BEHIND LOCKED DOORS

Portrait of evil: Douglas Fowley

BEHIND LOCKED DOORS (1948). Director: Budd Boetticher.

Reporter Kathy Lawrence (Lucille Bremer) importunes new private eye Ross Stewart (Richard Carlson) to work with her to find a missing corrupt judge whose capture will net them $5000 a piece. The only problem is that Ross will have to get himself committed to the La Siesta sanitarium where Kathy is sure the judge is hiding. Once inside the institution, Ross discovers there's more corruption and danger than  he ever anticipated. Carlson is fine as the flip, overly insouciant private eye who discovers some situations are more serious than others, and Bremer [Till the Clouds Roll By] is okay, but the most striking performance is from Douglas Fowley [He's a Cockeyed Wonder] as the sadistic and utterly evil attendant, Larson. Thomas Browne Henry is fine as the head of the institution and there's nice work from Ralf Harolde [Night Nurse] as Dobbs, another, nicer attendant. A fully grown Dicke Moore plays a young patient who is actually Dobbs' son. John Holland plays a state psychiatrist, Kathleen Freeman has a bit as a nurse, and Tor Johnson plays another inmate who tries to box Carlson to bits in the film's liveliest sequence. I don't know if Behind Locked Doors was the first film to use the premise of a sane man feigning mental illness to get inside an institution for some purpose, but in the early sixties two movies followed suit. In Sam Fuller's Shock Corridor a reporter hopes to win a Pulitzer and Shock Treatment presents a guy whose intention is to get information about some missing moolah. This movie is barely an hour long.

Verdict: Snappy B thriller with a highly sinister Fowley. ***.

NIGHT NURSE

NIGHT NURSE (1931). Director: William A. Wellman.

"For a beginner, you're not doin' so bad."

Lora Hart (Barbara Stanwyck) wants to be a nurse more than anything, but after initial discouragement is accepted as a probationer in a hospital. Upon graduation, she is assigned to be a nurse to two little girls with serious health issues, as well as a seriously alcoholic and uncaring mother (Charlotte Merriam) -- "I'm a dipsomaniac and I'm proud of it!" she screams. Worse still is the sinister doctor in charge (Ralf Harolde), who seems to be conspiring with, of all people, the chauffeur, Nick (Clark Gable in a small but vital role). A strong, forthright and entirely admirable person, Lora goes to the head of the hospital, Dr. Bell (Charles Winninger), but discovers that "ethics" prevent him from interfering despite the danger to the children. Stanwyck gives another impressive performance as Lora, and has some terrific scenes when, concerned about the little girls, confronts both doctors and especially the deplorable mother, going so far as to knock the woman to the ground! Joan Blondell is her customary good self as another saucy nurse, Gable is swell, and there are good supporting performances from Winninger, Merriam, Harolde, Blanche Frederici as a housekeeper, Vera Lewis as the mostly grim superintendent of nurses, and Ben Lyon as the bootlegger and romantic interest, Mortie. [One can't help but wonder why Lora doesn't just pack up those kids and take them to the nearest emergency room instead of giving one of them a milk bath!]

Verdict: A little absurd but entertaining. ***.