Shock (1946)

Director:

Alfred L. Werker

Writers:

Eugene Ling (screenplay)
Albert DeMond (story)
(more)

Release Date:

1 February 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

Plot:

A psychologically distraught woman is committed to a private sanitarium by the man whom she witnessed commit a murder.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Sanitarium | Psychiatrist | Hotel | Insulin

Cast

Vincent Price	...	Dr. Richard Cross
Lynn Bari	...	Nurse Elaine Jordan
Frank Latimore	...	Lt. Paul Stewart
Anabel Shaw	...	Mrs. Janet Stewart
Stephen Dunne	...	Dr. Stevens (as Michael Dunne)
Reed Hadley	...	District Attorney O'Neill
Renee Carson	...	Miss Hatfield - Head Nurse
Charles Trowbridge	...	Dr. H.J. Harvey
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Adler	...	Frank, Male Nurse (uncredited)
Margaret Brayton	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Harry Carter	...	Sanitarium Orderly (uncredited)
Ruth Clifford	...	Mrs. Margaret Cross (uncredited)
John Davidson	...	Mr. Edwards (uncredited)
Selmer Jackson	...	Dr. Blair (uncredited)
Ruth Nelson	...	Mrs. Margaret Cross (voice) (uncredited)
Claire Richards	...	Nurse (uncredited)
George E. Stone	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Pierre Watkin	...	Blake - Belmont Arms Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Cecil Weston	...	Patient (uncredited)
Mary Young	...	Mrs. Penny (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred L. Werker		(as Alfred Werker)

Writing credits
Eugene Ling		(screenplay)
Albert DeMond		(story) (as Albert deMond)
Martin Berkeley		(additional dialogue)

Produced by
Aubrey Schenck	....	producer

Original Music by
David Buttolph

Cinematography by
Joseph MacDonald		(director of photography) (as Joe MacDonald)
Glen MacWilliams		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harmon Jones

Art Direction by
Boris Leven
Lyle R. Wheeler		(as Lyle Wheeler)

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Kay Nelson

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eli Dunn	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
O. Clemont Halverson	....	associate set decorator
Don B. Greenwood	....	property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Alfred Bruzlin	....	sound
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound

Special Effects by
Fred Sersen	....	special photographic effects

Visual Effects by
Sol Halperin	....	transparencies (uncredited)
Edwin Hammeras	....	transparencies (uncredited)
J.O. Taylor	....	transparencies (uncredited)

Music Department
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator
Emil Newman	....	musical director
Paul Neal	....	music mixer (uncredited)
Murray Spivack	....	music mixer (uncredited)

Other crew
Frances C. Richardson	....	research director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1946) (USA) (theatrical)
• United American Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• VCI Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Control Productions (2002) (Australia) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Brentwood Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Cable Video (USA) (VHS)
• Kartes Video (USA) (VHS)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1947) | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #11285, Adult Audience) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Backlot, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

While on the set one day, Lynn Bari was talking with co-star Anabel Shaw and mentioned that she was a direct descendant, on her mother's side, of Revolutionary War hero Alexander Hamilton. Shaw revealed that she was a direct descendant of Aaron Burr, the man who killed Hamilton in the famous duel.

Quotes:

Elaine Jordan:You've got a headache. I can tell from your eyes.
Dr. Richard Cross:Yes, it's bursting.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Schlock! (2009) (V)

Done On A Dime And In A Hurry

According to the Films Of Vincent Price from the Citadel Film Series, sometime in late 1945 Darryl Zanuck was on one of his budget cutting kicks and was looking to produce cheaper films. Vincent Price was offered the story of Shock and liked it and said he could get it done under 20 days with no interference. Zanuck gave him his head on this one and Price and director Alfred Werker brought it in 19 days shooting time.

Shock was also the film that Vincent Price got top billing for the first time in his career. He plays a psychiatrist who kills his wife because she won't give him a divorce to marry the sultry Lynn Bari. The problem is that young war wife Anabel Shaw who is anxiously waiting the return of a husband who was thought missing in action in the Pacific sees him through the window of her room at the hotel they're both staying at.

Shaw's got a lot of issues and she collapses and goes into Shock. It's recommended that she go to a sanitarium and husband Frank Latimore now returned takes her to a highly regarded one that is run by both Price and Bari. I don't think I have to go any further.

Shock may have been done on a dime and in a hurry, but it's well constructed and was the film that opened new vistas for Vincent Price's career. Price elicits a lot of audience sympathy being caught by mantrap Lynn Bari. As for Bari I don't think she was ever sexier or more dangerous. Stronger men than Price might have killed for her.

Definitely a must for the still strong legion of fans that Vincent Price has.