Another Face | |
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Directed by | Christy Cabanne |
Written by | |
Story by | |
Produced by | Cliff Reid |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Jack MacKenzie |
Edited by | George Hively |
Music by | Roy Webb |
Production company | |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 69-72 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Another Face (released in the UK as It Happened in Hollywood) [1] is a 1935 film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Wallace Ford, Brian Donlevy and Phyllis Brooks. A wanted gangster has plastic surgery and becomes an actor.
Wanted by the police, murderer and gang leader Broken Nose Dawson (Brian Donlevy) goes to unscrupulous Dr. H. L. Buler (an uncredited Oscar Apfel) to have his appearance changed. Buler is assisted by nurse Mary McCall (Molly Lamont), who is aghast when she recognizes the patient. When Dawson heals, he is amazed by his new face; his underling, Muggsie Brown (Frank Mills, uncredited), remarks that he is now as handsome as a movie star.
Dawson sends Muggsie to eliminate Buler and McCall, then phones in an anonymous tip about his henchman to get rid of everyone who knows about his new appearance. Muggsie kills Buler and a nurse (only it is not McCall) and is in turn gunned down by the police. Frightened when she reads about the murders in the newspaper, McCall flees across the country.
Remembering Muggsie's comment, Dawson decides to become a movie star and moves to Hollywood, where he takes elocution lessons. Under the alias "Spencer Dutro", he gets hired to portray a gangster opposite top actress Sheila Barry (Phyllis Brooks) by director Bill Branch. Barry is unimpressed by Dutro's acting ability and inflated ego.
Meanwhile, Zenith Studio press agent Joe Haynes (Wallace Ford) is warned about his publicity stunts by Police Captain Spellman (an uncredited Charles Wilson). Studio general manager Charles L. Kellar (Alan Hale) agrees that Joe's zany antics have to stop.
Mary McCall calls on Haynes, sent by her fiance, Western star Tex Williams (Addison Randall), to get a job. She recognizes Dutro from publicity photos on Haynes' desk and tells Haynes who he is. When Dutro comes into the office, Haynes locks McCall in a closet for her safety. After getting Dutro to leave, however, Haynes decides not to call the police right away. He wants to milk the gangster's capture for all the publicity he can; Kellar reluctantly approves his plan.
Haynes arranges for everyone to work on the film that night, including an annoyed Barry (they were to fly to Yuma to get married). Things do not go quite as planned: when the police arrive, Dutro takes Barry hostage and flees. In the search of the studio grounds, Dutro also captures Haynes. When Dutro tries to leave a building and get to a car, Haynes pushes Barry outside and locks the door, with the two men inside. A chase ensues. In the end, Haynes manages to knock Dutro out, and is forgiven by Barry for his latest caper.
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as the pirate Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934), and his title role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.
Waldo Brian Donlevy was an American actor, who was noted for playing dangerous and tough characters. Usually appearing in supporting roles, among his best-known films are Beau Geste (1939), The Great McGinty (1940) and Wake Island (1942). For his role as the sadistic Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Underworld is a 1927 American silent crime film directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent and George Bancroft. The film launched Sternberg's eight-year collaboration with Paramount Pictures, with whom he would produce his seven films with actress Marlene Dietrich. Journalist and screenwriter Ben Hecht won an Academy Award for Best Original Story.
Molly Lamont was a South African-British film actress.
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