After a brain-damaged war veteran confesses to murdering his wife and is sent to a psychiatric hospital, a sympathetic doctor tries to lead him to recover his memory of events as he begins t... Read allAfter a brain-damaged war veteran confesses to murdering his wife and is sent to a psychiatric hospital, a sympathetic doctor tries to lead him to recover his memory of events as he begins to question his guilt.After a brain-damaged war veteran confesses to murdering his wife and is sent to a psychiatric hospital, a sympathetic doctor tries to lead him to recover his memory of events as he begins to question his guilt.
- David Wallace
- (as John Ridgeley)
- Richard Kenet
- (as Bobby Hyatt)
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
- 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".
- Goofs(at around 9 mins) A group of doctors is looking at Kenet's skull X-rays. The X-rays are hung behind the illuminated frosted glass panels, so viewers can see the X-rays, but the doctors could not. And the X-ray as the viewer sees 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]
Suffering from a brain injury sustained during the war, Steven Kenet (Taylor) is further rocked by the realisation that he may have strangled his wife during one of his blackout episodes. Committed to a county asylum, Steven responds to treatment by Dr. Ann Lorrison (Totter) and comes to believe he just might be innocent of his wife's murder. But can he convince the authorities? Can he in fact get out of the asylum to find proof?
By 1947 film noir had firmly encompassed the plot strand involving returning veterans from the war. Plot would find them struggling to readjust into society, they would be battle scarred, emotionally torn or suffering some form of injury, such as a popular favourite of film makers of the time, the amnesia sufferer. High Wall is one of the better pictures from the original film noir cycle to deal with this premise. Where except for a daft method used to bring the story to its conclusion, it's a well thought out and intelligent picture.
The pairing of Taylor and Totter is one of the film's strengths, they are helped no end by having parts that requires them to veer away from roles that they were accustomed to. Bernhardt and Vogel dress the picture up superbly, the camera glides eerily around the asylum, throwing impressive shadows across the drama, and the camera technique used for Kenet's flashback sequences proves mood magnificent. Out of the asylum the visuals still remain beautiful whilst still exuding a bleakness befitting the unfolding story, with rain drenched streets the order of the night. While Kaper drifts a suitably haunting musical score across proceedings.
It's unhurried and cares about attention to details, and even though some of the ethics involved in story are dubious, this is a smart entry in the psychological film noir canon. 7.5/10
- hitchcockthelegend
- Jan 10, 2014
- Permalink
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $1,844,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 39 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1