Twist of Fate
Brief Synopsis
A woman is taken in by the gifts she receives from a wealthy baker, unaware of his motives or his marriage status.
Cast & Crew
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David Miller
Director
Ginger Rogers
[Joan] Johnny Victor
Lilly Kann
Nichole
Stanley Baker
Louis Galt
Olive Lucius
Mademoiselle Pletsier
Eddie Byrne
Luigi
Film Details
Release Date
Nov
1954
Premiere Information
London opening: 15 Jul 1954; U.S. premiere in Chicago: 10 Nov 1954
Production Company
Marksman Films
Distribution Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
Great Britain and United States
Location
Cannes,France; London--Shepperton Studios, England, Great Britain
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 29m
Film Length
8,017ft
Synopsis
Former actress Joan "Johnny" Victor is living in a villa in Cannes, courtesy of her lover, financier Louis Galt, who has promised to marry her when his divorce becomes final. However, Louis' wife Marie, who with her brothers controls Louis' business, is concerned about his extravagant expenditures and insists that he go to Paris to discuss matters with her brothers. Unknown to Johnny and Marie, Louis is the head of a gang producing counterfeit gold coins. One evening, while gambling at a casino, Johnny runs into Emile Landosh, whose wife once worked with Johnny but is now confined to a sanitarium. Emile is in desperate need of cash to pay for his wife's treatment so Johnny lends him some of her winnings. The next day, at a hairdresser's, Johnny overhears Marie talking with a friend and discovers that Louis' divorce is far from being a reality. Johnny feels cheapened and confronts Louis, who tries to reassure her that all will be resolved soon. She becomes distraught, however, and driving away in a fury, wrecks her car. Seeking help, she approaches a nearby house, where ceramic artist Pierre Clement is hosting a small party. Pierre arranges her return to the villa, and Louis orders her never to run off again. After Louis leaves for Paris, Johnny and Pierre meet again by chance, and he begins to teach her how to create objects on his potter's wheel. Meanwhile, Louis' henchman Luigi is pressuring Emile, who is one of the gang's members, to repay money he owes. One night when Johnny and Pierre are together at his house, Emile breaks into Johnny's villa, discovers a safe, cracks it and steals an expensive bracelet Louis gave to Johnny. Later, when Louis returns from Paris he tells Johnny that his divorce will soon be final and that he has given up his business. After he puts half a million dollars in the safe, he tells Johnny that they will be going away to start over. Louis plans to leave on his yacht, under cover of darkness, with Luigi and the presses for making the counterfeit coins. However, when Luigi shows him the bracelet Emile gave him in payment of his debt, Louis immediately recognizes it as the one he gave to Johnny and suspects her of having an affair with Emile. When Pierre asks Johnny to marry him, she agrees, but says that she will have to break the news to Louis. Later, Emile returns to the villa for more loot and is concealed there when Louis confronts Johnny with her infidelity. Johnny assumes that Louis has found out about Pierre when in fact he is talking about Emile. Louis flies into a rage and threatens to have her lover killed, and they struggle until Johnny agrees to go away with him. After Emile sees Louis throw the bracelet at her, he realizes that Louis thinks that he is Johnny's lover and runs off. Later, Johnny phones Emile, who is packing, and while seeking his help in preventing a confrontation between Pierre and Louis, inadvertently reveals that Louis will be returning to the villa for the cash in the safe. Meanwhile, Marie tells Louis that her brothers have informed her that he has stolen company funds and is involved in criminal activities and states that she pities him. Later, at the villa, Emile is removing the cash from the safe when he is surprised by Louis, brandishing a gun. Emile tries to convince Louis that he is not Johnny's lover, but as they struggle for possession of the gun, it goes off, killing Louis. After Pierre and Johnny meet by accident at the harbor, where they are both seeking Louis's yacht, they drive to the villa to talk with Louis. While Emile is hiding Louis' body, he sees a ceramic vase Johnny made and decides to dispose of the body in the kiln at Pierre's studio. While the couple is in the house, Emile puts the body on the floor of the back seat of Johnny's car, then leaves to collect his own car, which is parked some distance from the house, and follows them back to Pierre's studio. Meanwhile, alerted by Marie, the local chief of police begins an investigation. Emile parks away from the house and while Johnny and Pierre are inside, stokes the kiln in an adjacent building, then drags the body to it and attempts to burn it. However, Emile's coat, containing all the cash, catches fire, and he frantically tries to extinguish it. Johnny and Pierre hear the commotion, and Pierre struggles with the hysterical Emile, who collapses sobbing as the coat is totally consumed. Pierre and Johnny then tie up Emile, put him in the back seat of the car and leave to deliver him to the police. Luigi, who has been waiting for Louis at a rendezvous point on the coast, flags down the car, and startled to find Pierre at the wheel, takes out a gun. Pierre surprises Luigi, however, and, as they fight, Emile, who has managed to untie the ropes, runs off. Pierre knocks out Luigi then catches Emile and they fight. Just as Luigi recovers and takes off, the police arrive and shoot him. Emile is about to crush Pierre's skull with a rock when Luigi, with his last breath, shoots him. As he dies, Emile tells the police how Louis died in the struggle for the gun. After the chief of police tells Johnny and Pierre that they are free to go, they look forward to a happy future together.
Director
David Miller
Director
Cast
Ginger Rogers
[Joan] Johnny Victor
Lilly Kann
Nichole
Stanley Baker
Louis Galt
Olive Lucius
Mademoiselle Pletsier
Eddie Byrne
Luigi
Yves Aysage
Croupier
John Le Mesurier
1st man at casino
Tony Spear
Attendant
Margaret Rawlings
Marie Galt
Herbert Lom
Emile Landosh
Dino Galvani
Cashier, casino
Bernard Rebel
Engraver
Coral Browne
Helen
Marcella De Cleve
Hairdresser's receptionist
John Chandos
Nino, the hairdresser
Keith Pyott
Georges
Jacques Bergerac
Pierre [Clément]
Lisa Gastoni
Yvette
Elizabeth Digby-smith
Cecile
Alexis Chesnakov
Guitarist, Roger
Marianne Stone
Annabelle
Nicholas Bruce
Robert
Rudolph Offenbach
Yacht captain
Pierre Chaminade
1st sailor
Carl Duering
2nd sailor
Amando Guinle
1st fisherman
Andre Malandrinos
2nd fisherman
Guy De Monceau
Policeman
Paul Sheridan
Galt's manservant
Ferdy Mayne
Chief of police
Roger Delgado
Police officer
Jack Taylor
Policeman
Paul Bogdan
Customs officer
John Martin
Coastguard
Crew
Betty Adamson
Wardrobe Supervisor
A. Ambler
Sound Recording
Malcolm Arnold
Music comp and Director
Don Ashton
Production Design
John Cox
Sound Supervisor
Robert Day
Camera Operator
Geoffrey Drake
Art Director
David Eady
Director of 2d unit
Jose Ferrer
Composer
Ketti Frings
Composer
Chris Greenham
Dubbing Editor
Red Law
Sound Recording
David Miller
Based upon an Original story by
Carl Nyström
Screenwriter
Alan Osbiston
Editing
John Palmer
Production Manager
Helen Penfold
Hairdressing
Laurence Ridley
Stills Camera
Ted Scaife
Lighting cameraman
Martin Schute
2d Assistant Director
Maxwell Setton
Producer
John R. Sloan
Producer
Neville Smallwood
Makeup
Victor Stiebel At Jacqmar
Miss Rogers' gowns
Rip Van Ronkel
Based upon an Original story by
James Ware
1st Assistant Director
Robert Westerby
Screenwriter
Constance Willis
Cont
Film Details
Release Date
Nov
1954
Premiere Information
London opening: 15 Jul 1954; U.S. premiere in Chicago: 10 Nov 1954
Production Company
Marksman Films
Distribution Company
United Artists Corp.
Country
Great Britain and United States
Location
Cannes,France; London--Shepperton Studios, England, Great Britain
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 29m
Film Length
8,017ft
Articles
Twist of Fate (1954)
A woman is taken in by the gifts she receives from a wealthy baker, unaware of his motives or his marriage status.
Twist of Fate (1954)
A woman is taken in by the gifts she receives from a wealthy baker, unaware of his motives or his marriage status.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film was released in Britain as Beautiful Stranger and was reviewed in Variety under that title. Although the print viewed bore a copyright claim by Marksman Films, the film was not registered with the copyright office. A Hollywood Reporter news item of November 16, 1953 reported that United Artists had a pre-production involvement on this film with Marksman Films. Jacques Bergerac and Ginger Rogers were husband and wife when this film was made and this was his screen debut.The cast list is derived from the film's closing credits. The film's opening titles present the actors' names in the following order: Rogers, Lom, Baker. The supporting cast, listed after the main title, is given as Rawlings, Byrne, Brown, Kann, Chandos, Gastoni, Mayne, Delgado, and introducing Bergerac as "Pierre." Much of the film was shot in Cannes, France.
