Shock Corridor (1963)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writer:

Samuel Fuller (written by)

Release Date:

11 September 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Bent on winning a Pulitzer Prize, a journalist commits himself to a mental institution to solve a strange and unclear murder.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Psychiatrist | Police | Shock Therapy | Strait Jacket

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins

Cast

Peter Breck	...	Johnny Barrett
Constance Towers	...	Cathy
Gene Evans	...	Boden
James Best	...	Stuart
Hari Rhodes	...	Trent
Larry Tucker	...	Pagliacci
Paul Dubov	...	Dr. J.L. Menkin
Chuck Roberson	...	Wilkes
Neyle Morrow	...	Psycho
John Matthews	...	Dr. L.G. Cristo
Bill Zuckert	...	'Swanee' Swanson
John Craig	...	Lloyd
Philip Ahn	...	Dr. Fong
Frank Gerstle	...	Lt. Kane
Rachel Romen	...	Singing nympho

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 | Sweden:(Banned) (1964) | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Norway:16 (1964) | UK:(Banned) (original rating) | UK:15 (video rating) (1990) | USA:Approved (certificate #20495)

Company:

Leon Fromkess-Sam Firks Productions

Trivia:

Both this and Samuel Fuller's following movie The Naked Kiss (1964) were rejected for UK cinema certificates and remained unavailable until 1990.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the fight scene in the kitchen, a bent table leg is abruptly straight and the pots and pans on the stove in the background change.

Quotes:

Cathy: Hamlet was made for Freud. Not you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Edge of Outside (2006)

Schlock Corridor

Reporter Pete Breck fakes insanity in order to solve a murder committed in a mental hospital and unsurprisingly goes round the twist for real in this heavy-handed lump from Samuel Fuller. The annoying and malnourished plot has Breck slowly solving the crime by waiting until the three mad witnesses have a moment of clarity and then shouting "WHO KILLED SLOANE?!" at them. Brilliant bit of detective work. The rest of the dialogue is pretentious psychobabble which renders the movie nigh on soporific, but there are a few powerful moments – the operatic inmate, the scary riot kicked off by a black patient who believes he's in the KKK – between the chin-stroking opening quotes and the foregone conclusion.