THE SCARF

Mercedes McCambridge and John Ireland

THE SCARF  (1951). Written and directed by E. A. Dupont. 

John Barrington (John Ireland of Railroaded) was convicted of strangling a woman with a scarf, but has no memory of it. Sentenced to life in an institution, he manages to escape and winds up on a turkey farm with a grizzled old-timer named Ezra (James Barton). John gives a lift to a somewhat hard-boiled lady named Connie (Mercedes McCambridge). Like Ezra, Connie learns the truth about John but doesn't turn him in, not even for the $5000 reward. John goes to see his old friend, Dr. David Dunbar (Emlyn Williams), who tells him he actually witnessed the murder and knows that John committed it. But is this the truth? Then John's father (Basil Ruysdael) comes into the office with the police in tow ...

James Barton

Frankly, I didn't believe The Scarf for a minute. A lot of good actors are trapped within a screenplay that is half-baked and ludicrous. You can see the denouement coming from a mile away, and the characters seem to exist for only the amount of time they are on-screen -- despite the good acting they never quite seem like real people. Ireland and McCambridge, who were also in All the King's Men together, do the best they can but Broadway star Barton and Williams -- author of Night Must Fall and The Corn is Green in addition to being an actor -- make the best impression. There is also some good work from Lloyd Gough as another psychiatrist, David Bauer/Wolfe as bar owner Louie, and Iris Adrian as a drunken floozy. King Donovan [The Magnetic Monster] is the piano player in the gin joint where Connie works and sings (McCambridge betrays a not-bad voice). Lyle Talbot [Batman and Robin] gives a dull performance as a cop. The music and photography are good but not enough to make this memorable.

Verdict: Flavorful performances, but you won't believe a minute of it! **.