The Naked Face (film)
Encyclopedia
The Naked Face is a 1984
film written and directed by Bryan Forbes
, based on the book
by Sidney Sheldon
. It stars Roger Moore
, Rod Steiger
and Elliott Gould
.
The film was nominated for "Best Film" at Mystfest, a film festival.
psychoanalyst Dr. Judd Stevens is murdered after a session, stabbed while wearing a raincoat belonging to the doctor.
Police detectives McGreavy and Angeli come to Stevens' office to break the news. McGreavy bitterly resents the doctor from a previous case in which Stevens' testimony led to a cop killer being institutionalized rather than sent to prison.
The patient's personal problems are in question until Stevens' secretary is also found brutally murdered. Stevens comes to realize that he is the murderer's target, while the detectives treat him as their prime suspect.
A widower, Stevens expresses concern to his physician brother-in-law about the cops' behavior. McGreavy in particular is so aggressive in his interrogations, Angeli reports him to a superior and gets McGreavy thrown off the case.
A pair of men posing as doormen break into Stevens' apartment, armed with guns. Stevens holds them off until his brother-in-law and two paramedics arrive. Not trusting the cops, Stevens made an emergency call to the hospital for help.
Choosing a name out of the Yellow Pages
at random, he hires an old, quirky private investigator named Morgens who lives in a rundown apartment filled with clocks and cats. Morgens saves his life by finding a bomb planted in Stevens' car.
Angeli promises to lend Stevens a more sympathetic ear than his partner had in finding out who is behind these murder attempts. McGreavy, however, has secretly cut a deal with their captain to keep an eye on the case from a distance.
A call from Morgens that he has discovered the killer's true identity leads to a late-night meeting at Navy Pier
. But when Stevens and Angeli arrive, they find the murdered body of Morgens, holding a cuckoo clock.
Deciding the time has come to hide Stevens in a safe house, Angeli instead drives him to a mobster's home where the phony doormen appear. Angeli draws a gun but points it at Stevens, telling him he trusted the wrong cop.
A crime boss whose wife, Ann Blake, has been seeing Stevens as a patient informs the doctor that he simply can't have anyone knowing his private business. Stevens is taken to a remote location to be done away with permanently. Angeli, expecting a payoff, is killed instead. Stevens is then beaten savagely by the crime boss until McGreavy and a team of cops arrive just in time.
At a cemetery where Stevens goes to visit his late wife's grave, Ann Blake turns up to apologize for causing Stevens all this trouble at the cost of so many lives. He has quit private practice, so she asks if that means he can see a former patient socially. It does and they begin to leave together, but the doctor is in for one last shock.
wrote its source novel in 1970, before psychological profiling became a widely accepted method of forensic crime-fighting work.
1984 in film
-Events:* The Walt Disney Company founds Touchstone Pictures to release movies with subject matter deemed inappropriate for the Disney name.* Tri-Star Pictures, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures, HBO, and CBS, releases its first film....
film written and directed by Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes, CBE is an English film director, actor and writer.-Career:Bryan Forbes was born John Theobald Clarke on 22 July 1926 in Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford, West Ham, Essex , and grew up at 43 Cranmer Road, Forest Gate, West Ham, Essex .Forbes trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of...
, based on the book
The Naked Face
The Naked Face is the first novel written by popular novelist Sidney Sheldon. It was nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel by an American Author....
by Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning American writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show , I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart , but he became most famous after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game ,...
. It stars Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
, Rod Steiger
Rod Steiger
Rodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the...
and Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
.
The film was nominated for "Best Film" at Mystfest, a film festival.
Plot
A patient of ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
psychoanalyst Dr. Judd Stevens is murdered after a session, stabbed while wearing a raincoat belonging to the doctor.
Police detectives McGreavy and Angeli come to Stevens' office to break the news. McGreavy bitterly resents the doctor from a previous case in which Stevens' testimony led to a cop killer being institutionalized rather than sent to prison.
The patient's personal problems are in question until Stevens' secretary is also found brutally murdered. Stevens comes to realize that he is the murderer's target, while the detectives treat him as their prime suspect.
A widower, Stevens expresses concern to his physician brother-in-law about the cops' behavior. McGreavy in particular is so aggressive in his interrogations, Angeli reports him to a superior and gets McGreavy thrown off the case.
A pair of men posing as doormen break into Stevens' apartment, armed with guns. Stevens holds them off until his brother-in-law and two paramedics arrive. Not trusting the cops, Stevens made an emergency call to the hospital for help.
Choosing a name out of the Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, organized by category, rather than alphabetically by business name and in which advertising is sold. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings...
at random, he hires an old, quirky private investigator named Morgens who lives in a rundown apartment filled with clocks and cats. Morgens saves his life by finding a bomb planted in Stevens' car.
Angeli promises to lend Stevens a more sympathetic ear than his partner had in finding out who is behind these murder attempts. McGreavy, however, has secretly cut a deal with their captain to keep an eye on the case from a distance.
A call from Morgens that he has discovered the killer's true identity leads to a late-night meeting at Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...
. But when Stevens and Angeli arrive, they find the murdered body of Morgens, holding a cuckoo clock.
Deciding the time has come to hide Stevens in a safe house, Angeli instead drives him to a mobster's home where the phony doormen appear. Angeli draws a gun but points it at Stevens, telling him he trusted the wrong cop.
A crime boss whose wife, Ann Blake, has been seeing Stevens as a patient informs the doctor that he simply can't have anyone knowing his private business. Stevens is taken to a remote location to be done away with permanently. Angeli, expecting a payoff, is killed instead. Stevens is then beaten savagely by the crime boss until McGreavy and a team of cops arrive just in time.
At a cemetery where Stevens goes to visit his late wife's grave, Ann Blake turns up to apologize for causing Stevens all this trouble at the cost of so many lives. He has quit private practice, so she asks if that means he can see a former patient socially. It does and they begin to leave together, but the doctor is in for one last shock.
Production
Though the film was produced and released in 1984, Sidney SheldonSidney Sheldon
Sidney Sheldon was an Academy Award-winning American writer. His TV works spanned a 20-year period during which he created The Patty Duke Show , I Dream of Jeannie and Hart to Hart , but he became most famous after he turned 50 and began writing best-selling novels such as Master of the Game ,...
wrote its source novel in 1970, before psychological profiling became a widely accepted method of forensic crime-fighting work.
Principal cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Roger Moore Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London... |
Dr. Judd Stevens |
| Rod Steiger Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen "Rod" Steiger was an Academy Award-winning American actor known for his performances in such films as On the Waterfront, The Big Knife, Oklahoma!, The Harder They Fall, Across the Bridge, The Pawnbroker, Doctor Zhivago, In the Heat of the Night, and Waterloo as well as the... |
Lieutenant McGreavy |
| Elliott Gould Elliott Gould Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination... |
Angeli |
| Art Carney Art Carney Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners.... |
Morgens |
| Anne Archer Anne Archer Anne Archer is an American actress who has performed in feature films, television, and stage and was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971. Among her best known roles is that of Beth Gallagher in the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction, for which she received a nomination for an Academy Award.-Career:Archer's... |
Ann Blake |
| David Hedison David Hedison Albert David Hedison, Jr. is an Armenian-American film, television, and stage actor. He was billed as Al Hedison in his early film work. In 1959, when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espionage television series Five Fingers, NBC insisted that he change his name... |
Dr. Peter Hedley |
| John Kapelos John Kapelos John Kapelos is a Canadian actor from London, Ontario. He is best known for his portrayals of janitor Carl Reed in The Breakfast Club and Detective Donald Schanke in Forever Knight.... |
Frank |