DbcultAccessing Vault...
6.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Man with Two Faces remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have seventy minutes to spare tonight and want to see Edward G. Robinson wear a fake mustache that looks like a dying caterpillar, then yes, The Man with Two Faces is absolutely worth your time.
People who love fast-talking 1930s studio films with zero fat will have a blast with this. But if you cannot stand theatrical acting or plot twists that rely on characters being incredibly blind, you will probably hate it.
The whole thing is based on a play by George S. Kaufman and Alexander Woollcott, so the dialogue has that sharp, stagey bounce to it. Mary Astor plays Jessica, a great actress who has been turned into a literal zombie by her awful husband, Stanley.
Louis Calhern plays Stanley, and man, he is just incredibly mean. He even treats his tiny dog like garbage, which is the classic movie shortcut to show someone is pure evil.
Enter Edward G. Robinson as Jessica's brother, Damon. He decides the only way to save his sister is to disguise himself as a flamboyant French theatrical producer named Jules Chautard.
This is where the movie gets wonderfully ridiculous. Robinson’s accent is so thick you could cut it with a butter knife, and his wig looks like it was stolen from a high school drama department's discount bin.
It is wild that nobody in the film recognizes him. He is literally just Edward G. Robinson with a funny beard, yet everyone is completely fooled.
There is a scene where Robinson has to eat a meal while keeping his fake whiskers from falling into his soup. You can actually see him chewing very carefully so the spirit gum doesn't give way.
It reminds me of those older silent melodramas like The Price where the villains were just bad because the script needed them to be. We don't get a deep psychological dive into why Stanley is so cruel; he just is.
Jessica's recovery from her "trance" is also pretty funny. She basically just wakes up, looks around the room, and goes back to being a normal person like she just finished a long nap.
The pacing is so fast that you don't really have time to think about how silly the murder plot actually is. It just zips from one backstage dressing room to another.
Honestly, we could have used a bit of The Habit of Happiness to lighten the mood here, because the domestic abuse vibes are surprisingly dark for a movie that features a man in a fake nose.
But that is the charm of these early 1930s Warner Bros. flicks. They do not worry about being perfect; they just want to get to the point and get out.
It is not a masterpiece, but it is a really fun time if you do not take things too seriously. Just enjoy the mustache. 🥸
IMDb 6.6
1919
Community
Log in to comment.
