The Scapegoat
The Scapegoat
NR | 06 August 1959 (USA)
The Scapegoat Trailers

An Englishman in France unwittingly is placed into the identity, and steps into the vacated life, of a look-alike French nobleman.

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Reviews
Platicsco

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

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HeadlinesExotic

Boring

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Contentar

Best movie of this year hands down!

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Brenda

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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JohnHowardReid

Producer: Michael Balcon. Executive producers: Daphne Du Maurier, Alec Guinness. Copyright August 1959 by Du Maurier-Guinness Productions. Released through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. New York opening at the Guild: 6 August 1959. U.S. release: August 1959. U.K. trade premiere: August 1959. Australian release: 22 October 1959. Sydney opening at the Liberty. 92 minutes. NOTES: Location scenes filmed in the Loire Valley, France. COMMENT: Newsweek headed their review of the book with the caption, "Take Me Back to Manderlay". Indeed, there are so many echoes of Rebecca in the film, it often seems the sprawling chateau and its atmospheric surrounds is the real star of the movie rather than Mr Guinness, or rather two of Mr Guinness who revels in the cleverly crafted split screen special effects. Mind you, that is all to the good, for neither Guinness is terribly convincing. Not all his fault, either. The book takes great pains to point out that the Barrett character can speak French like a native. And what does Mr Guinness speak? English! Not a word of French, would you believe, in either of his incarnations. The same goes for the rest of the cast. British accents all around. In fact the only person who has a foreign accent is the lovely Nicole Maurey. Still, that is a convention I guess we have to put up with. But even suspending our disbelief, the film still presents insoluble problems. The plot seems not only confused and confusing, but takes an interminable time to get under way. It is Miss Maurey, of course, who makes the picture worth watching. Despite her star billing, Miss Davis has only two or three scenes. It is is young Annabel Bartlett who enjoys the principal female role, though Irene Worth (as the wife) and Pamela Brown (as the sister) are allowed to share in the histrionics. The Scapegoat is one of those rare movies that actually play better (at least in a wide-screen format) on television where the viewer can relax in comfort and doesn't really care how long the plot takes to make itself clear, or how talkative and slow-moving it all is. True, attractively atmospheric scenery and a fair dollop of production values help too.

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Khun Kru Mark

The Scapegoat has flown under the radar over the years and while it's not a classic movie, it is pretty compelling. Just watching the glorious Bette Davis carve up the scenery without moving a muscle is worth your time alone!Actually; the entire cast is exemplary....Peter Sallis (you'll recognize the voice/face) makes a very brief appearance at the beginning of the movie as a customs inspector. He must be 100 years old by now! Geoffrey Keen is sublime as the manservant, Gaston. For me, though, the irascible daughter steals this movie and makes it her own. The jolly hockey sticks are strong with this one! An odd beginning and an unsatisfying ending...I haven't read the book, but it's never clear to me if the innocent French teacher on holiday in France was deliberately set up way in advance or he really did just meet his doppelganger by chance and allow himself to be dragged into this vortex of intrigue.But that aside, when John Barrat eventually arrives at the large house and is welcomed as Jacques De Gue, that rather messy start is forgiven and forgotten.And the ending also fails to satisfy completely, too. I'd like to have seen how his future gets worked out with his adopted family. Instead, we see him snogging his mistress.It's nice to see France as it once was and how I remember it in my childhood on holidays. Quiet, with serene cobbled streets and ancient houses. I can still remember the powerful smell of fresh French bread in the mornings... What a shame all that is now gone.Sir Alec underplays his part and casually strolls through the fantastic situation that he's been thrust into. I'd like to have seen David Niven have a shot at this. I think he would have made this movie a lot more exciting... but it is what it is and it's still a pretty interesting way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon!

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Steven Torrey

I saw the movie as a great psychological thriller. (It is available on YouTube.) Alec Guinness plays deadpan, dual and twin role of John Barratt and Jacque De Gué. They accidentally meet while John Barratt, a teacher of French in a British school, is visiting Paris and they both realize how similar they look. Jacque, bored and overwhelmed by family dynamics wants out of his own life, drugs John, and replaces John's passport with Jacque's; and John Barratt is forced to take on the role of Jacque De Gué; however much he initially protests, he soon acquiesces to the switch since no one wants to believe the bizarre story of being a replacement.The story worked. The supporting cast were more than adequate to the task. The story line and characters were sufficiently complex to be riveting.But finally, Jacque De Gué reappears. His resolution is to shoot John Barratt dead. Just prior to this, John Barratt had deliberately harmed his right hand to get out of a shooting contest, which would give the game away.So at the end, there is something of a duel with each other; but only one survives. What one survives? One clue is the bandaged hand; but Jacque De Gué could have replicated a bandage on his own hand. To me the telling moment came with the lack at the end of internal monologue/narrative that John Barratt had engaged in as the movie unfolded to explain motivation. That lack seemed to suggest that Jacque De Gué did indeed shoot to death John Barratt. But like all good mystery films, the ambiguity adds to the suspense.

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blanche-2

We've seen it done a hundred times - twins switching identities - but somehow, having Alec Guinness as the twins makes The Scapegoat a cut above the other switch films. Guinness, of course, played multiple roles with great success in the fantastic Kind Hearts and Coronets, so twins for him must have seemed a cinch. In Kind Hearts, he had the benefit of a variety of disguises and voices. In this film, he had to create two completely different characters who look exactly alike. Of course he does so magnificently.This isn't the most successful DuMaurier adaptation - that honor has to go to Rebecca, in my book, but The Scapegoat has a strong cast - Guinness, Bette Davis, Irene Worth, Pamela Brown, and the lovely Nicole Maurey. The atmosphere of this black and white film is somewhat depressing, given the gargantuan, ugly home the family resides in - but it is certainly the right mood for what Guinness inherits when his double disappears. Bette Davis is good, if on the grand guignol side. Guinness does so much with just a gesture, her histrionics seem out of place. All in all, it's a good film - it's very hard to go wrong when Alec Guinness is involved.

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