There is a film project with the same title in development as of this writing (2015), most likely about identity theft of the cyber kind we're used to these days. This overlooked noir thriller from Austria involves old-school thievery. When a jealous husband murders his wife's secret lover in the back of a taxi, the driver decides not to report it but use the dead man's passport to switch identities with him, steal his passport, and realize his ambition to leave Vienna and relocate in the U.S.

As the vengeful husband, a famous concert pianist, Francis Lederer is probably the best-known name in the cast from his appearances in Pandora's Box (1929) opposite Louise Brooks, Midnight (1939) with Claudette Colbert, and The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944). He is co-starred with two American-born actors, Joan Camden as the wife and Don Buka as the cab driver, and a number of Austrian actors.

The most recognizable name in the credits, though, belongs to its producer. Turhan Bey was born in Vienna to a Turkish father and a Czech-Jewish mother and came to Hollywood in the early 1940s. Suave, possessed of a mellifluous voice and what was usually known as "Eurasian" good looks, he first played villains and men of mystery, then teamed with other "exotics," such as Maria Montez and Sabu, in Technicolor adventure pictures. Like many darkly attractive, foreign-born actors who spoke with noticeable accents, he was cast in a range of ethnic types, from Arab to Latin, Russian, and ancient Greek. His highest-profile role was as Katharine Hepburn's husband (both of them Chinese!) in Dragon Seed (1944). When his career faded after the war, he returned to Vienna and pursued his other talents to become a successful fashion photographer. Stolen Identity, made shortly after his last Hollywood feature, Prisoners of the Casbah (1953), is his only non-acting film credit. He returned to acting in the 1990s for a couple of minor feature films and a handful of television appearances.

Director Gunther Fritsch, working from Robert Hill's adaptation of Alexander Lernet-Holenia's novel, kept things moving swiftly and with suspense. Cinematographer Helmut Ashley even managed to use his shadowy black-and-white photography to give Vienna a touch of what it displayed in Carol Reed's acclaimed Austrian-set thriller The Third Man (1949). Hill followed his work here with the screenplay for the Joan Crawford potboiler Female on the Beach (1955).

This was the last film score composed by Richard Hageman, an Academy Award winner for his work on Stagecoach (1939). He was nominated for five other film scores. He also appeared occasionally on screen, including an uncredited bit as a saloon pianist in Stagecoach and director John Ford's 3 Godfathers (1948).

Stolen Identity is the English-language version of another Austrian film, Abenteuer in Wien/Adventures in Vienna (1952). The earlier film was not produced by Bey.

The poster for the film touted a performance of Schumann's Concerto in A Minor by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Bey's producer credit is printed on the poster as large as the names of the cast.

Director: Gunther Fritsch
Producer: Turhan Bey
Screenplay: Robert Hill, based on Alexander Lernet-Holenia's novel
Cinematography: Helmut Ashley
Production Design: J. Jonsdorff
Original Music: Richard Hageman
Cast: Donald Buka (Toni Spooner), Joan Camden (Karen Manelli), Francis Lederer (Claude Manelli), Adrienne Gessner (Mrs. Fraser), Inge Konradi (Marie)

By Rob Nixon