Shock

(1946)

70 minutes

Crime Drama / Film Noir / Thriller

Directed by Alfred L. Werker

Cast:

Vincent Price as Dr. Richard Cross 
Lynn Bari as Nurse Elaine Jordan 
Frank Latimore as Lt. Paul Stewart 
Anabel Shaw as Mrs. Janet Stewart 
Stephen Dunne as Dr. Stevens 
Reed Hadley as District Attorney O'Neill 
Renee Carson as Miss Hatfield, Head Nurse 
Charles Trowbridge as Dr. H.J. Harvey 

This post-World War II suspense thriller sets off an emotional roller coaster after the psychologically fragile wife of a POW (Anabel Shaw) witnesses a brutal murder from a hotel window while waiting to be reunited with her husband (Frank Latimer).  By the time he arrives, she's nearly comatose with shock.  The hotel's psychiatrist (Vincent Price) is called in to help.  Janet Stewart is in a coma after she witnessed her neighbor killing his wife with a candlestick from her window. Dr. Cross is the psychiatrist taking care of Janet and making sure she comes out of the shock. When she wakes up from her coma, she identifies Dr. Cross as the murderer. His nurse and mistress, Elaine Jordan convinces him to give her kill her with a high amount of insulin. He does not want to kill her and tells Elaine to get the medicine to undo the insulin. She denies his order and begins to fight with him. He ends up suffocating her and brings Janet back to life. Now he has to deal with two deaths.

Film noir classic, noted for its dark themes, stark camera angles and high-contrast lighting.