Behind Locked Doors
Encyclopedia
Behind Locked Doors is a 1948 black-and-white
B-movie
starring Lucille Bremer
. The movie, directed by Budd Boetticher
, runs a scant 63 minutes. The film also stars Richard Carlson
and features Tor Johnson
(uncredited) as 'The Champ'.
in search of a judge who is hiding out from the police. The detective was hired by a pretty reporter who is sure the judge is hiding out in the private sanitarium. The reporter and P.I. begin to fall in love as well as falling more and more into danger from abusive attendants and other guests of the asylum. Other inmates include an arsonist patient and 'The Champ', a man who attacks anyone put into a room with him.
, Doors suffers in comparison; Fuller made transcendent B-movies, and this isn't one. In just about every other respect, however, it's everything it should be: fast-paced, stylishly shot, a little lurid, a little topical, and thoroughly entertaining."
When asked about the similarity of his film's story to the earlier film, director Sam Fuller pointed out that both scripts were based on a newspaper incident in the 1940s. (Fuller had been a newspaper reporter at the time.)
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
starring Lucille Bremer
Lucille Bremer
Lucille Bremer was an American film actress and dancer.Bremer was born in Amsterdam, New York and began her career as a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, aged 16. Bremer, along with fellow stars Vera-Ellen and June Allyson, appeared as a 'Pony Girl' in the Broadway musical Panama...
. The movie, directed by Budd Boetticher
Budd Boetticher
Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Jr. was a film director during the classical period in Hollywood most famous for the series of low-budget Westerns he made in the late 1950s starring Randolph Scott.Known for their sparse style, dramatic rocky locations near Lone Pine, California, and recurring stories of...
, runs a scant 63 minutes. The film also stars Richard Carlson
Richard Carlson
Richard Carlson was an American actor, television and film director, and screenwriter.-Career:Born in Albert Lea, Minnesota, Carlson graduated from the University of Minnesota with an M.A. degree, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. He later appeared on the Broadway stage in the 1930s after studying...
and features Tor Johnson
Tor Johnson
Tor Johansson , better known by the stage name Tor Johnson, was a Swedish professional wrestler and actor....
(uncredited) as 'The Champ'.
Plot
A private detective goes undercover in an asylumPsychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
in search of a judge who is hiding out from the police. The detective was hired by a pretty reporter who is sure the judge is hiding out in the private sanitarium. The reporter and P.I. begin to fall in love as well as falling more and more into danger from abusive attendants and other guests of the asylum. Other inmates include an arsonist patient and 'The Champ', a man who attacks anyone put into a room with him.
Reception
Reviews for the movie when released on DVD in 2002 were mixed. Keith Phipps, writing for the Onion AV Club, wrote of the film, "A probable inspiration for Sam Fuller's Shock CorridorShock Corridor
Shock Corridor is a 1963 film, directed and written by Samuel Fuller. The film tells the story of a journalist who gets himself committed to a mental hospital in order to track an unsolved murder.-Plot:...
, Doors suffers in comparison; Fuller made transcendent B-movies, and this isn't one. In just about every other respect, however, it's everything it should be: fast-paced, stylishly shot, a little lurid, a little topical, and thoroughly entertaining."
When asked about the similarity of his film's story to the earlier film, director Sam Fuller pointed out that both scripts were based on a newspaper incident in the 1940s. (Fuller had been a newspaper reporter at the time.)