Shock (1946)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Alfred L. Werker

Writers:

Albert DeMond (story)
Eugene Ling (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 February 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller | Film-Noir

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 - Cross's top young asst (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:

While on the set one day, Lynn Bari was talking with co-star Anabel Shaw and mentioned that she was a direct descendant, on her mother's side, of Revolutionary War hero Alexander Hamilton. Shaw revealed that she was a direct descendant of Aaron Burr, the man who killed Hamilton in the famous duel.

Quotes:

Lt. Paul Stewart: Well, if you give Janet this insulin, how certain can you be it'll help her?
Dr. Richard Cross: I'm neither a miracle man nor a prophet, Lieutenant. If medicine were an exact science, not an art, I might be able to tell you.

SHOCK (Alfred Werker, 1946) **

While I'd have been interested in this film regardless, given its genre (Noir) and star (Vincent Price), I knew not to expect much from it in view of Leonard Maltin's dismissive *1/2 rating.

With this in mind, I was amazed to see this programmer restored and released as part of Fox's vaunted Noir series on DVD ahead of much more renowned titles – but that may have had more to do with the fact that SHOCK has lingered in Public Domain hell for a long time, and the studio was eager to 'reclaim' its property by preparing an edition that was clearly superior to every other available version (with respect to print quality, transfer and supplements) and sell it at a very affordable price! That said, I've purchased all of Fox's Noir titles save 3 – SHOCK itself, VICKI (1953) and NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947; though I do own this via the superior "Masters Of Cinema" R2 disc) – but, ashamedly, I must admit that I've yet to check out any of them (and there are even 5 first-time viewings in there!)…

Anyway, after this longish introduction, let's talk about the film proper: watchable (being a mere 70 minutes long helps), not uninteresting in itself (if decidedly unoriginal – the doctor who's been commissioned to help restore a girl's sanity is actually the perpetrator of the murder which drove her into a catatonic state to begin with!) and quite atmospheric (a surreal dream sequence is nicely done and the film's highlight is the rather irrelevant sequence where a homicidal inmate attacks the head nurse in the heroine's room one stormy night) but it's also very formulaic, thus predictable every step of the way (who could Price be but the villain, albeit a fairly sympathetic one?)…and, ultimately, too low-key for its own good (the leading lady is a non-entity – which considerably dilutes the suspense – the femme fatale bland and the abrupt wrap-up concludes the film on something of a whimper)!

I watched this via the Madacy "Vincent Price Collection" DVD which, ostensibly, also includes 3 other PD titles featuring the iconic star – THE BAT (1959) and THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) are there, yes, but HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1958) is nowhere to be found, despite its name appearing on the "Main Menu" screen (admittedly, the disc I have is a DVD-R and the film may not have been replicated due to a technical glitch)…