This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Not even bad in a good way

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I FOUND A STOCK PAPER OF A THEATER POSTER OF THE MOVIE THE SCARF BEHIND A PICTURE OF MY HUSBAND'S CHILDHOOD PHOTO. I AM WONDERING IF IT IS OF ANY VALUE. AT THE BOTTOM, IT SHOWS 51/221 - WHICH I AM ASSUMING THAT THIS POSTER IS NUMBER 51 OF 221 POSTERS MADE FOR THIS MOVIE.

B films are usually poorly put together, don't usually have mainstream names, even for 1951. But I read several places it's a B film but I actually don't think it is. I may be wrong. I love film noir films; many people do. It's the edge, I think. This is a different type of film noir, this has a philosophical slant to it. It's mainly in the beginning, and part of the middle, and a bit at the end. But it's there. If you're into philosophical thought, as I am, then the slowness of the beginning shouldn't bother you too much, or perhaps it will, I don't know. Didn't for me.I read a few external/internal reviews that the fight scene was too long. It lasted two minutes (I timed it). I've seen Western B films where fight scenes lasted up to ten minutes. Two minutes is nothing.My favorite two characters were Connie Carter (Mercedes McCambridge) who sings a couple of songs but good songs, and Ezra Thompson (James Barton). Maybe because they brought humor to where humor probably shouldn't have been in such a bleak story. The story is simple: man goes to death row for a murder he didn't commit but gets commuted because apparently he's insane so goes to an asylum. He escapes the asylum to find out if he actually is crazy and committed the crime. Someone helps him out but a few weeks later he gets caught and that's where it usually ends but not in this. He made friends and they choose to prove his innocence.There was one part that you do find in B Westerns I didn't care for: shooting the gun out of the bad guy's hand. That is only easy when it's setup to be easy. And, in these old films you rarely see them aim handguns so just a regular cop shooting a gun at a bad guy's hand isn't guaranteed to work. I felt up to that point, for the times, everything was plausible. That scene prevented me from giving this a 9/10.Overall, I quite enjoyed it.

If you've read this far, you know what "The Scarf" is about, so I'll only add that after a not-so-promising start it gets wonderfully weird in so many ways that I stuck with it to the rather silly ending. Worth seeing for the actors involved and the priceless and sometimes witless dialog. John Ireland is surprisingly good in a lead role for a change and Mercedes McCambridge is wonderfully cast against type as something of a good-time girl/waitress/singer of sultry songs. John Barton has a chance to really shine in this film during a career consisting of mainly bit parts on television. You can see "The Scarf" on the Netflix instant service, as of 5/14/12.

This is an oddly engaging B noir largely because of an interesting if motley and disparate cast of actors; the story hardly warrants close inspection.There's John Ireland, not quite up to leading man status and yet curiously suited to this role. A young feisty Mercedes McCambridge struts her stuff endearingly. James Barton gives a warm and thoroughly convincing portrayal as the farmer content to be far from the madding crowd. Lastly there's English actor Emyln Williams turning in a pedantic performance, ludicrously out of place. There's no conceiving him and the John Ireland character ever having been "best friends". He tells Ms. McCambridge "you're a beautiful woman.." which is also somewhat of a stretch.Minor spoiler alert ahead:In keeping with the off kilter tone of this whole project, we should not be surprised to witness John Ireland choosing to spend his future on the farm with cello playing, book loving, though still macho old James Barton, rather than take up with torch song singing waitress McCambridge.Quite an oddity..