Boring

Absolutely brilliant

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Edward G. Robinson is "The Man with Two Faces" in this 1934 drama which also stars Louis Calhern, Mary Astor, and Ricardo Cortez. Astor and Robinson are Jessica and Damon Wells, sister and brother actors appearing in the out of town tryout of a play called "The Dark Tower." Astor's cruel, greedy, crooked husband, Stanley Vance (Calhern) is believed dead. Unfortunately he's not, and he shows up where the cast is staying.Damon Wells comes up with an idea of getting rid of Vance once and for all, and he uses Wells' greed to do it, telling him that a man, Chautard, is interested in buying Vance's and Jessica's part of the show for a great deal of money. Stanley eagerly meets Chautard at his hotel.This is a nice, short mystery that showcases both Robinson and Calhern. It's not the most believable plot - for one thing, Astor becomes shell-shocked when her husband appears and does everything he tells her, as if she has no mind of her own. That seemed rather odd. However, the acting is good and the action goes by pleasantly.

Does THE MAN WITH TWO FACES really feature shoelaces? It might was well, as nearly everything but the kitchen sink is tossed into the mix by writer Tom Reed, in an apparently desperate effort to see what will stick. It's never really made clear exactly WHY svengali Stanley Vance (played by Louis Calhern) left his cash cow wife Jessica Wells (Mary Astor), over whom he exerts a never-explained hypnotic control. Further, it's not really clear how and why he faked his own death on the west coast. Furthermore, the white mice or rats he brings to the house of Jessica's Aunt Martha on his return to Manhattan are poorly explained. Are they the agents of his power over Jessica? Did he possess pet rodents when the pair got married? Are the little white creatures a breeding couple? (And why, by the way, does Jessica have to live with her Aunt Martha? If she and her brother Damon--Edward G. Robinson--are such hotshots on Broadway, couldn't they afford their own digs? And why does Damon spell the family surname "Welles," though Jessica's is listed in the movie credits as "Wells"? Does some sort of mental defect doom this family, in similar fashion to Edgar Allan Poe's ill-fated house of Madeleine and Roderick Usher?) Finally, a case broken by a mustache in a Gideon Bible? Like most of the plot points in this film with any resolution, this one is telegraphed from a mile away. I better stop reviewing this movie, before I have to downgrade my rating from "7" to a "5" or "6."

If this film has a weak spot it's the story's details. Without giving anything away the whole idea of Vance's (Calhern) Svengali-like hypnotic effect on his wife (Astor) is a bit far-fetched, even for 1934. And quite frankly Robinson's disguise left a lot to be desired. And let's not forget the clue that clinched the policeman's case. I can't imagine building a case of such flimsy evidence. There's other areas of concern but I digress. Now for the good part: where the film shines is in the performances. This bevy of fine actors does a most excellent job at presenting complex characters driven by events not of their own choosing. It's a pretty talky film but I didn't mind in the least. The dialog is spirited, lively, expressive. And the performers tended to make me forget the plot's weak points. They were captivating, all of them, Robinson, Astor, Calhern, Cortez (in a rare good guy part), and last but not least, Mae Clarke, in my opinion a most underrated actor.

This 1934 film had a cast of movie legends along with Edward G. Robinson (Damon Welles) who also starred in "The Red House" and hundreds of other films. Mary Astor (Jessica Welles),who starred in "The Maltese Falcon" '41 with Humphrey Bogart. Even Mae Clarke (Daphne Martin) who was on "General Hospital '63 TV Series as Marge. Louis Calhern(Stanley Vance) played a nasty con-artist in this picture and was dispised by everyone, even Damon Welles. Louis Calhern starred in "Asphalt Jungle" 1950 along with Marilyn Monroe and had a long career in the 1920's to late 1960's. In 1934, this was considered a great drama or mystery, unfortunately, the plot was very poor, but the Actors made this a True Film Classic.