SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

jmazznyc The cinematography alone would make it a 10/10. Screenplay -1. A gem.

p-eisley I've just seen this on TCM and the informative intro by Bob revealed that Henreid not only produced and acted in this film, but also directed it without credit when the assigned director was fired earlier in the picture because of the bad rushes. This was Henreid's first directing attempt and would become the first of many. The direction is fine. He attempts some interesting angles and sharp cuts. I didn't have as much a problem as some here with his casting. This wasn't a thug he was supposed to be portraying, but somebody with a brilliant, though warped brain. His accent (and he does have one) is the problem due to the contrivances of the plot. Somehow, he not only meets his exact double, but that double also has his accent. I know there is a scene were he tries to emulate the doctor's supposedly different voice, but in later scenes, he just speaks the same as always. Since this is the major conceit of the movie, it weakens the already iffy logic considerably. Later, when we're introduced to his brother, they do not share a similar accent. Although I'd usually chalk it up to one being raised somewhere else, this is never explained. And, the fact that it does crop up, just shows that his accent is a disadvantage instead of an asset. I enjoyed the movie, but it's not in a league with top-notch noir.

joe-pearce-1 I'm commenting here only about some of the rather silly comments expressed elsewhere about Paul Henreid. First of all, he wasn't "Hungarian/French/American", but Austrian/American, born a member of the Austrian nobility in Trieste and raised in Vienna. His original name was too long to reproduce here, but he first acted under the name of Paul von Hernreid. Several have mentioned his THICK accent, but he has almost no accent at all in most of the film, and what accent remains is so light as to be indeterminable (almost the kind of Continental European accent one can hear in Audrey Hepburn's speech when she's not making a determined effort to speak English with no accent at all); whatever the accent may be, it is certainly not "thick"! And his brother in the film is played by American Edward Franz, who very often played roles in which he had no definable accent but seemed to be speaking with one just the same(!). That is pretty much the way I heard him in this film, too. Others claim Henreid was trying to change his good-guy image, but he had already done that several times in films, most especially as Nazis in two English-made films (one of which being the quite notable NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH) prior to arriving in the U.S., and concurrently with this film he appeared in ROPE OF SAND as one of the most despicable villains of the late 1940s (at one point, he blinds Burt Lancaster by forcing his head into the sand, and then tries to run over him with a truck!). As with at least a few of the commentators, I usually find that Henreid lacks a certain amount of star charisma, but he seems to have more of it in this film than in any other of the thirty or so films I've seen him in. Ironically, it is in what is probably his least-known starring role effort. Too bad.

MartinHafer Before I begin to discuss the plot, I've gotta get something off my chest. I HATE the cliché in movies when someone is attacked and they NEVER call out to their compatriots for help or to alert them that they are under attack. It's often used in James Bond films (among many others) and is just plain stupid. So, early in "Hollow Triumph" when a robber is caught by one of the gambler's henchmen and he does NOT yell for help, I could see that the writer was just lazy.As for the rest of the film, it's actually pretty good--and it's interesting seeing Paul Henreid playing such an amoral and selfish person--the sort of role you would expect for Henreid (who usually plays nice guys). He also served as the film's producer."Hollow Triumph" begins with Henreid being released from prison. You learn that he's a career conman and robber--and the warden has absolutely no hope that he's learned his lesson. And, true to the warden's prediction, Henreid immediately plans his next robbery. However, the usually brilliant con makes a very stupid decision--to rob a gambling joint run by a VERY tough mug. Two of the men are caught and after being beaten and confessing who their accomplices were, they are murdered. Now, the gambler sends his men to find and kill the other two--no matter how long it takes. One is eventually tracked to Mexico and slain...and Henreid knows he's next unless he comes up with a good scheme. And, he decides to change identities--becoming a psychiatrist who is well-respected. Can the plan work or is Henreid due to soon assume room temperature himself? The film, aside from the cliché I already mentioned, actually was a nice example of lesser-known film noir. Henreid is very good as his Joan Bennett--and the film is quite tough. I also liked that one of the young heavies was Jack Webb--in his first film. Well worth seeing.