False Faces (1932 film)

False Faces is a 1932 American drama film directed by Lowell Sherman and starring Sherman, Peggy Shannon, Lila Lee and Berton Churchill. It was shot at the Los Angeles studios of Tiffany Pictures and distributed by the independent World Wide Pictures.^[1]

This thinly veiled biopic of the notorious Henry Schireson, the "King of the Quack Doctors", offers a searing portrait of greed, manipulation and unchecked ego. Before becoming a top director, Lowell Sherman was known for playing scoundrels, and he delivers a chilling performance as Dr. Silas Brenton, a charismatic sociopath who seduces women into undergoing cosmetic surgery, despite having no real surgical skill—and no remorse for the consequences. Instead he lives lavishly off his victims, until the lies and bodies pile up.

Dr. Silas Brenton, a disgraced Doctor, travels to New York and opens his own practice, manuvering public spectacle to grow his fame and notoriety. As time progresses, he grows increasingly reckless in his procedures, leading eventually to the death of a woman in surgery, a crime he is put on trial for.

• Pitts, Michael R. Poverty Row Studios, 1929–1940: An Illustrated History of 55 Independent Film Companies, with a Filmography for Each. McFarland & Company, 2005.

• False Faces at IMDb