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Best known for his role as "Boston Blackie," Chester Morris plays a cold-blooded killer in the original version of a story, later filmed as The Dark Past, which explores the psychological causes for psychopathic behavior in a fascinating and unusually complex crime/suspense film for its time. Ralph Bellamy plays the sympathetic psychologist Dr. Shelby, whose quiet weekend in the country is disrupted by a group of thugs, including an escaped convict (Morris) and his gun-moll gal (Ann Dvorak). The doctor senses that the brutal murderer is tormented by something buried deeply in his subconscious, and decides to probe the mind of the man to try to give him answers and protect the lives of his wife, young son and weekend guests. Using innovative photographic techniques and faith in science, the film dramatizes the interplay between childhood imagination and experience, and the adult subconscious mind, while making the suggestion that environment is a strong determiner of psychological stability. Director Charles Vidor (Gilda) brought this fascinating, ahead-of-its-time subject matter to the screen. Newly remastered.
Original Release
05/11/1939
US Release
05/11/1939
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Chester Morris | Hal Wilson |
Ralph Bellamy | Dr. Shelby |
Ann Dvorak | Mary |
Joan Perry | Linda Curtis |
Melville Cooper | George Curtis |
Rose Stradner | Doris Shelby |
John Eldredge | Dick Holbrook (as John Eldridge) / Dick Holbrook |
Ann Doran | Agnes |
Marc Lawrence | Buck |
Stanley Brown | Fred Landis |
Directors
Writers
Philip MacDonald, Michael Blankfort, Albert Duffy, James Warwick, Lewis Meltzer
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Chester Morris | Hal Wilson |
Ralph Bellamy | Dr. Shelby |
Ann Dvorak | Mary |
Joan Perry | Linda Curtis |
Melville Cooper | George Curtis |
Rose Stradner | Doris Shelby |
John Eldredge | Dick Holbrook (as John Eldridge) / Dick Holbrook |
Ann Doran | Agnes |
Marc Lawrence | Buck |
Stanley Brown | Fred Landis |
Scotty Beckett | Davy / Davy Shelby |
Milburn Stone | Nick |
Marie Blake | Harriet |
Eddie Acuff | State Trooper Stopping Fred |
James Craig | Joe |
Dick Curtis | Trooper with Joe |
Ralph Dunn | Trooper Cronin |
John Hamilton | Warden |
Grady Sutton | Holmes |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Jack Fier | Producer |
Fred Kohlmar | Producer |