The Swindle

Sometimes it feels to me as if the Europeans were able to appreciate the talents of Hollywood's classic stars more completely than Hollywood's own studio system did. The trend for the 'Golden Era' of Hollywood was to find and create certain archetypal stars who could then be cast and re-cast over and over again in the same types of roles, exploiting a formula designed for tried-and-true financial gain. As these superstars fell out of favour or grew too old to fit the moulds they helped create, they would sometimes look abroad to Europe in order to keep working.

Europe was a wildly different environment to Hollywood. Even the most acclaimed European directors were often in awe of America's command of the film world, but they were also without the restrictions enforced on Hollywood by McCarthyism and the Hays censorship code. I'm talking about this because The Swindle features a lead role that was originally written for Humphrey Bogart. It would've seen the increasingly frail Bogart playing a lonely, petty con-artist. It's a great role and perfectly attuned to his screen image but with the added benefit of not being restricted by the rules and hallmarks of mainstream American filmmaking in the 1950s. Unfortunatel, Bogart died before the film was made (I'm not even sure if he had accepted the role), and the character went to another American actor, Broderick Crawford (but more on that later).

Augusto (Crawford) is an ageing conman in Rome, living from day to day whilst making moderate scores. He has a rich man's lifestyle, with little regard for how he spends his money. It's starting to become increasingly clear to Augusto that his life is worthless without anyone to share it. He has no true friends, and his dreams of owning his own club are dismissed by his peers. A chance meeting with his estranged daugher ignites a sense of humanity in him. It's a tinge of conscience that's too little too late though and might just cost him what little life he has left.

Crawford was an interesting actor for his time. He won a Best Actor Oscar for All the King's Men in 1949, a role of a lifetime that flung him onto the A-list despite the fact that he looked more like a bloated boxer than a leading man, and had just about as much manners. He enjoyed a string of decent (if typecast) roles in the early 1950s before the offers ran out. Hollywood might not have known what to do with him but director Federico Fellini puts him in a role here that's wringing with pathos and makes great use of Crawford's natural cantankerousness. His status as an outsider is used to good effect amongst his Italian co-stars, further highlighting Augusto's loneliness and ineffectiveness in relation to the other subplots.

The Swindle is often considered one of Fellini's lesser works , seeming a lot more toned down and minimalistic than his usual style, but this film still demonstrates his mastery of human character and ability to find truth in the mundane tragedies experienced by those who live life in society's corners. It feels episodic and almost aimless at times, but all the subplots help contribute to Augusto's climactic realisations, and lead up to the decisiosn that will... I dont want to say 'alter' his destiny because it could be that his crummy life was always going to lead to a similar fate, but the beauty is in watching Augusto's feeble mind come to a point of self-actualisation. The whole film is a lesson in manipulating audience empathy, what happens 'next' becomes of little importance, it's about a certain middle-aged emptiness and about as good a mix between gutter realism and wiseguy philosophising as you could hope for.

DIRECTOR: Federico Fellini
WRITER/SOURCE: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano and Tullio Pinelli.
KEY ACTORS: Broderick Crawford, Giulietta Masina, Richard Baseheart, Franco Fabrizi, Sue Ellen Blake, Irene Cefaro, Alberto Di Amicus, Lorella De Luca

RELATED TEXTS:
- The Swindle is sometimes considered part of a Fellini trilogy of films about loneliness and social isolation, the other two being The Road and Nights of Cabiria.
- For other films about conmen, check out The Grifters, The Sting, Paper Moon, Matchstick Men and Catch Me If You Can.

AWARDS
Venice Film Awards - nominated Golden Lion award.