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

Both Audrey Totter and Robert Taylor relished making this film - Totter, because she got to play a professional woman as she did in Lady in the Lake (1946), and Taylor, because he got to act and not just be a "pretty boy".

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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

Battle Hymn of the Republic
(uncredited)
Music by William Steffe
Lyrics by Julia Ward Howe
[An unseen patient is singing the song while Ann runs through the ward to see Steve in isolation]

User Reviews

Not great but well worth a look

This is probably Robert Taylor's first real film noir. He is revered in some circles for work a decade later such as Nicholas Ray's "Party Girl." I think he is excellent in "High Wall." He plays a decorated war vet who is accused of murder. Not just accused of murder but also but into a psychiatric hospital. Yikes. No fun at all. Except that the hypnotherapist assigned to his case is a beautiful woman who kind of likes him.

Cast in the role of the psychiatrist is one of the great staples of film noir, Audrey Totter. She is as always good. Better than good. What's intriguing here is that she is cast not as a femme fatale but as a career woman who is in every sense on the right side of the angels and the law.

Herbert Marshall turns in a superbly creepy performance also. I won't say much about his role other than that this is not really a whodunit. We know the answer to that very early.

It's an unusual, brave movie. It has flaws but is nevertheless very good.