The Great Impostor
Encyclopedia
The Great Impostor is a 1961 movie based on the true story of an impostor named Ferdinand Waldo Demara
.
Loosely based on Robert Crichton's 1959 biography of the same name, it stars Tony Curtis
in the title role, directed by Robert Mulligan
.
The film only loosely follows Demara's real-life exploits, and is much lighter in tone than the book on which it is based.
on an island in New England
, a man born as Ferdinand Waldo Demara but known by many other identities recalls the events that brought him to this point.
Demara quit high school as a boy and joined the Army. He wanted to become an officer, but his lack of education worked against it. On a whim, he fakes a set of credentials and becomes a U.S. Marine.
When his lie is detected, Demara, facing jail, fakes a suicide and hides out as a Trappist
monk. After a while, he is expelled from the monastery, captured and imprisoned in a military brig. But the warden inadvertently confides too many details of his own life to Demara, taking a liking to him. Upon his release, Demara impersonates the warden and lands a job working in a Texas penitentiary, where he takes up with his new warden's daughter, Eulalie.
Blackmailed by an inmate who recognizes him from the military jail, Demara once again flees. He joins the Royal Canadian Navy, using the forged credentials of a doctor. After falling in love with a nurse, Catherine Lacey, he goes to Korea
to serve aboard a Naval vessel. He ends up doing dental work on the ship's captain, then performing operations in a Korean hospital.
Hailed as a "miracle doctor," Demara gains publicity that exposes his past. He goes on the lam yet again and becomes a teacher in New England. In time, the Navy catches up to him and intends to hold a court-martial. Nurse Lacey and others vow to testify on Demara's behalf, having seen his good side. But he then slips away from custody and disappears for years.
The FBI eventually comes up with an agent whose assignment is to track down the great impostor and capture him. In the end, the agent is revealed to be Demara himself.
Ferdinand Waldo Demara
Ferdinand Waldo Demara, Jr. , known as "the Great Impostor", masqueraded as many people from monks to surgeons to prison wardens...
.
Loosely based on Robert Crichton's 1959 biography of the same name, it stars Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
in the title role, directed by Robert Mulligan
Robert Mulligan
Robert Mulligan was an American film and television director best known as the director of humanistic American dramas, including To Kill A Mockingbird , Summer of '42 , The Other , Same Time, Next Year and The Man in the Moon...
.
The film only loosely follows Demara's real-life exploits, and is much lighter in tone than the book on which it is based.
Plot
As he is arrested by the Coast GuardCoast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
on an island in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, a man born as Ferdinand Waldo Demara but known by many other identities recalls the events that brought him to this point.
Demara quit high school as a boy and joined the Army. He wanted to become an officer, but his lack of education worked against it. On a whim, he fakes a set of credentials and becomes a U.S. Marine.
When his lie is detected, Demara, facing jail, fakes a suicide and hides out as a Trappist
TRAPPIST
TRAPPIST is Belgian robotic telescope in Chile which came online in 2010, and is an acronym for TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope, so named in homage to Trappist beer produced in the Belgian region. Situated high in the Chilean mountains at La Silla Observatory, it is actually...
monk. After a while, he is expelled from the monastery, captured and imprisoned in a military brig. But the warden inadvertently confides too many details of his own life to Demara, taking a liking to him. Upon his release, Demara impersonates the warden and lands a job working in a Texas penitentiary, where he takes up with his new warden's daughter, Eulalie.
Blackmailed by an inmate who recognizes him from the military jail, Demara once again flees. He joins the Royal Canadian Navy, using the forged credentials of a doctor. After falling in love with a nurse, Catherine Lacey, he goes to Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
to serve aboard a Naval vessel. He ends up doing dental work on the ship's captain, then performing operations in a Korean hospital.
Hailed as a "miracle doctor," Demara gains publicity that exposes his past. He goes on the lam yet again and becomes a teacher in New England. In time, the Navy catches up to him and intends to hold a court-martial. Nurse Lacey and others vow to testify on Demara's behalf, having seen his good side. But he then slips away from custody and disappears for years.
The FBI eventually comes up with an agent whose assignment is to track down the great impostor and capture him. In the end, the agent is revealed to be Demara himself.
Cast
- Tony CurtisTony CurtisTony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
as Demara - Edmond O'BrienEdmond O'BrienEdmond O'Brien was an American actor who is perhaps best remembered for his role in D.O.A. and his Oscar winning role in The Barefoot Contessa...
as Capt. Glover - Gary MerrillGary MerrillGary Fred Merrill was an American film and television character actor whose credits included more than fifty feature films, a half-dozen mostly short-lived TV series, and dozens of television guest appearances....
as Pa Demara - Karl MaldenKarl MaldenKarl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
as Father Devlin - Raymond MasseyRaymond MasseyRaymond Hart Massey was a Canadian/American actor.-Early life:Massey was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Anna , who was born in Illinois, and Chester Daniel Massey, the wealthy owner of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company. Massey's family could trace their ancestry back to the American...
as the Abbot - Joan BlackmanJoan BlackmanJoan Blackman is an American actress.-Biography:Blackman made her television acting debut as a guest performer in a 1957 series, Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans, and then appeared in her first motion picture, Good Day for a Hanging, in 1959. She had a significant role in two Elvis Presley films...
as Catherine Lacey - Arthur O'ConnellArthur O'ConnellArthur O'Connell was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in films in 1941 and television programs...
as Warden Chandler - Sue Ane LangdonSue Ane LangdonSue Ane Langdon is a retired American actress.She began her performing career singing at Radio City Music Hall and acting in stage productions. In the mid-1960s she acted at Manhattan's Schubert Theatre in The Apple Tree musical, which starred a young Alan Alda...
as Eulalie - Frank GorshinFrank GorshinFrank John Gorshin, Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He was perhaps best known as an impressionist, with many guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show...
as Barney - Robert MiddletonRobert MiddletonRobert Middleton, born Samuel G. Messer , was an American film and television actor known for his large size and beetle-like brow. With a deep, booming voice, Middleton trained for a musical career at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
as Lt. Brown