Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-born actor, writer and director is one of the most recognisable Hollywood icons. His image is usually associated with silent era spectacles or his own directorial megalomania and clashes with producers, which made him one of the most tragic personalities of Old Hollywood. At the end of his career, von Stroheim employed his instantly recognisable image in various character roles. But few of us would dare to turn von Stroheim into film noire protagonist. In 1945, Anthony Mann did just that in The Great Flamarion.

The plot of this film is relatively simple. Flamarion (played by von Stroheim) is expert marksman, who lives ascetic life and works as performer in variety shows. His latest act features him as an jealous husband, with two of his assistants - beautiful Connie Wallace (played by Mary Beth Hughes) and Al (played by Dan Duryea) playing adulterous lovers. In real life Connie and Al are unhappy couple; Connie can't stand living with alcoholic, abusive and not very bright Al, but she can't divorce him either because he knows some sinister secrets from her past. So, Connie decides to get rid of the husband by seducing Flamarion. Due to his tragic experience with opposite sex twenty years ago, Flamarion is resisting Connie's seduction, but not enough. Soon he would fall in love with her and take part in her scheme to get rid of the husband by arranging Al's "accidental" death on the stage.

The Great Flamarion in 78 minutes of its length shows us craftsmanship of Old Hollywood, but nothing more. All familiar elements of film noir are here - crimes of passion, fatal brunette, comeuppance and explanatory flashbacks. Idea to make contrast between stage and real life relationship between the characters seems interesting. Actors are OK - Duryea gives very convincing and almost sympathetic alcoholic, and Mary Beth Hughes is more than believable as femme fatale. Unfortunately, von Stroheim seems somewhat unconvincing in his role - his character transforms too quickly and his character isn't explored properly. All in all, The Great Flamarion is good film that could be recommended for the lovers of classic cinema, but those who want to truly appreciate von Stroheim and Mann should try to watch other films.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on December 14th 1999)

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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/35543-the-great-flamarion
Critic: AA