Scarring

It’s always shocking to find a film so deep with good writing, good acting, beautiful camera work and enough surprises to keep you wide-eyed, but remains largely unknown.

That’s pretty much the back story for The Scar released in 1948.

Coming not all too long after World War II, there is an air of intrigue about the entire film. It’s not spy related, but there are some characters whose identities become intertwined and eventually overlap.

John Muller, here played by Paul Henreid, is a thief recently released from prison. He has such acumen for his work, it’s even recognized by the warden. As he again reconstitutes his gang to plan another heist, he finds that some of them are less than eager to oblige. He gets around this obstacle with the promise of the grandest heist that any could imagine. And the plan works – well sorta.

Muller and one of his associates escape, while the other three reveal their identities to the victims of the theft. Part of the initial reticence in planning for the heist was that no one ever escaped the vengeance of this casino owner and now Muller is concerned for his life.

He hides out for as long as he can, but feels that he doesn’t have too much longer. As lucky happenstance, he encounters a doctor who could in fact be his twin – save for the scar on his check.

Muller decides to knock off the doctor and assume his practice, date his girl and forever live the life of his doppelganger. Everything seems to be going well – he fools patients, secretaries and nurses and even his girlfriend for a time.

Muller thinks that he’s gotten away with hiding in plain sight – an admirable plan. But one day his brother shows up looking for him, his girl runs off and he’s left to fend for himself. Arriving at a logical end, Muller decides to skip town. He has nothing there any longer and figures that he can maintain his newfound identity in another locale. He’s completely right. Unfortunately, he didn’t count on the good doctor’s debts coming back to haunt him.