A wealthy diplomat who, after a head injury thirteen years earlier, remembers nothing that happened before then, is told that he was a criminal who murdered a man in the course of a robbery. The criminals who tell him this want blackmail money he cannot afford, but a greater problem is coping with this knowledge.
The amnesiac who turns out to have a past greatly different from his present is an old standby--for instance, in Somewhere in the Night, with John Hodiak. This version must be the worst of the lot. The entire picture is just William Powell looking grim , worrying, and having conversations that are not interesting and do not advance the plot. Hedy Lamarr, as his wife, is affectionate and supportive and looks gorgeous in several evening gowns, and Basil Rathbone and Claire Trevor are wasted in nothing parts.
With little on screen to engage the viewer, one's mind is busy wondering: Didn't William Powell have any friends or family to identify him? How did he enter in the diplomatic service, and how did he become rich? (You don't become rich because you're a diplomat: you become a diplomat because you're rich.) What happened to the 2 million francs he had on him? Why aren't the criminal's fingerprints, photograph, or any record of his activities on file? What is Basil Rathbone's "proof," and is it genuine or isn't it?
Right to the silly and disappointing ending, the greatest mystery about this movie is how so little could come of so much talent.
The amnesiac who turns out to have a past greatly different from his present is an old standby--for instance, in Somewhere in the Night, with John Hodiak. This version must be the worst of the lot. The entire picture is just William Powell looking grim , worrying, and having conversations that are not interesting and do not advance the plot. Hedy Lamarr, as his wife, is affectionate and supportive and looks gorgeous in several evening gowns, and Basil Rathbone and Claire Trevor are wasted in nothing parts.
With little on screen to engage the viewer, one's mind is busy wondering: Didn't William Powell have any friends or family to identify him? How did he enter in the diplomatic service, and how did he become rich? (You don't become rich because you're a diplomat: you become a diplomat because you're rich.) What happened to the 2 million francs he had on him? Why aren't the criminal's fingerprints, photograph, or any record of his activities on file? What is Basil Rathbone's "proof," and is it genuine or isn't it?
Right to the silly and disappointing ending, the greatest mystery about this movie is how so little could come of so much talent.