The Impostor (aka Strange Confession) is a 1944 American drama war film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Jean Gabin, Richard Whorf and Ellen Drew. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Eugène Lourié and John B. Goodman. It was one of two films Gabin made in Hollywood where he had travelled following the Fall of France in 1940.
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Plot
Clement (Gabin), a condemned murderer literally minutes away from the guillotine, is "liberated" when the Nazis bomb hit the French jail that holds him. During his escape he steals the uniform and identification papers of a dead French soldier. He then hides from the law by joining the Free French Forces in French Equatorial Africa. Clement's new identity and purpose in life reform him. In the end he sacrifices himself in the service of his country.
Cast
Jean Gabin as Clement / Maurice LeFarge
Richard Whorf as Lt. Vareene
Allyn Joslyn as Bouteau
Ellen Drew as Yvonne
Peter Van Eyck as Hafner
Ralph Morgan as Col. De Bolvin
Eddie Quillan as Cochery
John Qualen as Monge
Dennis Moore as Maurice LaFarge
Milburn Stone as Clauzel
John Philliber as Mortemart
Charles McGraw as Menessier
Otho Gaines as Matowa
John Forrest as Free French corporal
Fritz Leiber as Priest
Ian Wolfe as Sgt. Clerk
William B. Davidson as Adjutant
Frank Wilcox as Prosecutor
Warren Ashe as Officer
Peter Cookson as Soldier
Leigh Whipper as Toba
Ernest Whitman as Ekoua
Grandon Rhodes as Captain
George Irving as Prosecutor