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Death Of A Scoundrel

1956, Movie, NR, 119 mins

Death Of A Scoundrel: Review

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If you're looking for a thoroughly rotten human being with no redeeming virtues, not a scintilla of shame, not a sliver of decency, then this is the film to see. Sanders is the scoundrel, corrupt to the marrow, a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. His ending, a dead body found in a Park Avenue mansion, begins the film. His personal secretary and business manager, De Carlo, relates his unsavory past, one she shared as a petty thief. Destitute and seeking a reward, Sanders informs police where to find his on-the-lam brother Conway, who is later executed. (Conway, in real life, was Sanders' brother.) With his thirty pieces of silver, Sanders flees to the US He witnesses pickpocket De Carlo lift a wallet from Jory, a Canadian financier, and then steals the wallet from her, using the money to glean a fortune from penicillin stock. In his climb to the top, Sanders bilks wealthy widow Gabor (Zsa Zsa was then his actual ex-wife), trifling with her as well as with Gray, the naive wife of a mail order tycoon (Cooksey) whom he decides to ruin. He promotes the acting career of Gates only with the secret motive of bedding her. (He fails.) When not skirt-chasing and destroying careers, Sanders is busy plotting illegal schemes with his crooked lawyer, Klemperer, and Hoyt, his partner in scams. He deserts De Carlo, and it appears as if nothing can stop the ne'er-do-well. Then Conway's widow, Ferraday, arrives from Czechoslovakia to get revenge but finds that she cannot kill Sanders and, instead, commits suicide. Hoyt, however, the double-crossed partner, does the job for her, shooting Sanders dead as he is about to pull off one more sting. (This produced cheers from audiences when the film was first shown.) DEATH OF A SCOUNDREL was an offbeat film which Sanders enjoyed immensely; some said he was really playing himself in a modern version of "Rake's Progress." The film is actually based on the notorious career of con artist Serge Rubenstein, whose murder in his posh Manhattan apartment on March 26, 1955, was never solved. leave a comment
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