ridiculous rating

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This is an overlooked film noir cleverly directed by Anthony Mann. The Great Flamarion (Erich Von Stroheim) is an egotistical vaudeville performer that relies on his skills as an expert marksman. His trick gun-shot act requires two assistants, Connie (Mary Beth Hayes) and Al Wallace (Dan Duryea), who must rehearse tirelessly to have every movement in the act perfect. Connie becomes bored with her alcoholic husband and begins flirting with her hard nosed, no nonsense boss.Stroheim is stoic, solemn and unemotional and fits the bill as the Great Flamarion. Dureya and Hayes equally draws the viewer's attention. Some suspense with anxiety waiting on a double-cross or well planned let down. The cast also includes: Lester Allen, Esther Howard, Joseph Granby and Steve Barclay.

In a way, Stroheim belonged to the same class of giants like Robinson, Fresnay, Gabin, Simon and Welles; yet in another way he was a character actor, just like Duryea and much more so than, say, Robinson. Robinson made a similarly—themed flick around the same time as THE GREAT FLAMARION, and a comparison of the two leading performances would be telling (Duryea was in that movie, too). That one is also a movie about an oldster's thirst for happiness and love.There is, in people of whatever condition, an innate longing and thirst for life, love and happiness; this axiom explains many of their actions. Those who are winners on earthly terms are often those who manage to suffocate these thirsts in themselves; and, alas, some of those who, on the contrary, give free way to these natural aspirations will finish bad.An elderly man, Flamarion, with a wealth of sadness and loneliness and reclusion, gets a glimpse of this possible happiness and love; and the hope that his life might be redeemed and transformed in human terms. Which, since we are made of earth, is a natural wish. So, this Flamarion is tempted and seduced by a younger broad who wishes to get rid of her drunkard husband (played by an outstanding Duryea). Flamarion accepts to do the job. The script says he should of trusted less. As a meditation on the psychological predetermination of the human in general, Mann's movie is not without its merits.Quite well written, intensely misogynistic, directed by Mann, played by Stroheim, Duryea and Mrs. Hughes, the story of Flamarion is an intensely interesting and very watchable, endearing and bitter drama about a loner's vulnerability. It has the format, common to other similar movies, of the dying man's confession. Duryea specialized in scoundrels and bums; here, his role isn't altogether different, but the situation of the character prompts, I believe, the viewer's sympathy. Stroheim being financially generous with Duryea right after he decided to murder him is a striking scene. The facts narrated are, in their coarseness, heartrending; the vulnerability of the loner, the thirst for happiness, the unspeakable solitude—the script has the dignity of not approaching this heartbreaking stuff by the usual noir clichés—the coincidences, etc.. It's more of a tale of vulnerability and revenge —than one of misfortune and bad luck.Stroheim does his routine, that of the glacial Prussian officer or dignified, devoted butler. In its restraint and limpidity, it is a cartoon. Nonetheless, very enjoyable for Stroheim buffs like myself, who like to see it given maximum screen time. It is Duryea who makes an impressive role here.Mrs. Hughes has, at times, a lousy diction.The title of the movie, and the name of the leading character, are wonderfully chosen. The script kicks ass, while only the coarseness of Stroheim's acting leaves a bit of an acrid aftertaste—compared to guys who did similar parts (Robinson, McMurray, Nicholson), Stroheim seems unable to play his character to the hilt, to express the hesitations and change and murderous determination; his Prussian officer was a vaudeville soldier, his devoted butler was a bit of a vaudeville butler—and so is his murderer. As a matter of fact, Stroheim gave his roles a glimpse of Expressionism, so it worked with Renoir—to a lesser degree with Wilder—and even less with Mann (the differences of the scripts are to be considered, as well …). Nonetheless, on screen Stroheim kicked ass; and he truly does it as Flamarion, too. The tautness of the script is delightful, one of the best noir scripts I have ever encountered, and I'm addicted to such movies, as years of IMDb reviews already testify.

William Lee Wilder was the older brother of Billy Wilder and "The Great Flamarion" was his first motion picture production. He didn't have a lot of flair but he did put Anthony Mann on the ladder to directorial fame and he also used a couple of great actors in Erich Von Stroheim and Dan Duryea. The film had a European flavour (it was adapted from a Vicki Baum story "The Big Shot") and Stroheim was perfect as an obsessed vaudevillian - a role he had perfected in "The Great Gabbo" (1929). He drew viewer's attention in every scene he appeared.A shot is heard throughout a Mexico City music hall - when a man falls from the rafters, Tony an old trouper, recognises Flamarion (Erich Von Stroheim), once the world's greatest sharp shooter. Dying, Flamarion tells his story:- Flamarion lived only for his work until he fell in love with Connie (Mary Beth Hughes), who with her husband Al (Dan Duryea) form Flamarion's shooting act. Connie and Al seem happily married, but behind closed doors her ruthless ambition has turned him into an alcoholic and rumour has it she is having an affair with Eddie (Stephen Barclay), a cyclist with the troop. Connie leads Flamarion to think she cares about him but her motive is to convince him to kill Al during a performance and make it look like an accident. He does and the coroner believes Al died due to his own drunken miscalculations. Connie and Flamarion agree to meet in Chicago, but she has her own plans that include Eddie, not Flamarion and he waits at the hotel in vain. To me, the best scene in the film is where Von Stroheim does a little dance in his eager anticipation to soon be with Connie.He sets out to find her and eventually traces both Connie and Eddie performing at a cheap theatre in Mexico City. He upbraids her for her duplicity but Connie pretends she still loves him - all the time reaching for his gun to shoot him. With his ebbing strength he strangles her before crawling away to die.Is there another actor more under-rated than Dan Duryea. He was a stage actor who was bought to movies to repeat his success in the stage play "The Little Foxes" but soon found himself in demand playing everything from pimps and spongers ("Scarlet Street" (1945), "Too Late For Tears" (1949)) to saddle tramps ("Black Bart" (1948)). "The Great Flamarion" presented him with a rare sympathetic role and as usual he perfected it. Mary Beth Hughes, originally a blonde bit player ("These Glamour Girls" (1939)) went back to her natural hair color (red) and became a noir cult favourite. Martha Vickers can be glimpsed as a chorus girl in the first scenes.Recommended.

Told in flashback story of a trick-shot artist who gets involved with his assistant who will do anything to get what she wants. Directed by Anthony Mann and produced by Billy Wilder this is a by the book melodrama of one woman destroying the lives of every man she comes in contact with. Far from a bad movie the movie suffers from the fact that we know the ending (Erich Von Stroheim is telling what happened as he lays dying). Even if we had seen this from the beginning we'd know it ends bad but we wouldn't be able to work out several of the twists that knowing the end imparts.If there is any real flaw beyond knowing how it ends, its the casting of Von Stroheim who seems too old and a bit too stiff for his man led astray. Still its the work of two cinema legends doing out what they do best and thats turning out a decent little film. Definitely worth a look if you're in the mood for a good film noir.