Experiment in Terror (1944)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Experiment in terror |
| Original title | Experiment perilous |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1944 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jacques Tourneur |
| script | Warren Duff |
| production | Warren Duff |
| music | Roy Webb |
| camera | Tony Gaudio |
| cut | Ralph Dawson |
| occupation | |
| |
Experiment in Terror is an American cinematic melodrama with film noir elements written by Jacques Tourneur and starring Hedy Lamarr , George Brent and Paul Lukas . The novel that appeared in the previous year (1943) was written by Margaret Carpenter.
action
In the United States, in 1903. The young psychiatrist Dr. Huntington "Hunt" Bailey meets an elderly lady named Clarissa Bederaux, or Cissie for short, while on a train ride. You start a conversation, and while a torrential rain is pouring down outside, the doctor can calm Cissie down and thereby wins her trust. The following day, Cissie invites the doctor to her home and tells him that she is on her way to New York City to visit her younger brother Nick and his young wife Allida and their sons after five years of health-related stays in a sanatorium. Once upon a time, Cissie raised Nick single-handedly. She had written down her experiences with Nick and kept them in a folder that she left with Bailey. A little later the old lady is dead, murdered. Arriving in New York, the psychiatrist learns more about Allida Bederaux from his old friend Clag, whose portrait, made by a certain Maitland, hangs in a museum. Hunt Bailey is overwhelmed by its beauty at the sight of the painting and accepts Clag's invitation to accompany him on an inaugural visit to the Bederaux house.
Nick makes a strange impression on the psychiatrist from the start; marriage seems strange to him. The domineering man does not treat Allida like a loving husband to his wife, but rather as if she were a madwoman, as Nick Bailey would have us believe a little later on a return visit to Hunt. To back up his allegation, Nick Bederaux reports on all sorts of strange actions by Allida. The control-addicted husband practically locks his wife away from the outside world. When the young poet Alec Gregory Allida once made a claused declaration of love, husband Nick went nuts. Allida, on the other hand, makes a fragile, but not disturbed impression on Hunt. Her husband, on the other hand, the psychiatrist tells Clag, seems more than just strange to him. When Bailey returns to his hotel room, Cissie's portfolio that he was keeping has disappeared. Strange things also happened on the next visit to the Bederaux house. Apparently, Nick manipulates his wife to make her appear insane and scares his son with terrifying stories about witches, which in turn are supposed to throw a bad light on his mother Allida.
One day Alex Gregory is run over on the street. Soon after, when Nick is out of the house, Bailey receives a phone call from Allidas. She wants to meet with him. Among other things, she explains to him that the name Alec was an idea of her husband for both sons, not hers, because the author who adores her and has now been murdered may have been her lover. Gradually Bailey became seriously concerned about Allida's life. He is certain that only Nick Bederaux can have murdered the two people and is forging a perfidious plan. Allida informs Bailey that her husband has boarded a ship to Boston. He left a message saying he was going to kill himself. Only he, the psychiatrist, could help him now. Hunt accompanies Allida to her home when she hears her son crying in his room. When Bailey tries to update Clag by phone, Nick, disguised as his own house servant, steps out of the shadows, revolver drawn, confesses to both murders and says he turned on the gas to get his wife and son into them Let air fly. Hunt Bailey can knock Nick out briefly and runs upstairs to save Allida, with whom he has long since fallen in love, and her son from the madman. Nick wakes up from a brief unconsciousness, and a tough duel between the two men ensues. Several aquariums were also broken, causing masses of water to flood the premises. After all, if there is an explosion, the entire house will catch fire. Nick is killed in the process. Huntington Bailey takes his new love and son with him to start a new family.
Production notes
Experiment in Terror started on July 12, 1944; filming ended in early October of the same year. The world premiere took place on December 29, 1944. In Germany, the film did not open in theaters, but celebrated its premiere on June 19, 1974 on television (WDR 3).
The film structures, which received an Oscar nomination, were designed by Albert S. D'Agostino and Jack Okey , the equipment by Darrell Silvera and Claude E. Carpenter .
useful information
From Experiment Perilous , the original title, a radio version was produced. It aired on October 12, 1946. George Brent took over his old film part, the Lamarr role played Joan Bennett ; Adolphe Menjou could be heard at her side in the role of Luke .
Reviews
In the lexicon of international films it says: "A dark melodrama, staged in a subtle and ambiguous manner in the style of film noir."
"Static melodrama in the ' Lady Alquist 's House ' tradition."
Halliwell's Film Guide found the film to be "an enjoyable mystery melodrama".
Individual evidence
- ^ Bennett, Brent, Menjou Star on "Screen Guild" . In: Harrisburg Telegraph . Harrisburg, Pennsylvania October 12, 1946, p. 17 ( newspapers.com [accessed February 24, 2019]).
- ↑ Experiment in Terror. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 23, 2019 .
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 872
Web links
- Experiment Perilous on Turner Classic Movies
- Experiment Perilous at the American Film Institute
- Experiment in Terror in the Internet Movie Database (English)