Review of The Man Who Found Himself

A young and rather unwise doctor gets into trouble through no fault of his own. However, considering his past impulsiveness, everyone believes the worst and so the doctor disappears--taking to the road as a hobo. While this is a bit tough to believe since the difference between society doctor and hobo is so extreme, the film is a rather entertaining yarn about his gradual rise to respectability. In many ways, it's reminiscent of LORD JIM, though in Jim's case, he HAD done the dirty deed he was accused of and in this case the doctor really is innocent and oddly chose to become a drop-out.

Anyone looking for sophisticated and believable entertainment should probably look elsewhere, as the plot of this drama is a bit contrived and predictable. Yet, despite this, I found the film to be very watchable and fun--probably because it had rather modest pretensions and was a low-budget (or "B") film. Given its pedigree and cast of unknowns, it was a decent film that is a bit better than just a time-passer. The only big name in the movie is Joan Fontaine--and this was made before she was an established star. You can tell this, by the way, because she speaks with her normal British accent--something you really don't hear in later films. In the films she made just a few years later, she either spoke in perfectly annunciated upper-class English or in an American accent.