The Great Impostor

I genuinely dislike these smooth-talking narcissistic psychopaths. They're like the guy who pushes in front of you in a long line and offers a charming but false explanation. Great for him but everybody else is deprived of the place in line that they've earned. Very amusing to see DeMara in all these high-status positions -- doctor, researcher from Yale, prison warden, monk. Suppose he'd killed someone on the Canadian destroyer? It doesn't help that he looks heavenward and mutters, "God, please don't let me kill anybody." He should have thought of that before. And his settling down with a straightforward love of his life who reforms him is unbelievable.

That gets the bad stuff out of the way. Tony Curtis is near his best, jaunty when it's called for, sweaty and nervous when necessary. His meeting with Mickey Kellin in the dark prison cell is pretty spooky. We can believe that Curtis is scared. We can also believe that Kellin is anxious to cooperate in some scheme that saves both his neck and his face.

The scene in which Curtis, as a Canadian doctor must remove the abcessed tooth of Captain Edmund O'Brien could not be improved upon. I can't watch that scene without busting up. O'Brien frozen in this awkward position, an agonized expression on his face, like an exhibit in Madam Toussaud's Wax Works.

I'm glad he finally got caught before he caused too much damage. Speaking of the damage we don't see much of it here. It's all pretty lighthearted, which is one way of approaching exploitation. An example of what I mean by "damage." I would feel sorry for the Naval officer who falls in love with him and redeems him, if she existed. In real life, these stimulus-hungry anti-social personalities are easily bored. They tend to attract women, use them, and blow them off. I would expect DeMara to have left a lot of hurt women along his madcap trail.

That this movie, made in 1961, wasn't the inspiration for Frank Abagnale (Catch me if you can), the bit Spielberg/DeCaprio/Hanks hit currently in theaters. When I saw the promos for CMIYC I thought, "Hey! This is a remake of an old Tony Curtis film!"

The IMDB search shows that The Great Impostor was made in 1961; Frank Abagnales adventures as an imposter started in '62 or '63. Wonder if he saw the film?

I can't remember if I loved The Great Impostor or not but I'm guessing I did; the plot is sooooooooo similar to Catch Me If You Can and I liked that film quite a lot!

If you haven't seen this movie, catch it for at least one reason: About an hour into it Tony Curtis is passing as a surgeon on a Canadian warboat with Edmond O'Brien as its captain. O'Brien comes down with an impacted molar, and Curtis has to remove it. What happens after that is totally unforgettable. They should make special awards just for scenes this funny!

This very interesting film was based upon a book of the same name, in turn, based upon the extremely unorthodox life of Ferdinand Demara.

Watching this film naturally leads us to the question of what motivated Demana to lead this semi-criminal life? Is he a compulsive snake?: one who must periodically shed his skin because he needs new types of challenges periodically to avoid boredom? Or is he playing a cat and mouse game, periodically testing whether he can, once again, beat the system in assuming the identity of someone else? I suspect some of both. Unlike as shown in the film, he actually joined a monastery for several years when he ran away from home at age 16. I would think it extremely unusual for a restless teen to do so. I think that should tell us something about his psychological state.

There is always the problem of a few people who meet the bureaucratic requirements for a profession or advanced schooling but lack real life competency vs. those who are or show promise of being quite competent but lack the bureaucratic criteria for being accepted as an advanced student or as a professional.

The film dramatizes only a few of Demara's impersonations, albeit some of the most astounding. His attempt to reform the typical brutality in prisons was one highlight. However, his masquerading as a doctor in the Canadian Navy during the Korean war is the most unbelievable segment. Included is his historical surgery on several wounded Koreans while aboard ship.

I wonder if he had gotten married if he would have settled down? The fact that he tried to make it as a monk in his early adulthood may suggest that he didn't have marriage in his plans. Incidentally, Sue Anne Langdon sure was cute and vivacious as an aggressive man eater!

Demana is shown faking a suicide. This really happened.

I'm very surprised that this film was shot in B&W at this late date(1961), although Universal was a notoriously cheap studio.

Tony Curtis may not have been the greatest of actors (though he did give some great performances), but he was very charismatic and immensely likeable and improved hugely with each film, it was very difficult to dislike him even early in his career. Reading the subject matter gave the impression that 'The Great Imposter' would be interesting and entertaining. There is also a good deal of talent in the cast.

Luckily, 'The Great Imposter' turned out to be exactly that, exactly what it seemed it would be on paper. It was interesting and it was very entertaining, the latter being especially strong, those two being its main objectives and they were achieved. Won't say it was a masterpiece or classic cinema because it wasn't, not everything works, but like Curtis one cannot be too hard on 'The Great Imposter' with so much working in its favour. It knows what it wants to be, who to aim it at and shows a lot of effort without trying to bite more than it can chew or play it too safe.

Would have liked DeMura's motivations to have gone into depth more or properly explored/explained, this aspect felt underdeveloped.

Also didn't buy his reform, which felt rushed and too pat to me, but that's personal opinion.

On the other hand, 'The Great Imposter' looks attractive, especially in the photography, and is assuredly directed. The music is never intrusive, low-key, obvious or repetitive, it fits well and not hard at all to remember.

While the facts and subject are adapted loosely and the tone significantly more light-hearted compared to the biography, of which it is a loose adaptation of, the light-hearted wit is infectious, it doesn't get too camp or silly and those unfamiliar with the man and story before seeing the film will find themselves wanting to learn more. The story is crisply paced and while odd in places (in an appealing way) it doesn't get too hard to follow. The surgery scene is priceless and avoids the trap of falling into distaste, do agree though it is not a subject to be laughed or poked fun at usually.

Did worry as to whether Curtis would be able to handle multiple roles and whether he would pull it off, but didn't need to be. He does splendidly here, we have as much fun as he clearly did, and one can really see how much he grew as an actor from when he first started a decade or so before. Raymond Massey, Edmund O'Brien and Karl Malden are particularly note-worthy in support.

All in all, lots of fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox