The Man with My Face

Based on a pulp novel by Samuel W. Taylor, Edward Montagne’s The Man with My Face is an implausible, starvation-budget noir with an ambitiously ludicrous plot, a total absence of logic, a no-name cast, a Doberman Pinscher as a murder weapon, and the distinct honor of being the only film noir set (and shot) in Puerto Rico, even if there don’t seem to be many Puerto Ricans around. Against all odds, however, the little film commands attention and rewards viewers with an amusing story and a hero to root for. The hero in question is Charles “Chick” Graham (Barry Nelson), who arrives home from work one evening to find he’s been replaced by an identical doppelganger playing cards with his wife Cora (Lynn Ainley) and her brother Buster Cox (John Harvey), who is also Chick’s best friend and army buddy; the two men had been stationed together in Puerto Rico so decided to return to the island and start an accounting business together. After the new Chick calls the police on the real Chick, the real Chick is compelled to leave his home and seek out help from his former girlfriend Mary Davis (Carole Matthews) who hasn’t stopped carrying a torch for him. The film’s outrageous premise is the highlight, but Montagne, who was best known for work in television (and it shows), inexplicably gives us the explanation almost from the start, a mystery-draining decision some viewers may find unforgivable. Still, the story takes Chick to various locations (note the impressive art deco Banco Popular building where Chick and Buster work), often followed by the growling Doberman that will later hunt him through the labyrinthine castle ruins on the Old San Juan cliffs (this climax appears to have been shot on location at San Cristobal castle). Most of the cast is mediocre at best (Ponce-born Chinita is pretty awful as the ill-fated Juanita), but Nelson is actually quite convincing in the dual role of the real Chick, whose lighthearted opening voiceover establishes his nice guy persona, and Chick lookalike Albert Rand, who becomes more menacing and arrogant with each passing scene.