Among the Living (1941)

Director:

Stuart Heisler

Writers:

Lester Cole (screenplay)
Lester Cole (story)

Release Date:

19 December 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

What horrible fascination did this monster have for women?

Plot:

A mentally unstable man, who has been kept in isolation for years, escapes and causes trouble for his identical twin brother.

Plot Keywords:

Twins | Insanity | Death Certificate | Escaped Mental Patient | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Albert Dekker	...	John Raden / Paul Raden
Susan Hayward	...	Millie Pickens
Harry Carey	...	Doctor Ben Saunders
Frances Farmer	...	Elaine Raden
Gordon Jones	...	Bill Oakley
Jean Phillips	...	Peggy Nolan
Ernest Whitman	...	Pompey
Maude Eburne	...	Mrs. Pickens
Len Hendry	...	Clerk
Frank M. Thomas	...	Sheriff
Harlan Briggs	...	Judge
Archie Twitchell	...	Tom Reilly
Dorothy Sebastian	...	Woman in Cafe
William Stack	...	Minister
Ella Neal	...	1st Mill Girl

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording) | Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1943) | Sweden:(Banned) (1942)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

Mrs. Pickens: I had one of them Frenchmen living here last year. Honest to goodness every time you'd turn 'round, that Frenchman was grabbin' your hand and kissing until he'd like to pull the skin off.

Fairly primitive doppelganger thriller, interesting for early Susan Hayward

Just what sort of movie is Among the Living? It's not that easy to determine. This short (67 minute) 1941 offering is part thirties gothic and part early noir; in any case it's fairly primitive but it has its moments. Albert Dekker (his screen debut) plays twin brothers, one of whom, presumed dead for a quarter-century, is an infantile psychotic. He's been sequestered away in the decrepit family pile all these years but manages to escape, taking up residence in a rooming house owned by the young Susan Hayward's mother. When it looks like the gibbering idiot has money to burn, Hayward sets her hat for him. The most interesting facet of the film is watching Susan Hayward play her speciality, an on-screen hellion, particularly since Frances Farmer, gets wasted as the proper and dutiful wife of the "good" Albert Dekker. Much mayhem ensues, revolving around the confusion between the brothers (the existence of one of whom, remember, has been a deep dark secret). Toward the end, the film develops an ugly energy as the townspeople coalesce into a lynch mob, but, beware: this is not Fritz Lang's Fury. By modern standards, Among the Living has become a curio.