Behind Locked Doors

Starring:Lucille Bremer, Richard Carlson, Douglas Fowley, Ralf Harolde, Thomas Browne Henry, Herbert Heyes, Gwen Donovan, John Holland, Wally Vernon, Tor Johnson, Kathleen Freeman, Tony Horton, Dickie Moore, Morgan Farley, Trevor Bardette
Director: Budd Boetticher
Studio: Kino Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Obscure noir
Beware noir fans of this Kino rip-off!
Remastered DVDs?
5 classic NOIRS from the studio vaults

Film Noir - The Dark Side of Hollywood (Sudden Fear / The Long Night / Hangmen Also Die / Railroaded / Behind Locked Doors)
Starring: John Ireland , Sheila Ryan , Hugh Beaumont , Jane Randolph , and Ed Kelly
Director: Anthony Mann , Fritz Lang , and David Miller
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000GTJS8A
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Customer Reviews:

Obscure noir.......2007-03-23

The collection Film Noir - The Dark Side of Hollywood boasts on the box cover that it features "Five Classics from the Studio Vaults". It may be a little much to call these films "classics" (no one will ever mistake these movies for such greats as Out of the Past or The Asphalt Jungle), but they are all okay, or in some cases, even good.

The first in the bunch (chronologically speaking) is Hangmen Also Die, a World War II thriller directed by Fritz Lang and based on real events. Brian Donlevy plays a member of the Czech resistance who is responsible for the assassination of Heydrich. Anna Lee gets entangled with him, and soon both are in peril. The Nazis threaten to execute innocent people till the assassin comes forth, including Lee's father. This film is only borderline noir, but it is still good.

Railroaded is a rather standard innocent-man-accused mystery, probably most notable for featuring a pre-Leave It To Beaver Hugh Beaumont as the detective in love with Sheila Ryan even as her brother languishes in jail. John Ireland is effective as the villain in the piece.

The Long Night is the "big name" movie in the set. Directed by Anatole Litvak, it stars Henry Fonda, Barbara Bel Geddes, Vincent Price and a small role for Elisha Cook, Jr. Fonda is holed up in his apartment, surrounded by cops who want to take him in for a murder. The bulk of the movie is a long flashback as to how he got into this spot. Vincent Price is great as a slimy magician, and Bel Geddes is okay in what I believe is her first role (between this movie, Vertigo and 14 Hours - the three movies I've seen her in - I don't think she ever has a normal love relationship with any man). This film is a remake of a French movie and the only DVD with any sort of special features (a video essay on the making of the movie).

Behind Locked Doors is a short (62 minutes) little private eye story with Richard Carlson as a private detective who is recruited by a beautiful reporter to go undercover in a sanitarium where it is believed a crooked judge is hiding out. Of course, the doctor and his assistant are in cahoots with the judge and Carlson soon finds himself trapped "behind locked doors." Probably the most interesting thing about this movie is it has Tor Johnson (of Plan 9 From Outer Space fame) in a role that uses all of his limited acting talents.

Finally, there is Sudden Fear which I feel is the best in the bunch. Joan Crawford is a playwright and heiress who gets actor Jack Palance fired because he doesn't seem like a romantic leading man. When they meet by chance later, she falls for him and they marry, but it turns out he's a better romantic actor than she ever thought; he is actually scheming with an old girlfriend to kill her and get her money. When Crawford finds out by accident, she launches her own counter-scheme. Although this film owes more than a little to Hitchcock's Suspicion, it also goes off in its own direction and does a good job at leaving the viewer guessing about how it all turns out.

As mentioned earlier, there are hardly any extras in this set. Railroaded and Behind Locked Doors are three-star movies, while the others are four-star flicks. I will go with the majority and rate it four stars. These may not be classics, but this set does offer a chance to see some less well-known, decent movies.

Beware noir fans of this Kino rip-off!.......2006-11-22

Kino, which is supposed to have such a big reputation for respecting the art of cinema, has really pulled a fast one on the public with this DVD box set.

They took one of Joan Crawford's greatest noir films "Sudden Fear," plus a really great (and rare) Henry Fonda noir "The Long Night" and totally ruined them. And the other titles in this box set don't come out much better.

Both "Sudden Fear" and "The Long Night" are so inky black until most of the time you can only see the actors' eyes (and that's in bright sunshine). The sound is terrible. Dialogue is so low you have to turn up your TV to full volume to hear anything. Then when the soundtrack music starts, it's usually blasting. So you constantly have to adjust the sound all the way through each movie. And even at that, the dialogue is still flat and hard to understand.

I've bought public domain cheapy DVDs where more care was put into production values. The only thing first class about this Kino box set is the artwork. The rest of this set is pure junk.

I've been ripped off with other Kino titles with Kino's poor production values (and I'll get around to reviewing those soon), but this set wins the prize. Let the buyer beware.

Remastered DVDs?.......2006-09-10

Has anyone heard if this collection from Kino Video,have all been Remastered with better picture & sound? It's a great collection,but not if Kino has done nothing to them...Aloha Craig

5 classic NOIRS from the studio vaults .......2006-07-24

Wow! Great deal! These films retail for $29.95 each. This collection includes great titles from great directors (Fritz Lang, Anthony Mann) and they star some of Hollywood's all time greats like Joan Crawford, Henry Fonda, Jack Palance and many more. Here's a little description for each film:

SUDDEN FEAR (1952) - STARRING JOAN CRAWFORD, JACK PALANCE & GLORIA GRAHAME - DIRECTED BY DAVID MILLER - NOMINATED FOR 4 ACADEMY AWARDS - SYNOPSIS: Joan Crawford turns in one of the most emotionally charged performances of her career as a playwright who must use her plotting skills to save her own life, in this beautifully crafted film noir thriller. On a train headed home to California, Myra Hudson (Crawford) falls in love with, and marries, actor Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) whom she has just fired from her most recent New York play. Back on her San Francisco estate, something evil appears to be lurking just beneath the surface of the couple's idyllic life. Enter Gloria Grahame as Palance's girlfriend (in a stunning performance the New York Times called "hard, brash and sexy."). Soon it is clear that they are after more than new scripts as they greedily scheme for Myra's money. Director David Miller (Lonely Are The Brave) guides the story with supreme confidence, assisted by gorgeous black and white cinematography and an excellent score by Elmer Bernstein, as Sudden Fear races towards its jolting climax. Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Actress (Crawford) and Best Supporting Actor (Palance), Sudden Fear is the unbeatable combination of a lushly produced Joan Crawford melodrama and a drop-dead suspense thriller. They just don't make 'em like this anymore!

THE LONG NIGHT (1947) - STARRING HENRY FONDA, BARBARA BEL GEDDES & VINCENT PRICE - DIRECTED BY ANATOLE LITVAK - SYNOPSIS: An exciting rediscovery from the studio vaults, The Long Night is an emotionally gripping, visually dynamic film noir, in which Henry Fonda, at the peak of his career, delivers an unforgettable performance. Presented in an intricate web of flashbacks, The Long Night follows the fractured thoughts of Joe Adams (Henry Fonda), a factory worker pinned inside his third-floor apartment after gunning down a mysterious, dapper gentleman (Vincent Price). Joe's memories, often containing flashbacks within flashbacks, reconstruct the events leading up to the shooting, revealing his romance with a quiet young girl (Barbara Bel Geddes), his less-romantic involvement with a worn-out showgirl (Ann Dvorak) and the varied twists of fate which drove Joe to murder. In staging this remake of Marcel Carné's Le Jour Se Leve (France, 1939), the producers of The Long Night imported not only the story, but the look of poetic realism that made the original so haunting. At once dismal and magical, the world of The Long Night was unlike anything Hollywood had yet imagined, and laid the groundwork for the dark and gritty (but highly stylized) imagery that became the trademark of film noir.

HANGMEN ALSO DIE (1943) - STARRING BRIAN DONLEVY, ANNA LEE & WALTER BRENNAN - DIRECTED BY FRITZ LANG - NOMINATED FOR 2 ACADEMY AWARDS - SYNOPSIS: Pursued by the Germans after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, Dr. Svobonda (Brian Donlevy) enlists the aid of a young woman (Anna Lee) who is oblivious to the lethal crosscurrents that surround her. As she learns more about the mysterious doctor, she grows aware of the involvement of her father (Walter Brennan) and fiance (Dennis O'Keefe) in the resistance, and soon finds herself entangled in the revolution's secret operations. Much of the nightmarish quality of Hangmen Also Die is attributable to playwright Bertolt Brecht, who co-scripted the film with Lang, and legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe (Hud), who cloaks every conrner in shadow and endows the film with an almost tangible sense of claustrophobia.

RAILROADED (1947) - STARRING JOHN IRELAND, SHEILA RYAN & HUGH BEAUMONT - DIRECTED BY ANTHONY MANN - SYNPOSIS: Anthony Mann, who took the suspense of film noir to dizzying heights with his movies T-Men and Raw Deal, brings his talents to the hard-boiled detective thriller with Railroaded. When a policeman is killed attempting to thwart a holdup, Detective Mickey Ferguson is assigned to the case. The case becomes personal, though, when the kid brother of Mickey's sweetheart is named as the gunman. Determined to find the truth, Mickey goes searching for clues and comes up with notorious gangster Duke Martin, played by John Ireland (Spartacus, Gunfight At The OK Corral). What follows is a blood-and-thunder extravaganza filled with betrayal and suspicions, handguns and hostages, and a climactic nightclub showdown. Mann directs Railroaded with a precision and elegance that betrays its low-budget production, and John Ireland's cold-blooded performance is backed up by a talented (if unknown) cast, including Hugh Beaumont (Ward of television's Leave It To Beaver) and Shelia Ryan

BEHIND LOCKED DOORS (1948) - STARRING RICHARD CARLSON, LUCILLE BREMER & TOR JOHNSON - DIRECTED BY BUDD BOETTICHER (SEVEN MEN FROM NOW) - SYNOPSIS: A shadowy sanitarium provides the claustrophobic stage for sadism, paranoia and murder in this classic film noir from director Budd Boetticher (Tall T, Comanche Station). In a plot that clearly foreshadowed Sam Fuller's Shock Corridor, private detective Ross Stewart (Richard Carlson) checks himself into a mental hospital in an attempt to locate a corrupt judge hiding from justice. But before Stewart can reveal the truth, his true identity is discovered and he becomes a victim of his own ruse. With the help of a deranged punch-drunk ex-prizefighter (Tor Johnson of Plan 9 From Outer Space), the doctors at La Siesta Sanitarium concoct a plan to make Stewart a permanent resident. And the only person who shares Stewart's secret, the only one who can rescue him from certain death, is the scheming woman who sent him there (Lucille Bremer). A bare-bones, low-budget B thriller from Hollywood's "Poverty Row," Behind Locked Doors cleverly compensates for its budgetary limitations by bathing its sets in darkness. This visual spareness is perfectly suited to Boetticher's terse, hard-edged style, making the film a nightmarish ride through the halls of insanity and an ingenious, effective example of American film noir.

The Beautiful, the Bloody, and the Bare / Behind Locked Doors (Something Weird)

Average customer rating:

You want naked women, this DVD has naked women
Mixed Bag

The Beautiful, the Bloody, and the Bare / Behind Locked Doors (Something Weird)
Starring: Jack Jowe , Marlene Denes , Debra Page , Adela Rogers St. Johns , and Tom Signorelli
Director: Sande N. Johnsen , and Charles Romine
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0002EJ7JE
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Product Description

Unnerved after a trip to Northern Italy, Pete Abbott wallows in The Beautiful, The Bloody, and the Bare when he becomes a New York nudie photographer. Trouble is, the color red sometimes so upsets him that he starts killing his models! From the director of Teenage Gang Debs, here's one of the earliest films to mix nudity with then excessive bloodshed to create what would be best called a gory-nudie-cutie. Plus: When their car is deliberately drained of gas, sexy Ann Henderson and semi-lesbian friend Terry Wilson seek help at the house of creepy ex-mortician Dr. Bradley (a dead ringer for Henry Kissinger). But once Behind Locked Doors, the girls instead become the unwilling victims of Bradley's psychotic sex research: "I am looking for the perfect love mate!" Worse, if Ann and Terry don't cooperate, they'll join the women embalmed and on display in Bradley's "memorial exhibition room!" With sordid shocks and skin, here are two psychotic sickies direct from the demented vaults of Drive-In King Harry Novak (Axe)!

System Requirements:

Running Time 145 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

You want naked women, this DVD has naked women.......2005-08-06

In case the titles did not make it clear, this Something Weird DVD offers up another pair of exploitation films from the 1960s, in which we combine nude women with homicidal maniacs. "The Beautiful, the Bloody, and the Bare" (1964) is the first film written and directed by Sande N. Johnsen. Leo runs an art studio where nude models pose for his students, and he takes great pains in the monotonous voiceovers to explain what makes a good model (the key is how smoothly they change positions). Then his friend Peter (Jack Jowe) shows up, fresh from bumming around Europe, and Leo helps out by letting Peter take photographs of models at the studio. But then one model paints her nails red and Peter is on his way to jumping off the deep end.

When television first started and everybody was thrilled by watching a visual medium in the comfort of their own home, one of the earliest shows was "Photographic Horizons," which showed models posing so that viewers at home could take photographs of them right off the screen. This movie reminded me of that, because for most of it there are shots of nude women posing. Then the movie remembers that there is this horror element to it and Peter ends up doing more to his models than taking their pictures. To be fair, Peter is as freaked out by the color red when it is his own blood as when it belongs to anybody else, but you have to think that it is hard to walk through New York City without seeing a lot of red, you know? The credits for this film promise some of New York's top models and you have to agree that the women you see are quite good at their craft.

"Behind Locked Doors" is a 1968 film from producer Harry H. Novak that teaches the rather strange lesson that there things that can happen to a young woman that make almost being raped in a barn seem like a good thing (I am NOT making this up: that is the morale of the story as indicated by the last scene in the film). Ann (Eve Reeves) and Terry (Joyce Danner) are at a barn somewhere in the country where young people are dancing. Ann ends up in the hayloft with this guy who tries to assault her. But then Dr. Bradley (Daniel Garth), a local "bird watcher" who has been ogling the action, intervenes with a pitchfork. When the girls head back to the city their car runs out of gas and they find themselves on Dr. Bradley's doorstep. However, it turns out that he used to be a mortician, but now he is a sex freak who is looking for the perfect playmate. You would not think he would have high standards, but all of his experiments so far have ended up posed nude for eternity in the basement. And Ann thought he was such a nice "older" man.

Obviously, if you are looking for something weird you have come to the right place with these two movies and you can decide for yourself which one fills the bill better. There are plenty of strange things to go around in both films, but "Behind Locked Doors" comes out ahead for me. After all, you have these guys pawing these gals in the hayloft, focusing entirely on getting the women topless, and then totally ignoring their breasts. Then you have Terry, who is locked into a bedroom in a house with a crazy girl who offers his visitors a choice between sex and death, and her reaction is to try and seduce Ann. Of course, the common denominator here is that what is important is what the camera gets to see and not any extraneous notions like plot or characterization. But what else is new in the wonderful world of sexploitation?

As always with Something Weird, they are lots of extras that help to make up for the shortcomings of the main features. The quartet of shorts, labeled as "Lurid stories of Lust," includes: (1) "Part Time Pin-Up," a Barry Mahon short, in which a young woman explains her part time job as a nude model, a "legitimate" job for which she makes $50 for less than two hours of work; (2) "Playgirl Models," a Manuel S. Condo short that really gets into the details of lighting models (really); (3) "Sex Workshop" is a a Nudie Cutie Short that smacks of the worst of vaudeville; and (4) "Sexercises" involves two women in a physical fitness short (not really). The Twisted Trailers include both of the feature films and another seven films including "Tender Flesh," which was originally called "Welcome to Arrow Beach" and starred Laurence Harvey in his last film and a young Meg Foster with the light blue eyes, and Mickey Rooney in "B.J. Lang." Also included are the trailers for "Color Me Blood Red," "Blood Bath," "Pets," "The Sinful Dwarf," and "The Captive Female." Finally, we have a Gallery of Harry Novak Exploitation Art with Soundtrack Greatest Hits and a Gallery of Harry Novak Exploitation Photography.

Mixed Bag.......2004-09-21

It's hard to go wrong with the Something Weird line of DVDs. They cram so much material onto one DVD that it's a bargain by any standards. This one is a decided mixed bag. I bought it primarily for the "Behind Locked Doors" feature. I discovered this movie accidently in 1989 when a video store owner I knew was selling the videotape off at a discount price. I had never heard of the movie before, but I loved it. Completely zany, illogical, and bizarre. The acting is abysmal, the plot absurd...and yet, despite such deficiencies, it still manages to exert a quirky, even hypnotic spell all its own. Apparently filmed somewhere in upstate NY during the mid or late 1960's, I find myself wondering as I watch it compulsively yet again- is that house still standing? Are these actors still alive and, if so, what are they doing now? Do they ever acknowledge that they appeared in this? Is that field still in existence or is it a housing development by now? As for the 1st movie...the less said, the better. But, in spite of my own better judgement, here goes...It also suffers from horrible, wooden acting, writing, directing, etc., but its most egregious failing, its most unpardonable sin, is that it's BORING! It doesn't have the wacky, redemptive qualities of an Ed Wood script or the cartoonish violence of a Hershell Gordon Lewis to stave off total numbness or actors so flagrantly awful that they're fascinating to watch in spite of themselves. Even the plentiful nudity doesn't work. Indeed, I think it might prove soporific even to a 14-year old boy entering the heat of adoloscence. In fact, outside of a few scenes filmed on NY streets circa 1964, there's absolutely nothing to recommend about this film. So, buy the DVD for "Behind Locked Doors" and the added features. Like I said, you really can't go wrong with the Something Weird line. If one thing doesn't grab you, something else will.

Average customer rating:

"I've told you a dozen times not to abuse the patients."
Short and Sweet B-Movie Thriller.
What kind of a joint is this?
Interesting grade B thriller
MINIMALIST GEM OF A THRILLER

Behind Locked Doors
Starring: Lucille Bremer , Richard Carlson , Douglas Fowley , Ralf Harolde , and Thomas Browne Henry
Director: Budd Boetticher
Manufacturer: Kino Video
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ASIN: 6305950695
Release Date: 2000-07-18

Customer Reviews:

"I've told you a dozen times not to abuse the patients.".......2006-05-16

In the noir film "Behind Locked Doors", intrepid newspaperwoman Kathy Lawrence (Lucille Bremer) suspects that a corrupt, fugitive judge is hiding from the police inside La Siesta Sanatorium. Undeterred, and determined to get her story--and the $10,000 reward for the judge's capture--she employs private investigator Ross Stewart (Richard Carlson) to go undercover as a patient. Naturally, Ross doesn't relish the assignment, but he needs the money--desperately--and he's also attracted to Kathy.

Posing as husband and wife, Kathy takes Ross to a psychiatrist, and Ross is diagnosed as a manic-depressive. Kathy requests that he's admitted to La Siesta Sanatorium, and there he's supposed to find the judge amongst the patient population. Getting into the mental institution proves to be the easiest part of Ross's assignment. Once there he has to deal with the complexities of the other patients, and the sadistic warder Larson (Douglas Fowley).

While "Behind Locked Doors" is a definite B noir film, it's still refreshing entertainment for noir fans. One of the most intriguing parts of the film is the deranged Neanderthal ex-boxer (Tor Johnson) known as "The Champ" who resides in the dreaded LOCKED WARD where the "Violents" are housed. By using operant conditioning Larson has made "The Champ" into a human pet. This is obviously a low budget film, but the film capitalizes on small sets, clear characterizations and a tight plot. Directed by ex-boxer Budd Boetticher, "Behind Locked Doors" is a B film treat for noir fans--displacedhuman

Short and Sweet B-Movie Thriller........2005-07-06

At just over an hour long, "Behind Locked Doors" is a short B-movie that would have played as part of a double bill in the 1948. Now it seems barely longer than a television episode, but its style is decidedly cinematic. Investigative reporter Kathy Lawrence (Lucille Bremer) has tracked a disgraced judge, Finlay Drake (Herbert Hayes), to a private mental hospital where he is hiding from the police. To get proof of Drake's whereabouts, Kathy enlists the aid of private detective Ross Stewart (Richard Carlson) in infiltrating the sanatarium. In exchange for half of the $5,000 reward for Drake's capture, Stewart poses as a mental patient and is committed to the asylum. The plan seems simple enough until Stewart discovers that he is in real danger. The sanatarium is ruled by a sadistic, abusive attendant named Larson (Douglas Fowley) whose suspicions are aroused by Stewart's snooping.

"Behind Locked Doors" is sometimes categorized as "film noir", but this is a thriller without any implication of noir except perhaps its claustrophobia. It does showcase several elements common to film noir and to 1940s cinema in general: low key lighting and night scenes enabled by improving film technology, confinement, and the prevalence of psychology -although this film doesn't take psychology seriously. "Behind Locked Doors" isn't a great film, but I was surprised by how really entertaining it is. It's short, predictable, and has elements of suspense and romantic comedy. The characters don't have depth, but they have enough pluck to keep the audience interested. Kathy is a no-nonsense, ambitious, career woman with a sense of humor. Ross is smitten with her, even as he has gotten himself locked in a looney bin. Don't expect the sophistication of film noir, but director Oscar Boetticher made "Behind Locked Doors" a captivating little film. 3 1/2 stars. The Kino Video (2000) DVD has an acceptable print but no bonus features.

What kind of a joint is this?.......2004-08-01

There's something spare and muscular about Budd Boetticher's 1948 BEHIND LOCKED DOORS. Storytelling without any frills or ruffles, I guess you could say. A lean 62-minute, Poverty Row thriller that Kino International files under "film noir" because, well, noir sells. And because any film with deep shadows and venetian blinds can pass nowadays. Besides, you have to justify a rather inflated price for a video that contains nothing else besides the movie and chapter selections.
Boetticher is better known for the westerns he directed in the 50s with the likes of Audie Murphy and Robert Ryan and, especially, Randolph Scott. Boetticher's westerns are currently unavailable on dvd and this is my first exposure to his work. If they were available I'd certainly put them at the top of the queue. On the basis of BEHIND LOCKED DOORS I've filed Boetticher under "storytelling genius."
BEHIND LOCKED DOORS stars Lucille Bremer as an enterprising and ambitious reporter who is convinced a crooked judge is hiding out in a private sanitarium. Richard Carlson (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON) plays private investigator Ross Stewart, who is convinced by the beautiful young reporter to pretend to be her husband and allow himself to be committed and do a little snooping inside the sanitarium. As further inducement, there's a $10,000 reward for the person who discovers the elusive jurist.
Lucille Bremer sang and danced with Fred Astaire in a couple of MGM musicals (YOLANDA AND THE THIEF, ZIEGFIELD FOLLIES) before, apparently, MGM dropped her contract in the mid-1940s. She made three films for the Poverty Row production company Eagle-Lion Films in 1948 before retiring, that same year, at the age of 31. BEHIND LOCKED DOORS was her last movie. Her film career lasted less than a decade, and according to The Film Encyclopedia Ms. Bremer ran a child's clothes shop after retirement. Her and co-star Carlson have an easy, wise-cracking chemistry.
Keep your eyes open for Tor Johnson (PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) as the hulking, ex-boxer inmate and target of the delightfully sadistic attendant Larson (Douglas Fowley.)
Although you can probably find a copy of BEHIND LOCKED DOORS for less than the listed retail price, considering the asking price it's hard to give this great film five stars. The print and sound quality are good.

Interesting grade B thriller.......2003-04-20

It seems like everything done in black and white in the forties, unless there was some singing and dancing in it, is now a film noir. (Well, excluding Olivier's 1949 Hamlet, I suppose.) When this "Poverty Row" production came out in 1948 I'm sure it was billed as a mystery/suspense tale, but never mind. "Film noir" is now a growth industry.

There's a gumshoe, Ross Stewart played by Richard Carlson, whom I recall most indelibly as Herbert A. Philbrick of TV's cold war espionage series "I Led Three Lives" from the fifties when HUAC had us all looking under our beds for commies. Lucille Bremer, near the end (which was also near the beginning) of a very modest filmland career, co-stars as Kathy Lawrence, a newspaper woman with a story idea. She needs a private eye to do the investigative dirty work.

Ross Stewart has just hung out his gumshoe shingle and had the frosted glass door of his office lettered and is paying the painter when Kathy Lawrence shows up. (I love all the private eye movies which begin with the dame showing up at the PI's office needing help. So logical, so correct; so like a noir "Once upon a time.") She wants him to pretend to be insane so that she can get him committed to a private sanitarium where she believes a corrupted judge is hiding, thus the locked doors in the title.

What I liked about this is the way the low-budget production meshed with the gloomy and aptly named "La Siesta Sanitarium," the scenes shot in rather dim light giving everything a kind of shady appearance. The story itself and the direction by Oscar "Budd" Boetticher defines "pedestrian," but there is a curious and authentic period piece feel to the movie that can't be faked. Postmodern directors wanting to capture late-forties, early fifties L.A. atmosphere would do well to take a look at this tidy 62-minute production.

Tor Johnson, the original "hulk" (perhaps) plays a dim-witted but violent punch drunk ex-fighter who is locked in a padded cell. He comes to life when the fire extinguisher outside his door is sadistically "rung" by one of the attendants with his keys, thereby springing the hulk into shadow boxing imaginary opponents. Could it be that he will get a live one later on...?

See this for Richard Carlson who made a fine living half a century ago playing the lead or supporting roles in a slew of low budget mystery, horror and sci fi pictures, most notably perhaps The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

MINIMALIST GEM OF A THRILLER.......2002-01-03

Ever say, "Everyone here's crazy but me"? Then you'll love this frightening, minimalist, low budget and very claustrophobic 1948 thriller.

Detective Richard Carlson checks himself into an asylum in an attempt to find a crooked judge hiding from justice. But before he can nail the judge, his identity is uncovered and he becomes a prisoner of his own scheme. And the only person who can rescue him is the double crossing woman who sent him there! A hard-edged, bare-bones thriller from director Budd Boetticher ("The Killer is Loose," "Comanche Station," "Bullfighter And The Lady") who would later gain fame from a series of stark, existential westerns ("The Tall T," "Ride Lonesome," "Seven Men From Now" etc.) starring damaged, moral loner Randolph Scott adrift in an ambiguous amoral environment.

Personal note: In the 70's I got to know the late Budd Boetticher as a friend. We'd go riding in Griffith Park on his Andalusians and we made several trips to Mexico where he still practiced his dangerous and beloved craft of fighting bulls from horseback. In life and in films, he seemed obsessed with playing out the role of male antagonist in constant battle with his surroundings. Boetticher preceded director Sam Peckinpah in themes that made the latter famous. Boetticher was the real thing. It's great to see this early gem available on DVD. (Full Screen, B&W, 68 minutes, Not Rated.)

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Das Mittelalter - eine geheimnisvolle Welt, Teil 2 : Die Rei