The Impostor (1944)
Directed by Julien Duvivier

Film Review

It is somewhat ironic that the film which put the last nail in the coffin of Jean Gabin's hopes of a Hollywood career was directed by the very man who had established Gabin as an icon of French cinema in the 1930s, namely Julien Duvivier.  The Impostor was the second American film to which Gabin lent his talents and it fared little better than his first, the eerily melancholic melodrama Moontide (1942).  The film's lukewarm reception not only killed off Gabin's Hollywood aspirations, it also contributed to Duvivier's decision to return to France after his next feature, Destiny (1944).  Having served with honour in the French Free Forces, Gabin resumed his career in France, but it would take over a decade before he regained his former iconic status.

The Impostor is essentially a remake of Duvivier's earlier war-time drama, La Bandera (1935), with Gabin once again cast as the doomed anti-hero.  The film's main flaw is that it fails to recreate the distinctive poetic realist ambiance of the original (perhaps because Duvivier had too much money at his disposal, which meant he was bound to end up with a glossier, less atmospheric production).  The Impostor lacks not only atmosphere but also the realistic action scenes that a cinema audience of the time would have expected in a big budget war film.  It ends up resembling a somewhat uninspired adaptation of a hideously static and over-verbose stage play.  The fact that Gabin has very little to do in the film other than look moody and introspective also counts against it, preventing it from exploiting its chief asset (presumably this stemmed from concerns over Gabin's poor command of English, as was apparent in his previous film).

As in so many previous (and subsequent) Duvivier films, the director overstretches himself and ends up having to fall back on the money-saving expediency of back projection and unconvincing studio mock-ups of location sets.  At the time, this was an acceptable convention, but today it dates the film badly and it is hard for the spectator to suspend his or her disbelief  when there is such a glaring mismatch between studio and location shots.  Given its manifest flaws, it is surprising how watchable The Impostor is.  The performances are not great, the script is somewhat over-wordy, but Duvivier's artistry and Gabin's enigmatic presence ensure that the film does at least hold our attention.  However, it does not compare favourably with other American war films of the period and it is easy to see why it sank without trace.

Film Synopsis

In June 1940, Clément, a condemned prisoner, is about to be guillotined in Paris when German bombs rain down and allow him to escape.  As he flees across France, he steals the papers from the body of a dead sergeant, Larfarge, and acquires a new identity.  In North Africa, he joins the French Free Forces and distinguishes himself in battle.  Now a hero, Clément is visited by Larfarge's widow, but she is persuaded not to reveal the fact that he is an impostor.  A short while later, another combatant turns up at Clément's camp who can identify him as the man who stole Larfarge's papers.  Clément is driven to confess that he is an impostor and accept the consequences of his act...