Shock (1946)

Director:

Alfred L. Werker

Writers:

Eugene Ling (screenplay)
Albert DeMond (story)

Release Date:

1 February 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

Plot:

A psychologically distraught woman is committed to a private sanitarium by the man whom she witnessed commit a murder.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Sanitarium | Psychiatrist | Insulin | San Francisco California

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Dr. Richard Cross
Lynn Bari	...	Nurse Elaine Jordan
Frank Latimore	...	Lt. Paul Stewart
Anabel Shaw	...	Mrs. Janet Stewart
Stephen Dunne	...	Dr. Stevens (as Michael Dunne)
Reed Hadley	...	District Attorney O'Neill
Renee Carson	...	Miss Hatfield - Head Nurse
Charles Trowbridge	...	Dr. Franklin Harvey

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1947) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #11285, Adult Audience) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Backlot, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Shot in 19 days.

Quotes:

Elaine Jordan: You've got a headache. I can tell from your eyes.
Dr. Richard Cross: Yes, it's busting!

Movie Connections:

Edited into Schlock! (2009) (V)

Modest programmer based on witness to murder theme...

SHOCK hardly lives up to its promising title. It's a rather tepid little B&W thriller that serves only to remind us what VINCENT PRICE was like just as his career was beginning to take shape at Fox. As usual, he's at his best as a shady character, a doctor who commits a crime of passion only to find out that it has been witnessed by a woman neighbor. Annabel Shaw plays the woman who goes into shock after witnessing the crime--a performance that is not quite as riveting as it should be for this type of suspense yarn. The suspense lies in wondering how Price will deal with the woman. Lynn Bari is his cohort in keeping the crime away from the police.

It's a premise that has been used countless times, often to better advantage than it is here. Worthwhile for some suspenseful moments at Price's sanitarium but none of the suspense is milked for all it's worth. Frank Latimore does nicely as the husband whose wife has gone into shock after her traumatic witnessing of murder and Reed Hadley does a smooth job as a detective.

Modestly entertaining if you don't expect too much.