Scalpel
Doctor Phillip Reynolds is supremely, unapologetically arrogant; as a plastic surgeon, perhaps it comes with the territory, and he jokes with his interns at the hospital that as a profession they have egos second only to neurologists, and perhaps it is well that his own opinion of himself outweighs what others might say as the widower leaves for the funeral of his father-in-law.
In the south there is nothing the dames of society like so much as a juicy scandal to talk about, and the last will and testament of the late Robert Thorndike is sure to set them blushing behind their handkerchiefs, his only son, Bradley, receiving nothing but the care of the faithful family hound, “a model of those virtues absent in my son.”
Unforgiven by the old man who held him responsible for the death of his daughter, Phillip is passed over entirely in favour of his own daughter to whom her grandfather leaves the remainder of his five million dollar estate, but Heather has been absent since the death of her boyfriend who drowned some time before.
Unflappable in the face of the continuing tragedies from which he never quite seems to benefit, Phillip sees an opportunity when a young woman is severely beaten, her face requiring the attention of a skilled plastic surgeon. Remodelling “Jane Doe” in the image of his daughter, he moves her into his home and begins coaching her in the life she must adopt if they are both to inherit…
Scalpel, also known as False Face, was originally released in early 1977, a melodrama of desire, deception and depravity, written and directed by John Grissmer from a story by Joseph Weintraub, now deliciously restored on Blu-ray for Arrow in two alternate visual grades, a traditional neutral grade and director of photography Edward Lachman’s own approved “Southern Gothic” look, rich in deep saturated colours.
Led by a laconic performance from the late Robert Lansing, Gary Seven of Star Trek and Control of The Equalizer among a host of other credits, Phillip is an amoral psychopath, focused entirely on the money without a hint of feeling for those around him or any remorse for his actions, murdering family and strangers alike and transforming a vulnerable woman into his plaything without her consent, a ruse complicated by the return of the real Heather.
The enchanting Judith Chapman was a relative newcomer when she won the dual roles of Jane and Heather after a tough audition process but makes each a distinct character, and her subsequent career has taken in The Incredible Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Beyond Westworld, Galactica 1980 and Knight Rider as well as almost eight hundred episodes of The Young and the Restless.
Teasing with foreshadowing and fake payoffs, the viewer sometimes as uncertain of whom is playing whom as the characters themselves, Grissmer delights in the bluffs and misdirection he brews in the summer heat, commenting in the accompanying interview that away from any studio oversight “we shot the film we wanted to make.”
Also interviewed on the new package, Chapman is suitably proud of her performance and recalls the supportive atmosphere on set with particular praise for Grissmer, Lansing and Lachman as well as the locally hired crew and the “amazing hospitality” and culture they experienced, not forgetting the “exquisite antebellum mansion” in which they shot.
A relaxed affair of Southern manners with the resentment simmering under the surface, always present but never spoken, Scalpel sits comfortably in the same recovery room as Eyes Without a Face, Who?, The Skin I Live In and the more recent Goodnight Mummy, a more obscure title in the subgenre of plastic surgery horror finally ready to have the bloody bandages removed.
Scalpel is now available on Blu-ray from Arrow films
