Hollow Triumph

Released by: The Film Detective
Released on: September 8th, 2015.
Director: Steve Sekely
Cast: Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, Eduard Franz, Leslie Brooks
Year: 1948
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The Movie:

Also known as The Scar and The Man Who Murdered Himself, Hollow Triumph stars Paul Henreid as John Muller, a med school drop out with a gambling habit. When he decides to swindle a mobster named Rocky Stansyck, he finds that there have been some hitmen sent after him to take care of things. He tries to work a desk job to earn some money but it ends poorly when he punches his boss in the face.

Rather than split to Mexico (he learns that those who have stiffed Stansyck in the past have tried this and not made it back alive) he instead learns of one Doctor Victor Emile Bartok, a psychiatrist who he just happens to be a dead ringer for. John lets himself into Bartok's office where he's promptly kissed by his foxy secretary, Evelyn Hahn (Joan Bennett) who confused him for her boss. He sets her straight and she's charmed by him, but before he splits he swipes a sample of Bartok's hand writing and a recording of his session so that he can go home and basically learn to impersonate him.

There's one physical different between them though - Bartok has a visible scar on his face. Armed with basic medical school knowledge, Muller gives himself an identical scar. From here, he scopes out the garage where Bartok parts, convinces them to give him a job, and then manages to murder him. From here he takes his place, breaking it off with Evelyn beforehand telling her that he has to go off to Paris. Having assumed Bartok's identity he figures he's all set - even Bartok's patients, friends and main squeeze, Virginia (Leslie Brooks), are unable to tell the difference.

What Muller doesn't realize is that he's missed one key detail in his transformation and that maybe his plan isn't quite as fool proof as he thought…

If this isn't the most plausible story ever written that doesn't stop the film from entertaining. Henreid is quite good in the dual role, with neither character coming across as a particularly nice guy (Bartok is playing around behind his woman's back and also a bit of a gambler). He's shifty enough to make it work but still able to come across as plenty suave and charming. He's got a good chemistry with both of the actresses who hang off of his arms at different points in the movie and he looks the part. Leslie Brooks is gorgeous here and fine in her part while Joan Bennett outdoes pretty much everyone in the movie. Part of this is due to the fact that she's got some really choice dialogue here (“I'm sick and tired of being wise, rotten and dirty!”) and she delivers it with some serious conviction. We feel for her character, torn as she is in the film, but at the same time it's made pretty clear throughout the movie that she knows what she's getting herself into. Great acting all around here, with supporting efforts from Eduard Franz, John Qualen and a brief cameo from none other than Jack Webb (his film debut) also worth a mention.

The score from Sol Kaplan complements Steve Sekely's tight directing style really nicely while the cinematography from John Alton captures the seedy side of Los Angeles in all its shadowy glory pretty much perfectly.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Hollow Triumph debuts on Blu-ray in 1.33.1 fullframe in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer taken from a 35mm print. First things first, it doesn't look like any noise reduction or edge enhancement has been applied here, at least not to any noticeable degree. As such, this basically looks like a film print, complete with a fair bit of print damage. It's not overwhelming, but it's definitely there - scratches mostly, a few large ones though primarily small ones. There are a few scenes where, between reel changes it looks like, things are more tattered for a few seconds but having said all of that this is very watchable. Fine detail is definitely there, though some shots are shot soft intentionally for stylistic reasons, while black levels are good if not reference quality (some scenes show a darker grey rather than a true black), but this is a decent presentation. More cleanup work could have been done but better to have it like this than slathered in noise reduction filtering.

The English language DTS-HD Mono track sounds pretty decent. Dialogue is easy enough to follow and the score sounds good. Range is understandably limited here but any hiss or distortion that works its way into the mix is minimal and never particularly intrusive. Optional subtitles are provided in English only.

Extras are limited to a static menu, chapter selection and a homemade trailer for the feature (though to Film Detective's credit, it's nicely edited and quite well done).

The Final Word:

Hollow Triumph is a solid noir thriller aided by a strong cast and some absolutely gorgeous cinematography. The film offers Paul Henreid to play a noticeably darker role than most will associate with him but he does it very well while Joan Bennett steals almost every scene she's in. The Blu-ray release from The Film Detective isn't perfect but it does offer up a film-like transfer with lossless audio.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!