The Scarf is a 1951 American film noir written and directed by Ewald André Dupont starring John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, James Barton, and Emlyn Williams.[1] The screenplay concerns a man who escapes from an insane asylum and tries to convince a crusty hermit, a drifting saloon singer, and himself that he is not a murderer.

The Scarf
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEwald André Dupont
Screenplay byEwald André Dupont
Story byIsadore Goldsmith
E.A. Rolfe
Produced byIsadore Goldsmith
StarringJohn Ireland
Mercedes McCambridge
James Barton
Emlyn Williams
CinematographyFranz Planer
Edited byJoseph Gluck
Music byHerschel Burke Gilbert
Production
company
Gloria Productions Inc.
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • April 6, 1951 (1951-04-06) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

edit

John Ireland stars as John Barrington, an escapee from an institution for the criminally insane. Actually, Barrington is not insane, but the victim of a plot orchestrated by a clever murderer. The only person who believes Barrington's story is Ezra Thompson (James Barton) a turkey farmer who hides him from the authorities. Then a singing waitress named Cash-and-Carry Connie (Mercedes McCambridge) unwittingly provides the clue that will prove Barrington's innocence. Emlyn Williams co-stars as a psychiatrist.

Cast

edit

Reception

edit

Critical response

edit

Film critic Bosley Crowther panned the film, "For a picture so heavily loaded with lengthy and tedious talk, talk, talk, The Scarf, the new tenant at the Park Avenue, has depressingly little to say. As a matter of fact, it expresses, in several thousand words of dialogue—and in a running-time that amounts to just four minutes short of an hour and a half—perhaps the least measure of intelligence or dramatic continuity that you are likely to find in any picture, current or recent, that takes itself seriously."[2]

Film critic Manny Farber writing in the May 26, 1951 issue of The Nation characterizes The Scarf as “a disjointed, monstrously affected psycho-mystery freak show.” [3] Farber adds:

Producer-directors Ewald André Dupont and Isadore Goldsmith glamorize a singing waitress, a turkey-raising hermit, a jaundiced metaphysical barkeep, and a morose amnesiac fugitive from a desert asylum...Dupont and Goldsmith turn their tinny proletarians into sententious talkers, dubbing them with names like “Level Louie” and “Cash-and-carry Connie" and having them oscillate their eyeballs in a sophisticated version of Griffith’s pantomime. It sounds awful but it’s kind of interesting.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ The Scarf at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
  2. ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, April 23, 1951. Accessed: August 10, 2013.
  3. ^ Farber, 2009 p. 354
  4. ^ Farber, 2009 p. 354-355

Sources

edit
  • Farber, Manny. 2009. Farber on Film: The Complete Film Writings of Manny Farber. Edited by Robert Polito. Library of America. ISBN 978-1-59853-050-6
edit