Stuart Whitman, Roddy McDowall & Lauren Bacall in "Shock Treatment" (1964)
Martin Ashley (Roddy McDowall), a mentally ill gardener, decapitates his boss, the wealthy Mrs. Townsend, with a pair of garden shears. He subsequently turns himself in to the police, is found insane, and is sent to a mental institution ruled by psychiatrist Dr. Edwina Beighle (Lauren Bacall).
Mrs. Townsend's executor, Harley Manning (Judson Laire), is suspicious of Ashley and hires actor Dale Nelson (Stuart Whitman) to simulate madness and land himself in the same institution. Manning's hope is for Dale to locate a million dollars in stolen loot that Ashley might have hidden. Nelson becomes acquainted with Cynthia Lee Albright (Carol Lynley), a patient in the hospital, and develops a personal interest in her.
Dr. Beighley uses hypnosis on Ashley and learns of a million dollars he supposedly has buried. She is desperate for money to continue her work. She also comes to realize that Dale is not who or what he seems to be. She orders an electroconvulsive therapy treatment on him as a means of torture, and then confronts him with her suspicions after he regains consciousness. He denies her accusations and threatens to blackmail her for administering the treatment. She responds to his threat by injecting him with drugs that leave him in states of catatonia.
Late one night, Martin and Dr. Beighley are discovered digging a hole near the old Townsend estate. In the box Ashley has buried is nothing but the ashes of money he has burned. Martin snaps at Dr. Beighley, who is angry with him over the burnt funds, and he attacks her; however, Dale intervenes and stops him from killing her. Dr. Beighley's desperation for the money sends her into a state of delusion, and she is determined to recover the money, believing it to be buried somewhere on the estate. Unable to free herself of the delusion, she succumbs to madness and is herself institutionalized, while Dale and Cynthia are discharged.
A 1964 American black & white neo noir drama film directed by Denis Sanders, produced by Aaron Rosenberg, screenplay by Sydney Boehm, based on the novel of the same name by Winfred Van Atta, cinematography by Sam Leavitt, starring Stuart Whitman, Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Ossie Davis, and Lauren Bacall. Final film of Douglass Dumbrille.
Darryl F. Zanuck Productions’ purchased the motion picture rights for the 1961 novel by Winfred Van Atta. Zanuck’s son, Richard, was to produce, and director Alfred Hitchcock was interested in collaborating on the project with the elder Zanuck. Anthony Perkins reportedly campaigned for role that went to Stuart Whitman.
This offbeat melodrama was one of many films dealing with insane killers in the wake of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960). Lauren Bacall disliked the film intensely calling it the worst of her career despite its cult following in later years.
Not a year earlier, Samuel Fuller had helmed the hit "Shock Corridor" (1963) for Allied Artists, with a similar title and premise. But this movie has more big laughs in it - macabre, jet-black ones - than most pictures openly billed as comedies. From the opening sequence - where McDowall's cracked gardener beheads an old woman with a pair of hedgeclippers and later informs officers that he spent the next two hours doing her makeup - the film declares its willingness to be outrageous, and repeatedly goes over the top so often that it begins to play as a devilishly clever genre satire in the vein of "Beat the Devil" (1953) and "The Long Goodbye" (1973). Alongside the humor, though, this film also works with surprising effectiveness as a legitimate thriller, drawing the premise of a sane man (Stuart Whitman) trapped in a mental institution, and hooked on the outcome of the character's attempted escape. Sanders plays his hand well, building the suspense to a taut level as he only gradually reveals to us just how encaged Whitman's character has become by the administrator of the local insane asylum (Lauren Bacall). What emerges from the union of elements in this movie is a rarity. A slightly tongue-in-cheek shocker that goes a long way toward redeeming the idea of watching what is basically trashy exploitation. Sanders may build the picture from sleazy tabloid material, but he keeps the material buoyant and entertaining, enabling us to watch it without feeling depressed or debauched. Also to the movie's credit, the lead actors deliver first class performances across the board. This is particularly true of Bacall - a bit past her prime in 1964 -- who should be lauded for playing B-grade material so effectively. Equally impressive are Ossie Davis, as a kindly mental patient, and Carol Lynley, who shines in a sweet and sympathetic role as a troubled young girl who becomes romantically involved with Whitman's character. Lynley's fans might take note of this little picture; it isn't nearly as well known or as critically championed as her picture "Bunny Lake Is Missing" (1965), but on a cruder, coarser level, this is a much more enjoyable outing.