Vom Teufel gejagt

5 years after WW2 ended, this movie does not refer to it in any way - instead, it offers escapist doctors drama (including Lil Dagover as a young female doctor in a scarcely sketched triangle) with some thrills.

Dr. Blank (Hans Albers) runs a private neurological hospital, and also has researched "K 27", a serum that might possibly cure mental diseases. His science peers don't agree and deride him, so he injects all of 8cc in a heroic self-experiment. As new drugs go, he discovers side effects like schizophrenia and temporary total obedience.

Now the story turns, in a subtle way, to the Jekyll & Hyde plot. Without his "good side" knowing, his "bad side" (which looks the same - no spectacular transformations) directs former patients to do criminal acts, embezzling money or robbing a jewelry case, seemingly all motivated by the need to save his hospital from bankruptcy. There isn't much guesswork left for the viewer, who is always in the know of what police are trying to find out.

This movie is listed in the Wikipedia filmographies of Hans Albers and the director Viktor Tourjansky (an interesting man with a history of directing since 1914, in Russia, France, US, and much in Germany), but doesn't have a page of its own there. One might call it a forgettable piece in the history of cinema, but if one gets it (German DVD by ScreenPower), it may be worth a look as a curiosity. Lay back, it isn't much "edge of the seat", though :^)