''Twist of Fate'', also known as ''Beautiful Stranger'', is a 1954 British and American

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

noir directed by David Miller and starring

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

and

Herbert Lom Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 ye ...

Plot

Joan Victor, an actress known as "Johnny" to her friends, is living in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

, France, where she and financier Louis Galt plan to marry as soon as he gets a divorce. Marie Galt and her brothers run Louis's firm and have become suspicious of his business methods. Marie is unaware that Louis is the ringleader of a gang that deals in counterfeit gold coins. In a casino Johnny runs into Emile Landosh, an acquaintance. He claims a need for money due to his wife's medical bills, so Johnny offers him a loan. Emile, however, is a criminal and in debt to Louis. After overhearing Marie and realising Louis might be lying about the divorce, Johnny confronts him, then angrily leaves and drives her car off the road, leaving it damaged. She seeks help at the home of Pierre Clement, an artist. The two begin seeing each other, with Pierre teaching her how to use a pottery wheel. Luigi, a thug who works for Louis, is pressuring Emile to repay what he owes. In desperation, Emile breaks into Johnny's villa and steals a bracelet. When he gives it to Luigi as settlement of his debt, it arouses suspicions from Louis that his lover and Emile must be having an affair, because he'd given it to Johnny as a gift. Pierre proposes marriage to Johnny and she accepts. Emile overhears an argument between Johnny and Louis and eventually realises that she believes Louis has found out about Pierre, whereas he suspects Emile. Emile is caught trying to crack a safe. During a struggle with him, Louis is shot with his own gun. Johnny and Pierre arrive just as Emile is trying to hide the body. They tie up Emile and are driving him to the police when they are intercepted by Luigi. A policeman shoots Luigi, but he is still able to kill Emile.

Cast

as 'Johnny' Victor *

as Emile Landosh *

Stanley Baker Sir William Stanley Baker (28 February 192828 June 1976) was a Welsh actor and film producer. Known for his rugged appearance and intense, grounded screen persona, he was one of the top British male film stars of the late 1950s, and later a pro ...

as Louis Galt *

Jacques Bergerac Jacques Bergerac (26 May 1927 – 15 June 2014) was a French actor and businessman. Life and career Jacques Bergerac was born in 1927 in Biarritz, France, the son of Alice (Romatet) and Charles Bergerac. Bergerac was a law student when he met a ...

as Pierre Clement *

Margaret Rawlings Margaret Rawlings, Lady Barlow (5 June 1906 – 19 May 1996) was an English stage actress, born in Osaka, Japan, daughter of the Rev. George William Rawlings and his wife Lilian (née Boddington) Rawlings. Personal life/affiliations She was e ...

as Marie Galt *

Eddie Byrne Eddie Byrne (31 January 1911 – 21 August 1981) was an Irish actor. Career His stage work included many appearances with Dublin's Abbey Theatre, and also work with the National Theatre in London. Outside Ireland he is probably best known ...

as Luigi *

Coral Browne Coral Edith Browne (23 July 1913 – 29 May 1991) was an Australian-American stage and screen actress. Her extensive theatre credits included Broadway productions of '' Macbeth'' (1956), '' The Rehearsal'' (1963) and '' The Right Honourable Gent ...

as Helen *

Lisa Gastoni Lisa Gastoni (born 28 July 1935) is an Italian film actress. Gastoni was named "Best Italian Actress of the Year, 1966" as she received both the Nastro D'Argento Award and the Golden Globe Award from Italy's Foreign Press Association.} Biograp ...

as Yvette *

Lily Kann Lily Hertha Kann 26th. October, 1893, Peitz – 2nd. November, 1978, Sussex, was a German-born, British actress. (Though the BFI website claims that she was born in Berlin, and died in Horsham). She appeared in the West End in the play ''Backg ...

as Nicole *

Ferdy Mayne Ferdy Mayne (or Ferdie Mayne) (born Ferdinand Philip Mayer-Horckel; 11 March 1916 – 30 January 1998) was a German-British stage and screen actor. Born in Mainz, he emigrated to the United Kingdom in the early 1930s to escape the Nazi regi ...

as Police Chief *

Keith Pyott Keith Pyott ( Blackheath, London, 9 March 1902 - 6 April 1968) was a British actor. He transferred from stage to screen and was a regular face in drama in the early days of television, appearing in '' Educated Evans'', ''The Prisoner'', ''Out o ...

as Georges

Production

The film was known during production as ''Lifeline''.

Walter Rilla Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent. Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He appe ...

was originally cast as the male lead but he and Rogers did not get along. Said Rilla at the time, "According to the script I – a man of 52 – am supposed to have an affair with a girl of 24, who is Miss Rogers. Which is somewhat ridiculous. She may feel 24, but really . . . Rumours were rife about Rogers' temperament and Rilla's dissatisfaction with the size of his role in comparison to

, who was Rogers' husband at the time. Ten days into production Rilla left the film and was replaced by

. Bergerac and Rogers met in France, and she was responsible for his casting. Exteriors of the film were shot in

Reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' rated the film 2/4 stars and wrote that Rogers was too old to play the lead character. The film did poorly at the box office.

References

External links

* * * {{David Miller 1954 films 1950s mystery films American mystery films British mystery films 1950s English-language films Film noir Films set in France Films directed by David Miller Films scored by Malcolm Arnold British black-and-white films American black-and-white films 1950s American films 1950s British films