Film

Alias Nick Beal (1949)

Director: John Farrow

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

An undeservedly neglected film which should rank high on the list of Farrow's best. Starting out as a political thriller, almost imperceptibly it turns into fantasy, a variation on the Faust legend with honest, conscientious politician Mitchell falling under the spell of old Nick Beal (Milland) and turning into a ruthless, power-hungry monster. Working with his regular writer Jonathan Latimer, Farrow has a model screenplay of precision and construction, and adds to it careful detail, allusion and suggestion. Best of all is his visual coup of never having Milland walk into a scene: the camera continually discovers him as it or a character moves, and suddenly there he is when seconds ago he was nowhere. Sadly, there's a sellout religioso ending, which lessens the overall power of the suggestion of some all-pervasive, satanic evil.

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