Hi, me again. This is an interesting movie. It starts off with a car crash. Steven Kenet (played by Robert Taylor) is a veteran who tries to kill himself after thinking he murdered his wife. That’s not a spoiler. I mean, c’mon. You can just tell the movie’s not going there.
So Kenet tries to kill himself, fails (obvs, because otherwise, there’s no movie—unless it’s an early version of The Big Chill (dear God no!) or Weekend at Bernie’s or something), then gets charged with murder based on his own confession, which he makes God knows how soon after he wakes up in the hospital. By the way, the man has a memory problem caused by brain trauma he suffered during his military service.
Anyway, after charging him based on what he doesn’t remember or maybe remembers or assumes, the cops have this “airtight case”, but they need to know if he is sane enough to be tried for murder. That would help to know, huh? Well, Kenet, being a stubborn cuss refuses to have an operation that could magically fix his brain. This refusal is taken as further incontrovertible proof that the man is as guilty as sin.
Meanwhile, I’m thinking, “What. The. Fuck. The issue is how sane was he at the time of the killing. Am I missing something?” So, does the fact that they must perform surgery to recover the truth or determine his sanity or make him saner or whatever not cast some doubt on the issue? Why is no one in this movie asking these questions?
So, anyway, he eventually agrees to the procedure after his mom dies and his son will likely end up in the foster system. Where he could end up anyway, if the State can prove its case against his father.
Much of his incentive to cooperate is provided by the one person who seems to give a damn about him—a brief scene with his attorney made me want to file suit for malpractice wonder how he got into criminal defense work—a psychologist, Dr. Ann Lorrison (played against type in a white coat by Audrey Totter) who takes a special interest in his case. She is a great part of what makes this story work. Lorrison plays a strong, intelligent, and capable female character in a field not known to embrace women, especially at the time this film was made. One roots for both Lorrison and Kenet, who are characters we can relate with and who struggle against what seem impossible odds for success at times.
Another thing about this film that distinguishes it is the theme of post-traumatic stress disorder, which hadn’t been identified as such, but still influenced the tone of much of film noir. It manages to infuse itself into the movie, openly, yet without really talking about it. Amnesia was also quite the popular trope, at this time, so it served well as a way of describing Kenet’s state of mind without dredging up too much war-related stuff.
As expected, the truth about the murder is far from what any of the main characters thinks it is. But some commenters think it’s obvious who did the deed the truth will out. We hope.
I recommend this movie for the suspense and low-level romantic undercurrent between the leads. Both of which, of course, intensify as the story unfolds. You can argue over whether the ending is noir enough for you. I liked it.
*****
Directed by Curtis Bernhardt
Screenplay by Sydney Boehm and Lester Cole (based on the novel High Wall by Alan R. Clark and the play by Bradbury Foote)
Produced by Robert Lord
Not bad at all. If you ignore a few implausibilities.
And here’s.the trailer! Also embedded above. Which reveals quite a few spoilers! Or are they? 🙂
PS: This is an MGM film, so not exactly a standard B-picture. Apparently, even MGM liked to walk down the mean streets, now and then. It helped to have cinematographer Paul Vogel along to capture the footage.
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