The Scapegoat

Details

Release year: 1959

Storyline

An English schoolteacher meets his lookalike, a French count, and unwillingly swaps identities with him.

Top credits

Did you know

• According to Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies, the original choice for John Barratt / Jacques De Gue was Cary Grant, but Daphne Du Maurier, who was also a co-owner of the film's production company, insisted on Sir Alec Guinness because he reminded her of her father, actor Gerald du Maurier.

• This was a very troubled production. Writer and Director Robert Hamer was struggling with the alcoholism which would eventually kill him only a few years later, and had so much difficulty with Bette Davis that he had several lapses during filming, with only the support and kindness of his friend Sir Alec Guinness (who had insisted on him as director) getting him through the ordeal. Davis, whose career was in a major slump, was angry at being restricted to a cameo and was unpleasant to everyone on set. Guinness later commented that her legendary professionalism was "largely a myth". Daphne Du Maurier, the author of the original novel, had also created difficulties by interfering with the filming and offering complaints at perceived deviations from her original story. MGM had no faith in the movie and extensively re-edited it after shooting was completed, also imposing a score which Hamer did not want, composed by studio veteran Bronislau Kaper.

• Screenwriter Gore Vidal recommended Bette Davis for the part of the Countess and is likely to have also recommended his close friend Maria Britneva for a supporting role. He insisted that he was sole author of the screenplay, but nonetheless got on well with Robert Hamer, the director, who has sole writing credit, with Vidal credited only with adaptation. However, Vidal intensely disliked Daphne Du Maurier, claiming years later in his autobiography that her novel was merely a modern variation on "The Prisoner of Zenda", whereas she clearly thought of it as a philosophical treatise on the passion of St. Teresa of Avila.

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Technical specs

Sound mix

Mono

Aspect ratio

1.85 : 1

Color

Black and White

FAQ

• I missed the ending! What happened?