Zum Leben verdammt

The plot to "Among the Living" is silly and impossible to believe. However, it does appear to be the inspiration for an episode of "The Simpsons"--the one where Bart discovers that he has an identical 'evil' twin who's been locked in the attic for many years! Homer and Marge feed Hugo fish heads and have kept his existence a secret for years! Who would have thought a film would have dared have such a bizarro plot?!

When the film begins, the family patriarch dies and his son John (Albert Dekker) arrives for the funeral. Little does John know that his identical brother, Paul (also Dekker), is STILL alive and did not die as a small child. The family doctor (Harry Carey) divulges the family secret to John...Paul is still alive and insane and has been kept hidden in a secret room in the family mansion! Coincidentally, at this same time, Paul kills his keeper and escapes! Now two identical looking guys are running about town...and one is on occasion unpredictable and homicidal. So it's up to the Doctor and John to try to find Paul...however the heartless Doctor soon tries to stop John from contacting the police by threatening to destroy him! However, Paul is not intend with only killing his keeper...and the bodies start piling up in town. And, soon John is assumed to be the crazed killer by mistake!

As I mentioned above, the plot for this one is just insane...so you really have to suspend disbelief in order to watch this one. Despite this, I did enjoy Dekker's performance as he played both characters, particularly Paul, quite well. Goofy and still very watchable.

Sharp, tightly paced low budget film is hard to categorize. There are definitely noirish tendencies but it's not a full blown film noir, there are also elements of horror contained within but neither is a horror movie. Even as a hybrid of different genres it is very involving and uses it short running time to full effect, actually so effective that it received quite a lot of critical attention in its day for a lower budget release and helped move its leading lady's career forward.

Speaking of the leading lady the film is also a study of two stars in flight. Susan Hayward whose full fledged stardom was still a few years away was still definitely on her way up, Frances Farmer, whose part is small, was most definitely on the descent. At one time considered an actress with the brightest of futures this was her second to last picture before descending into a decades long hell of mental illness and involuntary confinement.

The real standout though is Albert Dekker in a dual role of very different twin brothers. An excellent character actor who met a grisly end he rarely had the opportunity of the leading role but he takes his chance here and makes the most of it. His body language and vocal inflections makes the two characters recognizably different men and their struggles relatable. Not readily available and hard to find its definitely worth the effort to seek out.

... 1941 that is. It boasts fine photography and a great score. It's part horror tale, part noir. John Raden returns for the funeral of Maxim Raden, his father and owner of all of the mills around town. It's obvious from the remarks of the average citizens outside the cemetery gates that their collective sentiment is good riddance.

Dr. Ben Saunders (Harry Carey) then reveals to John a terrible secret he's been keeping - that 25 years ago he forged a death certificate for John's identical twin brother Paul. Paul had become mentally disturbed and Maxim moved into a hotel in town and kept the insane Paul locked up in a room at Radin mansion with kindly and loyal servant Pompey as his keeper. Paul became disturbed probably due to a head injury received when his father threw him across the room when Paul came to his mother's rescue during one of the beatings Maxim was giving her. What did Dr. Saunders get in return? Maxim Radin endowed his clinic, but with Paul recently turning more violent, both Saunders' psychological and actual burden have become heavier and heavier. John, sent away to school before any of this happened, had no knowledge of any of this up until now.

Well, Paul kills Pompey, escapes his room, and finds some money at his father's grave. (It was unclear to me what money was doing there.) With this money and his misleading mostly gentle child-like demeanor he manages to rent a room in a rooming house and attract the attentions of the landlady's daughter (Susan Hayward as Millie Pickens). Millie teaches Paul to blend in - helps him find new clothes, gets him to shave - and now the town has an unpredictable homicidal maniac in its midst who only acts homicidal when the urge to kill strikes him but doesn't look the least bit out of place. Meanwhile, John Raden cannot convince Saunders to call the police because he doesn't want to lose the clinic he's worked so hard for. Of course the fact that the townspeople think Paul is dead and Paul and John are identical twins will eventually figure into this plot, but I'll let you watch and see how.

Albert Dekker does a great job of playing the dual role of sophisticated good guy John and child-like insane Paul, but it is Susan Hayward as Millie who steals the show. You can never quite tell if she really likes Paul because he's different - not pawing her all of the time - or if she's just after the gifts he can give her after she sees the wad of cash he keeps in his pockets. It's a great early role for her. Harry Carey gets to do more than he usually does late in his career, which were roles that usually entailed playing the wise old good guy. Here he is quite gray and not until the end are you sure just which side of his character will win. For those of you looking for a glimpse of Frances Farmer at work, that's all you'll get - a glimpse. She is barely noticeable as the wife of John Raden.

As for the atmosphere - it's perfect with thunderstorms, poorly lit rooms, cemeteries at night, and Paul's victims all found left with a terrified expression and their hands over their ears. Highly recommended for fans of old style horror. It's a shame this one isn't better known.

Among the Living is directed by Stuart Heisler and written by Garrett Fort and Lester Cole. It stars Albert Dekker, Susan Hayward, Harry Carey and Frances Farmer. Music is by Gerard Carbonara and cinematography by Theodor Sparkuhl.

Dekker plays identical twins, John and Paul Raden. Paul was believed to have died when he was just 10 years old, in reality he had been traumatised and went insane and was locked up in a secret room at the Raden Mansion. When John returns for his father's funeral, he learns of Paul's existence, more so when Paul escapes and is out and about in Radentown...

1941 saw the release of Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon, High Sierra and I Wake Up Screaming. Films that mark an important point in the progression of what would become known as film noir, both thematically and as a visual style. Elsewhere there were some horror movies which would stand the test of time as classic productions, films such as The Wolf Man and The Black Cat are still massively popular today. Down in the lesser known file is Among the Living, a picture that blends both horror and noir for considerable rewards.

It's a slice of Southern Gothic which nods appreciatively to classic horror conventions from the previous decade (eg: the Frankenstein connection is hard to ignore but handled skillfully), and it even has social commentary bursting forth from its seams, but it's with the photographic style where it becomes a must see for film noir enthusiasts.

Heisler (latterly The Glass Key/Storm Warning) and Sparkuhl (also The Glass Key) shoot the picture by way of German Expressionism, where certain scenes and photographic compositions anticipate the noir style before it became the norm. From the feverish and frantic exuberance of a club scene, to a chase scene through menacing shadowed streets that end with murder, there are classy slices of noir before we even get to the crushing finale where Radentown is gripped by its own greed and insanity problems.

Dekker is terrific, managing to give each twin their own identity without relying on costuming for the viewers to tell the difference. His man child portrayal of Paul is heartfelt and perfectly troubling, yet always tasteful. Hayward is socko gorgeous as a vampish nymph who latches onto Paul to feather her own nest, while Farmer provides the sort of solid support she was capable of before her own personal problems would derail her potential career.

The psychological aspects of the pic are simplistic, of course, while viewing it now it's impossible to not get a sense of it being cliché heavy as regards the "twins" axis of plotting, but this is well paced, very well acted and beautifully photographed. If you can track down a decent print of it, then it's a must see for anyone interested in the influences and subsequent trajectory of film noir. 8/10

AMONG THE LIVING (Paramount, 1941), directed by Stuart Heisler, is not a horror film in a sense of living dead characters of "Dracula" or "The Mummy," but an original story by Brian Marlowe and Lester Cole revolving around twin brothers, one good and the other criminally insane. Starring Albert Dekker in one of his rare leading roles following his top-star title role as DOCTOR CYCLOPS (Paramount, 1940), AMONG THE LIVING was actually the studio's follow-up attempt of giving Dekker double exposure with the opportunity playing two basic characters in one basic melodrama.

The story, set in the Southern mining town of Raden, begins in atmospheric tradition, at the cemetery gathering of the burial of industrialist, Maxim Raden. In attendance are Raden's son, John (Albert Dekker) and his wife, Elaine (Frances Farmer), from New York, along with Raden's family physician and best friend of 35 years, Doctor Ben Saunders (Harry Carey). As much as John's twin brother, Paul, had died when the brothers were ten-years- old, it is soon discovered that Paul (Albert Dekker) is very much alive. Having spent years in an insane asylum from which he has escaped, he is now kept in the cellar of the decapitated Raden estate confined in a strait jacket by the family caretaker, Pompey (Ernest Whitman) until the funeral is over. Soon after, Paul is released from confinement by Pompey, whom he later kills. As Paul walks aimlessly towards the nearby town, John learns the truth about his brother and how Saunders falsified Paul's death certificate, substituting a dead child in place of Paul buried next to their deceased mother, Lucy. Fearing of being sent back to the asylum, Paul hides himself in a boardinghouse managed by landlady, Mrs. Pickens (Maude Eburne). Her daughter, Millie (Susan Hayward), takes an interest in "Mr. Paul," especially after giving her money to buy a new dress. Her involvement with the new boarder stirs up jealously from her boyfriend, Ben Oakley (Gordon Jones - Mike the cop on television's "The Abbott and Costello Show" in the 1950s). After Paul locates his brother staying with his wife at the Raden Hotel, he is soon frightened away, ending up at the River Bottom Cafe. While there, Paul makes the acquaintance with sassy blonde, Peggy Nolan (Jean Phillips), whom he likes but loses. Because she made a fool out of him, Paul follows her home and kills her. To prevent any more killings, John is advised to place a $5,000 reward for his brother's capture. The reward forms a vigilante group of greedy townspeople, especially that of Millie, still unaware of Mr. Paul's identity.

Also in the cast include: Frank M. Thomas (Sheriff Andrew Ramsey); Rod Cameron (Bill); and Clarence Muse (The Cafe Waiter). Dorothy Sebastian, a secondary actress having worked opposite such top-stars as Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the silent film era 1920s, appears briefly as a cafe patron surrounded by jitterbug dancers.

In spite of its second feature presentation of 68 minutes, AMONG THE LIVING is an exceptional "B" product. Albert Dekker, noted for secondary roles, gives one of his finer lead performances. In typical fashion, the good brother is ordinary while his mentally unbalanced other in unshaven face gathers the most attention. Gothic style photography and eerie underscoring offers AMONG THE LIVING added points of interest. While Frances Farmer showed great promise for her dual roles in COME AND GET IT (Samuel Goldwyn, 1936), she's virtually wasted here with nothing challenging except for facial gestures and a scream. The young and upcoming, Susan Hayward, appearing 25 minutes into the story, gets the best attention here as the flirtatious landlady's daughter who's "not afraid of anything, not even death!"

Unseen regularly on commercial television since the 1970s (notably New York City's WNEW, Channel 5, where it was last shown in 1978), AMONG THE LIVING, which has never been distributed to video cassette nor broadcast on cable television, has become available on DVD. Regardless, AMONG THE LIVING remains one of those truly obscure movies that deserves rediscovery. Even if this being just another twin versus twin theme, the performances by Albert Dekker, Susan Hayward, and sinister atmosphere rise above routine material (***)