Shock: Classic Film Noir Murder Mystery with Vincent Price (1946)

"Shock" is a 1946 American film noir directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Vincent Price, Lynn Bari, and Frank Latimore. The film tells the story of a war veteran, Dr. Richard Cross (Frank Latimore), who returns home to find that his wife, Elaine (Anabel Shaw), has been involved in a car accident and is now suffering from amnesia. Dr. Cross, who has a dark past and a history of mental illness, becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation when a dead body is found in his office.

Vincent Price plays Dr. Cross's psychiatrist, Dr. Bruckner, who tries to help his patient remember what happened on the night of the murder. Meanwhile, Lynn Bari plays Nurse Charlotte, who becomes romantically involved with Dr. Cross and helps him to clear his name.

The film features classic film noir elements such as flashbacks, a suspenseful plot, and a dark and moody atmosphere. It received mixed reviews upon its release but is now considered a cult classic of the genre.

Cast:

Vincent Price as Dr. Richard Cross's psychiatrist, Dr. Bruckner
Lynn Bari as Nurse Charlotte
Frank Latimore as Dr. Richard Cross
Anabel Shaw as Elaine Jordan Cross
Stephen Dunne as Lt. Paul Stewart
Reed Hadley as Dr. Stevens
Renee Carson as Mrs. Hatfield

Shock is a 1946 American film noir directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Vincent Price, Lynn Bari and Frank Latimore.[3]
Plot

A young woman named Janet Stewart is anticipating the arrival of her husband and attempts to check into a hotel. They are meeting after years apart and have planned to meet at the hotel. During his military service he was presumed dead, but was a prisoner of war. Unfortunately, her cable requesting the reservation never arrived. The staff, after hearing her story, agree to provide a room for the night. Restless, she isn't sleeping. She hears a loud argument and goes to the balcony window where she witnesses a man striking his wife with a candlestick. The woman is killed.

The next morning, her husband arrives and attempts to surprise Janet. Instead, he discovers her sitting on the couch, staring into space. She has gone into a state of shock as a result of seeing the murder. The hotel doctor is called, but he suggests she see a specialist.

The specialist that she sees turns out to be Dr. Cross, the man who murdered his wife.
Cast

Vincent Price as Dr. Richard Cross
Lynn Bari as Elaine Jordan
Frank Latimore as Lt. Paul Stewart
Anabel Shaw as Janet Stewart
Stephen Dunne as Dr. Stevens (as Michael Dunne)[4]
Reed Hadley as O'Neill
Renee Carson as Mrs. Hatfield
Ruth Nelson As Mrs. Margaret Cross (Uncredited)[4]
Charles Trowbridge as Dr. Franklin Harvey

Production

The film was originally to be directed by Henry Hathaway.[1]
Reception

Above and beyond the typical characteristics of the horror film genre, reviewer Bosley Crowther of The New York Times took particular offense to the film's treatment of psychiatry. Coming in the wake of World War II, in which so many people had suffered shock and could benefit from treatment of their anxieties, Crowther asked the "critical observer to protest in no uncertain tones" the movie's "social disservice" in its fostering "apprehension against the treatment of nervous disorders", deploring the lack of consideration for those in need of treatment evidenced by producer Aubrey Schenck and distributor Twentieth Century-Fox.[5] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times took no such offense, calling the film a "nominal 'B' feature", which screenplay author "Eugene Ling and Director Alfred Werker have imbued... with a grade-A suspense".[6] Jonathan Malcolm Lampley wrote in Women in the Horror Films of Vincent Price that his role in this film "foreshadows the mad doctors and scientists Price would frequently portray in his later career".[7]
See also

List of films in the public domain in the United States[8][9][10]

References

Tom Weaver, It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition McFarland, 2000 p 271
Aubrey Solomon, Twentieth Century-Fox: A Corporate and Financial History Rowman & Littlefield, 2002 p 221
Shock at the American Film Institute Catalog.
"Hollywood Production ... Pictures Now Shooting". The Hollywood Reporter. October 26, 1945. p. 15. ProQuest 2320745572. "Cast: Vincent Price, Lynn Bari, Marjorie Henshaw, Frank Latimore, Michael Dunne, Ruth Nelson, Rene Carson, Roy Roberts, John Davidson."
Crowther, Bosley. "The Screen; Bad Medicine", The New York Times, March 9, 1946. Accessed July 2, 2009.
Scheuer, Philip K. "'Shock' Joins Procession of 'Psychos'", Los Angeles Times, March 7, 1946. Accessed July 2, 2009.
Lampley, Jonathan Malcolm (2010). Women in the Horror Films of Vincent Price. McFarland & Company. p. 17. ISBN 9780786457496.
Shock (1946) [Film Noir] [Thriller]. Timeless Classic Movies. March 17, 2013. Archived from the original on August 23, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021 – via YouTube.
Shock (1946). Tinsel RoadTV. February 20, 2012. Archived from the original on December 23, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2021 – via YouTube.

Shock 1946 Vincent Price, Film Noir, Thriller. old films. October 7, 2015. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved October 5, 2021 – via YouTube.

External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to Shock (1946 film).

Shock at the American Film Institute Catalog
Shock at IMDb
Shock at AllMovie
Shock at the TCM Movie Database
Shock is available for free download at the Internet Archive

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Films directed by Alfred L. Werker

The Pioneer Scout (1928) The Sunset Legion (1928) Kit Carson (1928) Chasing Through Europe (1929) Blue Skies (1929) Double Cross Roads (1930) The Last of the Duanes (1930) Annabelle's Affairs (1931) Fair Warning (1931) Heartbreak (1931) The Gay Caballero (1932) Rackety Rax (1932) Hello, Sister! (1933) Advice to the Lovelorn (1933) It's Great to Be Alive (1933) Gallant Lady (1934) The House of Rothschild (1934) You Belong to Me (1934) Stolen Harmony (1935) Love in Exile (1936) Wild and Woolly (1937) Big Town Girl (1937) We Have Our Moments (1937) City Girl (1938) Kidnapped (1938) Gateway (1938) Up the River (1938) It Could Happen to You (1939) News Is Made at Night (1939) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) The Reluctant Dragon (1941) Moon Over Her Shoulder (1941) The Mad Martindales (1942) A-Haunting We Will Go (1942) Whispering Ghosts (1942) My Pal Wolf (1944) Shock (1946) Repeat Performance (1947) Pirates of Monterey (1947) He Walked by Night (1948) Lost Boundaries (1949) Sealed Cargo (1951) Walk East on Beacon (1952) The Last Posse (1953) Devil's Canyon (1953) Three Hours to Kill (1954) At Gunpoint (1955) Canyon Crossroads (1955) Rebel in Town (1956) The Young Don't Cry (1957)

Categories:

1946 films1940s psychological thriller films20th Century Fox filmsAmerican black-and-white filmsAmerican thriller filmsFilm noirFilms directed by Alfred L. WerkerFilms scored by David ButtolphFilms set in psychiatric hospitalsUxoricide in fiction1940s English-language films1940s American films

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_(1946_film)