Stolen Identity (1953)A jealous concert pianist murders his wife's lover, then frames an innocent taxi driver for the crime. Director:Gunther von Fritsch (as Gunther Fritsch) |
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Stolen Identity (1953)A jealous concert pianist murders his wife's lover, then frames an innocent taxi driver for the crime. Director:Gunther von Fritsch (as Gunther Fritsch) |
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Credited cast: | |||
Donald Buka | ... |
Toni Sponer
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Joan Camden | ... |
Karen Manelli
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Francis Lederer | ... |
Claude Manelli
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Adrienne Gessner | ... |
Mrs. Fraser
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Inge Konradi | ... |
Marie
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Gisela Wilke | ... |
Old Doll
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Hermann Erhardt | ... |
Ferdl Heintl
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Egon von Jordan | ... |
Kruger
(as E. von Jordan)
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Manfred Inger | ... |
Inspector
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Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Karl Farkas | ... |
Waiter
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Louis Ousted | ... |
Jack Mortimer
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A jealous concert pianist murders his wife's lover, then frames an innocent taxi driver for the crime.
There's a "Third Man" look to the shadowy B&W photography of STOLEN IDENTITY, a thriller produced by Turhan Bey, ex-star of Universal pictures during the '40s. It's an expertly filmed tale of jealousy that leads to murder when a famous pianist (FRANCIS LEDERER) becomes overly possessive of his wife (JOAN CAMDEN) and is soon intent on carrying out a scheme to murder a man she's having an affair with.
A taxi-driver (DONALD BUKA) happens to be giving the woman's lover a lift to the hotel when he steps outside a moment to chat with a worker digging up the street. Lederer uses the sound of the drill to muffle the sound of the bullet he puts in the head of the passenger from outside the back of the car. When Buka returns to his cab, he finds a dead man in the passenger seat.
Enroute to report the murder to the police, he changes his mind and decides to switch identities with the dead man who has an American passport which means Buka could realize his ambition to return to the United States. The stolen identity plot becomes thicker when the man's girlfriend (Lederer's wife) shows up at the hotel to accuse Buka of impersonating the dead man.
It's the sort of plot movie-goers have probably seen countless times, but it gets a nice workout here, with plenty of tense scenes as Buka and Lederer's wife plan how to run from the authorities until a final confrontation with the murderer and the police.
It's extremely absorbing, well done and holds the interest throughout with some excellent atmospheric photography of Vienna that will remind most movie-goers of "The Third Man".
Well worth viewing.