The double life of Dr. Clitterhouse
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The double life of Dr. Clitterhouse |
| Original title | The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1938 |
| length | 87 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Anatole Litvak |
| script |
John Huston John Wexley |
| production |
Anatole Litvak Gilbert Miller uncredited |
| music | Max Steiner |
| camera | Tony Gaudio |
| cut | Warren Low |
| occupation | |
| |
The double life of Dr. Clitterhouse (originally The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse ) is an American crime parody by Anatole Litvak from 1938. The screenplay is based on a successful Broadway play that Barré Lyndon wrote and ran for three months on Broadway. The premiere in Germany took place on July 8, 1978 on German television on ARD .
action
New York psychologist Dr. Clitterhouse wants to investigate the medical aspects of criminal behavior. To do this, he conducts self-experiments in which he carries out daring raids on jewelers and measures his blood pressure, pulse and temperature during and afterwards. From one of his patients, the police officer Lewis Lane, he learns about the biggest fence in town, Joe Keller. Clitterhouse seeks him out to sell his stolen property, but finds out that said fence is a woman named Jo. The doctor can take Jo and the thief Rocks Valentine for himself and joins the band of robbers.
Dr. Clitterhouse claims to be traveling to Europe for six weeks. In his double life he is called "Professor". He begins to usurp the leadership of the gang and gain Jo's admiration for what Rocks brings up against him. When a department store is robbed, Clitterhouse is locked in a cold store by Rocks. But one of the gang members, who was hired by Jo to protect the professor, frees the doctor. After the six weeks of his given trip, Clitterhouse wants to end the experiment, especially since he has enough results. Rocks finds out the doctor's true identity and tries to blackmail him. Rocks wants Clitterhouse to continue planning the raids. Clitterhouse, prevented by Rocks from publishing his studies, realizes that he has not yet investigated the worst crime, murder. He kills Rocks with a poisoned drink. Jo helps him sink the body in a river, but the police find it and discover the poison in the body.
Dr. Clitterhouse is arrested by his friend Lane. The doctor defends himself in court by stating that he did everything for scientific reasons. As a sane man, he stands by his deeds and faces the death penalty calmly. That in turn encourages the jury to believe that Clitterhouse is mentally deranged. and then acquit him. In the subsequent tumult in the courtroom, one of the jurors collapses. A doctor is called, which Clitterhouse watches carefully.
background
Before the play was played on Broadway, it ran successfully in London . The title role was played by Sir Cedrick Hardwicke .
Susan Hayward played a patient in her second cinema appearance; the scenes with her were cut out. In the original version, the future US President Ronald Reagan can be heard as the radio announcer .
Many of the people involved in the film were emigrants: Director Anatole Litvak was born in Kiev in what is now Ukraine , Edward G. Robinson was a native Romanian. Donald Crisp, like the author of the play Barré Lyndon, was British. Curt Bois came from Germany, like the art director Carl Julius (Jules) Weyl, and Vladimir Sokoloff from Russia . The Oscar-winning composer Max Steiner was born in the former Austria-Hungary, and the Oscar-winning cinematographer Tony Gaudio was born in Italy .
The film's musical director was Oscar-winning Leo F. Forbstein . The medical advisor was Dr. Leo Shulman, who acted as a consultant for a total of seven films.
There were two film adaptations of the play on British television in 1947 with Harold Warrender and in 1962 with Leo McKern in the title role.
Reviews
“A witty parody of gangster films from the 1930s. Fluidly staged and exceptionally well cast, right down to the supporting roles, except for the disappointing Bogart. "
“One of the earliest satires on the typical Hollywood gangster film of the Black Series, cast with excellent actors and imaginatively staged. (...) The result convinced the skeptical critics, who described the film as an »entertaining satire« and »wonderful film«. "
DVD release
Warner Home Video is releasing a 3-minute shortened version of the film on DVD (picture format: 1.33: 1 in the PAL system - language / sound format: German, English, Spanish, Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono) - country code: 2)
Web links
- The double life of Dr. Clitterhouse in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- in the Classic Film Guide (English)
- Movie posters from USA, France and Italy