IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.9K
YOUR RATING
After a brain-damaged man confesses to murder and is committed, Dr. Ann Lorrison tries to prove his innocence.After a brain-damaged man confesses to murder and is committed, Dr. Ann Lorrison tries to prove his innocence.After a brain-damaged man confesses to murder and is committed, Dr. Ann Lorrison tries to prove his innocence.
John Ridgely
- David Wallace
- (as John Ridgeley)
Robert Hyatt
- Richard Kenet
- (as Bobby Hyatt)
Jean Andren
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
Russell Arms
- Patient Awaiting Discharge Hearing
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBoth Audrey Totter and Robert Taylor relished making this film - Totter, because she got to play a professional woman as she did in Lady in the Lake (1946), and Taylor, because he got to act and not just be a "pretty boy".
- GoofsAt around ten minutes, a group of doctors are looking at Kenet's skull x-rays. The x-rays are hung behind the illuminated frosted glass panels - so that we can see the x-rays, but the doctors could not. And the x-ray as we see it is oriented correctly to show a left side hematoma, but to the doctors, the x-ray is reversed meaning the hematoma would be on the right.
- Quotes
Steven Kenet: All this is confidential between doctor and patient isn't it? You're in a hurry to get in and report this aren't you? Well I can't stop you but just remember, you're the one who sold me on the idea of surgery, of fighting for an acquittal. Why did you bother?
- ConnectionsFeatured in Noir Alley: High Wall (2017)
- SoundtracksNocturne Op. 9, No. 2
(uncredited)
Composed by Frédéric Chopin
[The piano piece Slocum plays on the phonograph for Steve when they first meet at dinner]
Featured review
Superior cinema compared to Hollywood products of the decade
I am surprised that this film was never given its due credit for its strengths while its weaknesses have been highlighted.
It is obvious to a casual viewer that the performance of Robert Taylor is superior to most of his other films that exploited his physical attributes more than his innate talent. Taylor would have been a good material for intelligent directors but unfortunately few worked with him. Director Curtis Bernhardt, with European experience behind him, utilized the range of emotions that he could extract from Taylor and the usually "wooden" Taylor emerges as an intelligent, purposeful individual.
The obvious weaknesses is the science of psychotherapy, brain surgery and truth serums that are presented in the film, which we now know are antiquated and incorrect. Bernhardt has been criticized for his apathetic depiction of mental asylums in the film. All of this is correct but what would you do in the Forties if that is what you knew of the subject at that time.
Director Bernhardt to me is the person to be most admired in this movie, not actor Taylor. Take the sequence of the visit of the asylum staff to the house of the mother of the lead male character. You see the milk bottles and the newspapers outside the door. You have no response to the doorbell. Then you see a child peeking from behind the curtains and meekly opening the door. No word is spoken. The dead mothers feet are shown to us. Cut to another sequence. That is great cinema--good understanding of psychology, and deliberate underplaying of emotions by merely using visuals and editing the shots without resorting to emotional dialog.
The second most interesting facet of the film is the script. The rain used in the film (couldn't have been from the original play) adds so much to the atmosphere of the film. The sequences in the restaurants and bars, however short, are highlights of the strong script.
The editing, antiquated as it looks nearly 60 years after the film was made, is noteworthy for its crispness and relevance. The camera-work, exploiting shadows on frosted glasses and dark alleys, is equally remarkable.
Curtis Bernhardt could have been proud of this work despite its weakness for researching the subject inadequately. Handsome Taylor can be credited with a handful of good performances and strangely all of those performances had him playing anti-heroes. This is is one of those few.
It is obvious to a casual viewer that the performance of Robert Taylor is superior to most of his other films that exploited his physical attributes more than his innate talent. Taylor would have been a good material for intelligent directors but unfortunately few worked with him. Director Curtis Bernhardt, with European experience behind him, utilized the range of emotions that he could extract from Taylor and the usually "wooden" Taylor emerges as an intelligent, purposeful individual.
The obvious weaknesses is the science of psychotherapy, brain surgery and truth serums that are presented in the film, which we now know are antiquated and incorrect. Bernhardt has been criticized for his apathetic depiction of mental asylums in the film. All of this is correct but what would you do in the Forties if that is what you knew of the subject at that time.
Director Bernhardt to me is the person to be most admired in this movie, not actor Taylor. Take the sequence of the visit of the asylum staff to the house of the mother of the lead male character. You see the milk bottles and the newspapers outside the door. You have no response to the doorbell. Then you see a child peeking from behind the curtains and meekly opening the door. No word is spoken. The dead mothers feet are shown to us. Cut to another sequence. That is great cinema--good understanding of psychology, and deliberate underplaying of emotions by merely using visuals and editing the shots without resorting to emotional dialog.
The second most interesting facet of the film is the script. The rain used in the film (couldn't have been from the original play) adds so much to the atmosphere of the film. The sequences in the restaurants and bars, however short, are highlights of the strong script.
The editing, antiquated as it looks nearly 60 years after the film was made, is noteworthy for its crispness and relevance. The camera-work, exploiting shadows on frosted glasses and dark alleys, is equally remarkable.
Curtis Bernhardt could have been proud of this work despite its weakness for researching the subject inadequately. Handsome Taylor can be credited with a handful of good performances and strangely all of those performances had him playing anti-heroes. This is is one of those few.
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- JuguAbraham
- Mar 14, 2003
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Anklage - Mord
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,844,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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