I wrote this unpublished review in 1971, when I was writing about the unique B movies directed by Hugo Haas, which I had been seeing for years on TV via syndication packages. I had planned to curate a retrospective of Haas' work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, at the invitation of Larry Kardish, but that never came to pass and 50 years later Hugo Haas is one of the few cult directors yet to receive his due recognition. (Oddly enough, Larry did present programs on Katt Shea and Andy Sidaris at my prompting.)
The key feature of Hugo Haas' serious films is to build up audience sympathy for the Haas figure, and then place him at the mercy of the elements or other people's schemes. Here the Haas character has the foible of falling for song & dance girl Cleo Moore, and his tendency toward drunkenness. Vince Edwards' moving in on his wife is made evident almost immediately: he withholds suspense in favor of having the audience follow (virtually identifying) the characters' machinations while Haas' character is in the dark.
The ultra-dramatic gimmick (usually ironic) employed in this film is the surprise appearance of Haas' twin brother. When Haas is bumped off by Vince & Cleo in their car 50 minutes into the film, it is evident that the thrust of the movie will be their getting caught in an error and thereby arrested by the police. As his usual theme, Haas preys upon his characters' guilt to create the film's driving force. Here, Cleo is immediately repentant for their rash action, and when Haas makes his first post-killing appearance by standing in the bushes outside her window -we and Cleo are not sure whether or not it was a hallucination.
Haas' brother's next showing is at the lawyer's office for the reading of the will, and though he looks slightly different from Haas, it soon becomes subtly evident from his actions, knowledge and intentional verbal slips that there is a good chance that Haas is still alive, and that the hit-and-run victim was in fact his brother.
The new Haas is constantly bothering Vince and Cleo concerning his brother's death, and his sick sense of humor helps shift the audience's sympathy to the killers. Unlike Claude Chabrol's "This Man Must Die", Haas does not reveal for certain whether the live Haas is the original Gus or his criminal brother David. Instead, we must gradually follow Cleo in her steadily growing realization that they killed the wrong man. Unfortunately, the uninitiated find Haas' style and exaggerated plots foolish and because they do not get into the swing of his films, they tune out.
By introducing the carnival girl late in the film, and emphasizing her presence, auteur Haas signals tht Moore and Edwards' safety is precarious due to the possibility of their splitting up, and thereby becoming dangerous to each other due to their shared secret.
The proof that Gus is still alive (scar on the chest) is built up to most dramatically with neat music. Haas has no recriminations against Cleo -he offers to get her a lawyer. As a suitably ironic finish, the lady lion tamer appears at the very end (looking for Vince), and invites Hugo to her act at the circus, agreeing to meet him for dinner afterwards. Then as carnival music grows in volume in the background, Hug puts up his hands and NOT looking toward the audience (a significant move -class!) shrugs, claiming "everybody has to go sometime", summing up as a humorous twist the fatalistic nature of this film (as is all of his serious films).
The ultra-dramatic gimmick (usually ironic) employed in this film is the surprise appearance of Haas' twin brother. When Haas is bumped off by Vince & Cleo in their car 50 minutes into the film, it is evident that the thrust of the movie will be their getting caught in an error and thereby arrested by the police. As his usual theme, Haas preys upon his characters' guilt to create the film's driving force. Here, Cleo is immediately repentant for their rash action, and when Haas makes his first post-killing appearance by standing in the bushes outside her window -we and Cleo are not sure whether or not it was a hallucination.
Haas' brother's next showing is at the lawyer's office for the reading of the will, and though he looks slightly different from Haas, it soon becomes subtly evident from his actions, knowledge and intentional verbal slips that there is a good chance that Haas is still alive, and that the hit-and-run victim was in fact his brother.
The new Haas is constantly bothering Vince and Cleo concerning his brother's death, and his sick sense of humor helps shift the audience's sympathy to the killers. Unlike Claude Chabrol's "This Man Must Die", Haas does not reveal for certain whether the live Haas is the original Gus or his criminal brother David. Instead, we must gradually follow Cleo in her steadily growing realization that they killed the wrong man. Unfortunately, the uninitiated find Haas' style and exaggerated plots foolish and because they do not get into the swing of his films, they tune out.
By introducing the carnival girl late in the film, and emphasizing her presence, auteur Haas signals tht Moore and Edwards' safety is precarious due to the possibility of their splitting up, and thereby becoming dangerous to each other due to their shared secret.
The proof that Gus is still alive (scar on the chest) is built up to most dramatically with neat music. Haas has no recriminations against Cleo -he offers to get her a lawyer. As a suitably ironic finish, the lady lion tamer appears at the very end (looking for Vince), and invites Hugo to her act at the circus, agreeing to meet him for dinner afterwards. Then as carnival music grows in volume in the background, Hug puts up his hands and NOT looking toward the audience (a significant move -class!) shrugs, claiming "everybody has to go sometime", summing up as a humorous twist the fatalistic nature of this film (as is all of his serious films).