The Scapegoat

It's amazing that such a good film eventually came out of Ms. Du Maurier's perverse and convoluted novel. The novelist herself went into a rage over the screenplay, and many changes were made. You may notice in the trailer that Blanche (Pamela Brown) speaks of a plot element that does not appear in the movie. Also, the voiceover by Alec Guinness was added after the film was made, and I think it contributes greatly to the film's power, putting us firmly on the side of sanity."Perhaps a man has to be empty before he can be used?" Sir Alec (as John Barratt) muses, in his loneliness at the beginning of the film.. "Used for what? God knows."God does indeed know, and the movie turns out to be a Christian fable, which is not how it was advertised, and which probably put off many movie-goers who wanted it to be something else. The whole film depends for its interest on perpetual suspense. Every time I watch the film I wonder anew how John Barratt will manage to answer the incessant questions thrown at him by members of "his" household, and I marvel at the skill he shows in giving compassionate and usually truthful answers. I also wonder which members of the household realize John Barratt is not Jacques de Gue. We know the dog is not fooled, nor is Jaques' mistress, but I think Marie-Leon and de Gue's valet, Gaston, are also aware. See what you think!The acting is almost uniformly splendid, with special Ancient Bookworm Honors going to Geoffrey Keen's touching performance as the loyal Gaston. However--and it's a big "however"--Sir Alec wrote in his diary that "she [Bette Davis] was not the artist I had expected. She entirely missed the character of the old Countess, which could have been theatrically effective, and only wanted to be extravagantly over-dressed and surrounded, quite ridiculously, with flowers."I've given "The Scapegoat" four instead of five stars because of Ms. Davis performance. She has a pivotal role, and her ranting throws the whole film out of balance. Mercifully, some of her shrieks are covered with voice-over, but not enough to prevent John Barratt from saying tersely, "This is a madhouse!"

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I first saw this film when I was in university and afterwards forgot about it for many years. Then, having no recollection of the title or who was in it, I started searching based on the plot and had no success. Finally, about a month ago, I was looking up something about Alec Guinness and THERE IT WAS! I ordered it immediately and enjoyed every single minute of Alec, Bette Davis and a great story!

I love the novel this is based on and I think they did a very good job with it, having to fit it into movie length. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Robert Hamer (director and co-screenwriter) and Gore Vidal (screenwriter) combined their writing skills with the exquisite artistry of Daphne Du Maurier as Alec Guinness and a solid supporting cast lent their peculiar talent to incarnate the script. What was produced had been a disciplined rendering of the du Maurier novel. A little more than a half century ago accolades were tossed and reviews hailed a boffo production. All that could be said to praise this ninety-one minutes of entertainment luxury have been said. Hamer and Vidal found a way to insert the rich writing of du Maurier into to script without overly narrating it. Guinness is the virtuoso of deadpan confusion as he tries to work out the riddle in which he is cast. Cheap at any price! Own this movie and watch it from time to time. It helps to remind oneself of what real artistry is.

Love the pacing of this film! I had forgotten how much a good post-WWII era film could "get away with" in dialogue and a long look between a man and a woman across a crowded room. Daphne de Maurier was a uniquely gifted writer who could actually write and think like her male protagonists, but the sultryness AND innocence of women is evident, too. The plot is a stretch, I admit, but once the premise is established, aw, go on! Embrace it. Sit back and enjoy! Best watched with companions as after you watch this film, you open that second bottle of wine or put on another pot of coffee and engage in a really good chat about it.

I purchased this particular movie from Amazon so that I could finish watching it! It had been on tv but the film was damaged and I wasn't able to hear the last part of it. I was intrigued by the plot and some of the actors. Alec Guinness was fantastic in this roleas well as anything else that he starred in. Unfortunately, I can't say the same aboutBette Davis. She was dreadful as always. The sound on this DVD was excellent and Ihad no problem with hearing any of the lines or dialogue. It was an excellent buy for the money and I look forward to dealing with Amazon in the future.

I am biased here as AG is my favorite actor.This is the story of two men who meet in France,one an English language teacher,the other a wealthy socialite.They meet and end up swapping places,all with the aim of bad Alec killing his wife and pinning her murder on the good Alec.What I always liked about Guiness was his films never disappointed.And this is no different.First rate film.

Good

Lovely old film

Excellent A+++

DVD good quality but disappointed at interpretation of Daphne du Maurier's original story. Thought the characterization was really rather unconvincing

all ok