High Wall (1947)

After a brain-damaged man confesses to murder and is committed, Dr. Ann Lorrison tries to prove his innocence.

Director:

Curtis Bernhardt

Writers:

Sydney Boehm (screenplay), Lester Cole (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter, Herbert Marshall

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Taylor	...	Steven Kenet
Audrey Totter	...	Dr. Ann Lorrison
Herbert Marshall	...	Willard I. Whitcombe
Dorothy Patrick	...	Helen Kenet
H.B. Warner	...	Mr. Slocum
Warner Anderson	...	Dr. George Poward
Moroni Olsen	...	Dr. Philip Dunlap
John Ridgely	...	David Wallace (as John Ridgeley)
Morris Ankrum	...	Dr. Stanley Griffin
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Mrs. Kenet
Vince Barnett	...	Henry Cronner
Jonathan Hale	...	Emory Garrison
Charles Arnt	...	Sidney X. Hackle
Ray Mayer	...	Tom Delaney
Robert Hyatt	...	Richard Kenet (as Bobby Hyatt)

Storyline

Steven Kenet, suffering from a recurring brain injury, appears to have strangled his wife. Having confessed, he's committed to an understaffed county asylum full of pathetic inmates. There, Dr. Ann Lorrison is initially skeptical about Kenet's story and reluctance to undergo treatment. But against her better judgement, she begins to doubt his guilt, and endangers her career on a dangerous quest through dark streets awash with rain.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | asylum | crime wave | amnesiac war veteran | kitten | 

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Taglines:

So tense! So taut! It closes in on you like a high wall!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Anklage - Mord

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,844,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,553,000, 31 December 1948

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,618,000, 31 December 1948

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film received its USA television premiere in Los Angeles Monday 15 October 1956 on KTTV (Channel 11), followed by Seattle 30 October 1956 on KING (Channel 5), by Philadelphia Saturday 3 November 1956 on WFIL (Channel 6), by New Haven CT Sunday 18 November 1956 on WNHC (Channel 8), by Cincinnati Wednesday 28 November 1956 on WXIX (Channel 19) (Newport KY), by Hartford CT Thursday 6 December 1956 on WHCT (Channel 18), by Altoona PA Friday 14 December 1956 on WFBG (Channel 10), by Omaha Saturday 26 January 1957 on WOW (Channel 6) and by New York City Sunday 24 February 1957 on WCBS (Channel 2); in Chicago it first aired 28 June 1957 on WBBM (Channel 2), and San Francisco it was first telecast 4 February 1958 on KGO (Channel 7).

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Goofs

At around ten minutes, a group of doctors are looking at Kenet's skull x-rays. The x-rays are hung behind the illuminated frosted glass panels - so that we can see the x-rays, but the doctors could not. And the x-ray as we see 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.

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Soundtracks

Nocturne 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]

User Reviews

Melodramatic Film-Noir

The former WWII pilot Steven Kenet (Robert Taylor) is captured by the police after driving his car off the road into a river with his deceased wife. He confesses that he killed his wife and is sent to a psychiatric hospital for medical evaluation. Kenet has a brain injury from the war that provokes amnesia and the justice department needs to know whether he may be charged of murder or not. Dr. Ann Lorrison (Audrey Totter) is assigned to treat him and offers a surgery to cure him but refused by Kenet. When Kenet is visited by the super of the apartment building where the boss of his wife lives, he insinuates that Willard I. Whitcombe (Herbert Marshall) killed his wife in his apartment. Now Kenet wants to recover his memory and accepts to be submitted to a treatment by Dr. Lorrison.

"High Wall" is a film-noir combined with melodrama and romance. The lead story is not bad, but the romance of Kenet and Lorrison has no chemistry and is hard to believe. The black-and-white cinematography is wonderful and the happy-ending is acceptable. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Muro de Trevas" ("Wall of Darkness")