—the dedication to spend three years at the monastery, decades of foresight in his scheme – the film falls a bit flat in the final stretch from a narrative standpoint
  • I’ve seen it a few times now even through this and Jesse James, the year before which was Fuller’s debut—the dolly-in rapidly on Price at 36 minutes—sort of Scorsese-lite
  • A few nice shots Price in the rain in the final moments—good photography
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Shot by James Wong Howe (Hud, Seconds – both would come later of course but Body and Soul before)- a great coup for Fuller to get him in in just Fuller’s second feature with not a ton of budget
  • Recommend but not in the top 10 of 1950