Down and Dirty in Gower Gulch: Poverty Row Films Preserved by UCLA
- False Faces
- USA1932
- Lowell Sherman
- 81 DCP
- NR
- Poverty Row Films
Screening Dates
- April 18, 2019 6:30
- April 22, 2019 8:15
“False Faces has it all: drunken showgirls spilling out of their dresses; doctors too stoned to operate safely; shady detectives on the lookout for easy marks; jaded reporters, slutty secretaries, and patients crippled for life. A natural ham, Sherman powers through every scene, dripping with oily charm … For sheer jaw-dropping incredulity, False Faces can’t be beat.”
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
An unscrupulous and unqualified plastic surgeon wreaks havoc in False Faces, a delirious mix of sophisticated comedy and grotesque horror inspired by a real-life charlatan whose clients included legendary performer Fanny Brice (Barbra Streisand’s character in Funny Girl). Professional screen cad Lowell Sherman directs and stars as quack surgeon and chronic seducer-of-women Silas Benton; Peggy Shannon, Lila Lee, Nance O’Neil, and Geneva Mitchell appear among his harem of conquests and victims.
Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by The Packard Humanities Institute
preceded by
Hearst Metrotone News, Vol. 4, No. 226 • USA 1932 • 9 min. Short newsreel
Snow-White • USA 1933 • Dave Fleischer • 7 min. Betty Boop cartoon