''The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'' is a 1938 American

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

directed by

Anatole Litvak Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Литвак; 21 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), better known as Anatole Litvak, was a Ukrainian-born American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in vari ...

and starring

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

Claire Trevor Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...

and

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

. It was distributed by Warner Bros. and written by John Wexley and

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

, based on the 1936 play '' The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'', the first play written by short-story writer Barré Lyndon, which ran for three months on Broadway with

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

IBD
The Amazing Dr. Clittterhouse
/ref> after playing in London.

Plot

Dr. Clitterhouse is a wealthy society physician in New York City who decides to research the medical aspects of the behavior of criminals directly by becoming one. He begins a series of daring jewel robberies, measuring his own blood pressure, temperature and pulse before, during and afterwards, but yearns for a larger sample for his study. From one of his patients, Police Inspector Lewis Lane, he learns the name of the biggest

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length. ...

in the city, Joe Keller. He goes to meet Keller to sell what he has stolen, only to find out that "Joe" is actually "Jo". The doctor impresses Jo and a gang of thieves headed by 'Rocks' Valentine with his exploits, so Jo invites him to join them, and he accepts. Dr. Clitterhouse pretends to take a six-week vacation in Europe. As "The Professor", he proceeds to wrest leadership of the gang (and the admiration of Jo) away from Rocks, making him extremely resentful. When they rob a fur warehouse, Rocks locks his rival in a cold-storage vault, but Clitterhouse is freed by Butch, a gang member that Jo had assigned to keep watch on him. Afterwards, Clitterhouse announces he is quitting; he has enough data from studying the gang during their robberies, and his "vacation" time is up. He returns the gang to Rocks's control. Rocks learns Dr. Clitterhouse's real identity and shows up at his

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...

office. Rocks tries to

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

the doctor into using his office as a safehouse as they rob the doctor's own wealthy friends. Clitterhouse learns that Rocks will not let him publish his incriminating research, and also realizes that he has not studied the ultimate crime – murder – which will be the final chapter to his book. So, he gives a poisoned drink to Rocks, and he studies his symptoms as he dies. Jo helps dispose of the body in the river, but it is recovered and the poison is detected by the police. The doctor is ultimately caught by his friend, Inspector Lane, and placed on trial. He insists that he did everything for purely scientific reasons and claims that his book is a "sane book" and that it is "impossible for an insane man to write a sane book". His determination to show that he is sane, and therefore willing to face the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

, convinces the jury to find him not guilty by reason of insanity.

Cast

as ''Dr. Clitterhouse'' *

as ''Jo Keller'' *

as "Rocks" Valentine *

Allen Jenkins Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. Life and career Jenkins was born on Staten Island, New York, on April 9, 1900. ...

as ''Okay'' *

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...

as Police Inspector Lewis Lane *

Gale Page Gale Page (born Sally Perkins Rutter July 29, 1910 – January 8, 1983) was an American singer and actress. Early life Page was the daughter of R.L. and Isabel (Gale) Rutter of Spokane. Her aunt and uncle were Elizabeth Gale Page and Mil ...

as ''Nurse Randolph'' *

Henry O'Neill Henry O'Neill (August 10, 1891 – May 18, 1961) was an American film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s. Early years He was born in Orange, New Jersey. Caree ...

as Judge *

John Litel John Beach Litel (December 30, 1892 – February 3, 1972) was an American film and television actor. Early life Litel was born in Albany, Wisconsin. During World War I, he enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery. Ba ...

as ''Mr. Monroe'', the prosecuting attorney *

Thurston Hall Ernest Thurston Hall (May 10, 1882 – February 20, 1958) was an American film, stage and television actor.Aylesworth, Thomas G. and Bowman, John S. (1987). ''The World Almanac Who's Who of Film''. World Almanac. . Pp. 186-187. Career Stag ...

as ''Grant'' *

Maxie Rosenbloom Max Everitt Rosenbloom (November 6, 1906 – March 6, 1976) was an American professional boxer, actor, and television personality. Nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie", he was inducted into '' The Ring's'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972, the International Je ...

as ''Butch'' *Burt Hanlon as Pat ("Pal") *

Curt Bois Curt Bois (born Kurt Boas; April 5, 1901 – December 25, 1991) was a German actor with a career spanning over 80 years. He is best remembered for his performances as the pickpocket in ''Casablanca'' (1942) and the poet Homer in ''Wings of Desi ...

as ''Rabbit'' *

Ward Bond Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series ''Wagon Train'' from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Be ...

as Tug *

Vladimir Sokoloff Vladimir Aleksandrovich Sokoloff (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Соколо́в; December 26, 1889 – February 15, 1962) was a Russian-American character actor of stage and screen. After studying theatre in Moscow, ...

as Popus ("Poopus") *Billy Wayne as Candy * Robert Homans as ''Lt. Johnson'' *

Irving Bacon Irving Bacon (born Irving Von Peters; September 6, 1893 – February 5, 1965) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 500 films. Early years Bacon was the son of entertainers Millar Bacon and Myrtle Vane. He was born in St. Jos ...

as Foreman of jury The-Amazing-Dr-Clitterhouse-Stage-1937

Cast notes *

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

's voice can be heard as a radio announcer, a job that Reagan held before he started as a film actor. *Max "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom was a boxer who converted his fame in the ring into a film career playing Runyonesque characters. *

Susan Hayward Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories. After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...

had a part in the film, but her scenes were deleted.

Production

Barré Lyndon's play, '' The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'', had been a success in London, and was produced on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

– where it opened on March 2, 1937 with

in the lead, and ran for 80 performances, closing in May – in association with Warner Bros., but the studio had difficulty obtaining the movie rights even so, since Lyndon retained control of them. Carl Laemmle Jr., Paramount and MGM all bid for the rights, and Laemmle bought them for over $50,000. He then turned them around and sold them to Warners in return for the loan of

Paul Muni Paul Muni (born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund; September 22, 1895– August 25, 1967) was an American stage and film actor who grew up in Chicago. Muni was a five-time Academy Award nominee, with one win. He started his acting career in ...

for another adaptation of ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', a film that was never made. Producer Robert Lord originally wanted

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Cinema of the United States, ...

to play the part of Dr. Clitterhouse. The film was in production from late February to early April 1938 at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank.TC
Overview
/ref> ''Clitterhouse'' was only Anatole Litvak's second film for Warners.

Response

''The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'' premiered in New York on July 20, 1938, and went into general American release on July 30. It was mostly well received. The review in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "an unquestionable winner" and said that "Robinson...is at his best" and "Bogart's interpretation of the gangster chief...is topflight."Tatara, Paul (ndg
"The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse" (TCM article)
/ref> Humphrey Bogart later said that the role of "Rocks" Valentine was one of his least favorite. Robinson and Bogart made five films together: ''

Bullets or Ballots ''Bullets or Ballots'' is a 1936 American gangster film starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane, and Humphrey Bogart. Robinson plays a police detective who infiltrates a crime gang. This is the first of several films featuri ...

'' (1936), ''

Kid Galahad ''Kid Galahad'' is a 1962 American musical film starring Elvis Presley as a boxer. It was released by United Artists in August 1962 and opened at #9 at the American box office. ''Variety'' ranked it #37 on its list of the top-grossing films of 19 ...

'' (1937) with

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...

, ''The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse'' (1938), ''

Brother Orchid ''Brother Orchid'' is a 1940 American crime/ comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern and Humphrey Bogart, with featured performances by Donald Crisp, Ralph Bellamy and Allen Jenkins. The screenplay was wr ...

'' (1940) and ''

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by ...

'' (1948) with

Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary ...

and

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931 ...

. ''Key Largo'' was a reunion of Robinson, Claire Trevor and Bogart from ''The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse''.

References

External links

* * * *
1953 radio adaptation of original play
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, The 1938 films 1938 crime films American black-and-white films American crime films American films based on plays Films directed by Anatole Litvak Films set in New York City American gangster films Warner Bros. films Films with screenplays by John Huston 1930s English-language films 1930s American films