The Great Flamarion (1945)
Directed by Anthony Mann, The Great Flamarion is a moody, flashback-driven film noir that dives into the twisted psychology of a lonely marksman manipulated by a femme fatale. With Erich von Stroheim, Mary Beth Hughes, and Dan Duryea in key roles, the film blends vaudeville spectacle with emotional devastation, all wrapped in a tight 78-minute runtime.
Plot Summary
The story opens in Mexico City, 1936, with a murder backstage at a cabaret. The victim is Connie Wallace (Mary Beth Hughes), a beautiful assistant in a gunshot act. The police arrest her husband Al (Dan Duryea), but the real killer—The Great Flamarion (Erich von Stroheim)—is wounded and confesses the tale in a long flashback.
Flamarion is a cold, arrogant sharpshooter whose act involves shooting objects off Connie and Al in a vaudeville routine. He falls hopelessly in love with Connie, who manipulates him into murdering her alcoholic husband during a performance. After the staged “accident,” she promises to marry Flamarion—but disappears, leaving him to spiral into despair. When he finally finds her, she reveals she never loved him and used him to escape her marriage. The film ends with Flamarion’s tragic downfall.
Cast Highlights
- Erich von Stroheim as The Great Flamarion
- Mary Beth Hughes as Connie Wallace
- Dan Duryea as Al Wallace
- Stephen Barclay as Eddie Wheeler
- Esther Howard, Lester Allen, and Michael Mark in supporting roles
Behind-the-Scenes Trivia
- Based on the short story Big Shot by Vicki Baum, published in Collier’s magazine in 1936
- Working titles included Dead Pigeon and Strange Affair
- Produced by W. Lee Wilder, brother of famed director Billy Wilder, who reportedly dismissed him as “a dull son of a bitch”
- Director Anthony Mann clashed with von Stroheim during filming, later calling him “a genius” but “difficult”
- Mann’s use of expressionistic lighting and camera angles foreshadowed his later noir classics like T-Men (1947)
