The Lie

Lee Bowman was one of those many B picture players who turned to television when work became scarce on the big screen. In the case of The Lie this was a made for TV feature shot in Germany. I guess a trip to Germany was worth the price of appearing in The Lie.

It's a noir film and on the dull side. Lee is a diamond importer who has a gun and carry permit. One night after a little celebration Bowman passes out and wakes up with a dead body on his apartment floor.

Of course he's charged with murder and does 3 years though he hasn't got the foggiest idea who the dead man was even. Worse than that three friends including Ramsay Ames the only other American in the cast swear they weren't even with him that night and they took him home.

As any of these films would have it Bowman has to find out the truth and clear his name and maybe check to see if he's not going balmy.

You can see the solution a mile away on this one.

The Lie grabbed my attention with its straightforward, two word title. The cast for the most part gave fine performances but they were also a little off in that several of the main characters seemed too old for their specific roles. Not sure why that is but it served to further weaken an already very weak story. Too much of this relatively short film was devoted to circus acts and a lengthy nightclub performance scene. It seems the circus was a popular setting for many films of this era, although this specific circus was particularly tepid. Despite a couple watchable elements, The Lie just doesn't deliver a solid return on the time investment.

Lee Bowman is in the diamond trade in Germany. One night after a night roistering with his friends, they drop him off in his apartment. When he wakes, there's a dead man he doesn't recognize, killed with Bowman's gun. No one knows who he is, or what connection he has with Bowman, but when his friends say on the witness stand that they put Bowman in a cab back to his apartment, he's found guilty of murder and sentenced to seven years in prison. After he gets out, he tries to find out who did it.

It's a very slight story, with some decent performances and some interesting off-kilter camerawork by Erich Claunigk. Shot on location, it has some interesting shots of the seedier parts of Geiselgasteig in Bavaria, but those of the limits of its excellence.