Shock (El susto, 1946)
Director: Alfred L. Werker
Production: Aubrey Schenck (20th Century Fox)
Screenplay: Eugene Ling & Martin Berkeley - Story: Albert DeMond
Starring: Vincent Price - Lynn Bari - Anabel Shaw - Frank Latimore - Michael Dunne
Filmed between September and October, 1945 - Premiered 10-January-1946 - 71 min.
Two decades before becoming an icon of horror movies, and after a reputable theatrical career, Vincent Price was a regular secondary actor at 20th Century Fox, where his 1,93 meters and formidable voice had maximized film-noir melodrama titles so seminal as Otto Preminger's Laura (1944) or John M. Stahl's Leave Her to Heaven (1945). By 1946 he was ready to be a protagonist and Fox had decided to put him at the head of the first production by Aubrey Schenck, the nephew of Joseph -one of Fox founders and its president until 1942- and Nicholas -president of Loew's, MGM's mother company-, a low-budget movie with direction of the reliable Alfred L. Werker. With a plot that mixed drama and film-noir, Shock was one of the first films in showing with certain seriousness the psychiatric treatments, in this case the so-called insulin shock therapy, although its use for criminal purposes got harsh critiques in a moment in which its use was something established for many cases of soldiers returned from the front with mental issues. Price is convincing in his ambiguous character, someone with obvious murder impulses who, nevertheless, feels tortured when confronted to the possibility of committing a premeditated murder, but the show transcends from pure melodrama thanks to Joseph McDonald's marvelous and atmospheric photography, and to the participation of Lynn Bari, an experienced actress -more than 100 titles, most of them uncredited- whom at her 33 years had been -after Betty Grable- the most desired pin-up by the American soldiers. Bari, whom along George Raft had just performed a clone of Preminger's Laura in Edwin L. Marin's interesting Nocturne (1946), had a sensual air and a disturbing voice that made her suitable for the role of Price's accomplice and lover, someone without scruples when achieving an objective. Recommendable.
Dos décadas antes de convertirse en un icono del cine de terror, y tras una reputada carrera teatral, Vincent Price era un actor secundario habitual en la 20th Century Fox, donde sus 1,93 metros de estatura y su formidable voz habían potenciado títulos tan seminales del cine negro melodramático como Laura (1944) de Otto Preminger o Leave Her to Heaven (Que el cielo la juzgue, 1945) de John M. Stahl. Para 1946 ya estaba preparado para ser cabeza de cartel y la Fox había decidido ponerle al frente de la primera producción de Aubrey Schenck, sobrino de Joseph -uno de los fundadores del estudio y su presidente hasta 1942- y Nicholas -presidente de Loew's, la compañía madre de la MGM-, una película de bajo presupuesto con dirección del solvente Alfred L. Werker. Con una trama que mezclaba el drama y el cine negro, Shock fue uno de los primeros títulos en mostrar con cierta seriedad los tratamientos psiquiátricos, en éste caso la denominada terapia de choque con insulina, si bien su utilización para fines criminales le granjearon críticas acerbas en un momento en que su uso era algo establecido para muchos casos de soldados regresados del frente con transtornos mentales. Price resulta convincente en su ambiguo personaje, alguien con evidentes impulsos homicidas que, sin embargo, se siente torturado ante la posibilidad de cometer un asesinato premeditado, pero la función trasciende el puro melodrama gracias a la estupenda y atmosférica fotografía de Joseph McDonald, y a la participación de Lynn Bari, una experimentada actriz -más de 100 títulos, la mayoría no acreditados- que a sus 33 años había sido -tras Betty Grable- la pin-up más deseada por los soldados americanos. Bari, que junto a George Raft acababa de interpretar a un clon de la Laura de Preminger en la interesante Nocturne (Nocturno, 1946) de Edwin L. Marin, tenía un aire sensual y una voz perturbadora que la hizo idónea para el rol de la cómplice y amante de Price, alguien sin escrúpulos a la hora de conseguir su objetivo. Recomendable.
Production: Aubrey Schenck (20th Century Fox)
Screenplay: Eugene Ling & Martin Berkeley - Story: Albert DeMond
Starring: Vincent Price - Lynn Bari - Anabel Shaw - Frank Latimore - Michael Dunne
Filmed between September and October, 1945 - Premiered 10-January-1946 - 71 min.
Two decades before becoming an icon of horror movies, and after a reputable theatrical career, Vincent Price was a regular secondary actor at 20th Century Fox, where his 1,93 meters and formidable voice had maximized film-noir melodrama titles so seminal as Otto Preminger's Laura (1944) or John M. Stahl's Leave Her to Heaven (1945). By 1946 he was ready to be a protagonist and Fox had decided to put him at the head of the first production by Aubrey Schenck, the nephew of Joseph -one of Fox founders and its president until 1942- and Nicholas -president of Loew's, MGM's mother company-, a low-budget movie with direction of the reliable Alfred L. Werker. With a plot that mixed drama and film-noir, Shock was one of the first films in showing with certain seriousness the psychiatric treatments, in this case the so-called insulin shock therapy, although its use for criminal purposes got harsh critiques in a moment in which its use was something established for many cases of soldiers returned from the front with mental issues. Price is convincing in his ambiguous character, someone with obvious murder impulses who, nevertheless, feels tortured when confronted to the possibility of committing a premeditated murder, but the show transcends from pure melodrama thanks to Joseph McDonald's marvelous and atmospheric photography, and to the participation of Lynn Bari, an experienced actress -more than 100 titles, most of them uncredited- whom at her 33 years had been -after Betty Grable- the most desired pin-up by the American soldiers. Bari, whom along George Raft had just performed a clone of Preminger's Laura in Edwin L. Marin's interesting Nocturne (1946), had a sensual air and a disturbing voice that made her suitable for the role of Price's accomplice and lover, someone without scruples when achieving an objective. Recommendable.
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