L'incroyable Dr. Clitterhouse

As was pointed out in another review, THE AMAZING DR. CLITTERHOUSE was a play, originally , starring Sir Cedric Hardwicke as the polished society doctor who is writing a book on the criminal mind, and needs to become a criminal to get his research. I would have liked to have seen the film with Hardwicke, who probably was a better fit in the part. Screen audiences knew Eddie Robinson could be a brutal, thuggish gangster, like Enrico Bandello in LITTLE CAESAR. He could be funny, like Arthur Jones and Killer Mannion in THE WHOLE TOWN IS TALKING or as Remy Marko in A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER. But they had little idea of the polished intellectual that Robinson, the art collector, was in real life. He would not really reveal this part of his personality until the 1950s, when he occasionally appeared on game shows and talk shows discussing art. But Hardwicke looked the part of the learned doctor, and had enough restrained threat to look like he could plan and carry out real crimes as well.

But Warner Brothers starred him in THE AMAZING DR. CLITTERHOUSE, presumably to give him a chance to play another comic role, and also to let him stretch his acting abilities. He does well with the role, but he seems less natural in the part (as Hardwicke would have been) than slightly mannered. I think, having seen Sir Cedric on stage, Robinson was trying to overcompensate - and it does not quite work.

As the doctor Robinson was convincing as a lucky dilettante, but not as a serious researcher. It is really the performances of the supporting cast, particularly Humphrey Bogart as "Rocks Valentine", Claire Trevor, and Maxie Rosenbloom. They give real color to the story, particularly Bogie as a vicious type who hates seeing how effortlessly the brilliant Clitterhouse takes leadership of his gang away from him. Bogie's Rocks keeps looking for his opportunities, and even tries to freeze the doctor to death (leading to a powerful moment on the film when a furious Rosenbloom almost pounds him in retaliation). And his attempts to get the goods on Clitterhouse, inevitably, lead to an unexpected tragedy.

Robinson was less than happy with the film - he was right to be. Bogart considered this one of a series (with BULLETS AND BALLOTS, KID GALLAHAD, and BROTHER ORCHID where he and Robinson were rival criminals, and in two of which they killed each other at the conclusion).

He had made THE PETRIFIED FOREST two years before, and DEAD END the year before, and should have been on the way to stardom, but found himself second banana to Robinson or to Cagney, and he was getting fed up. He felt that CLITTERHOUSE was an absolute waste of time, and referred to it by another name, THE AMAZING DR. CLITORIS. It would still be three more years before Bogie would make HIGH SIERRA and THE MALTESE FALCON, and find the stardom that had eluded him in the 1930s.

There's a physician who is seeking to deduce, why villains, rogues and miscreants are induced, into a life of crime, breaking laws most of the time, has a theory that he's willing to enthuse. Before he does, he gathers data on the flawed, encouraging a gang to break the law, as they do he takes their pulse, monitors things from their skulls, all the time he's making notes of what he saw.

It's not the best but it's not the worst, entertaining in places but quite ridiculous in part, Edward G. Robinson is always entertaining and Humphry Bogart bides his time once again, waiting for the big one, although he reaches his nadir the following year with The Return of Doctor X!

I loved it! The story isn't great but Eddie G. is slick as he runs circles around his less intelligent counterparts. He has some clever lines and proves once again how a great actor can carry a film. Eddie plays Dr. T. S. Clitterhouse, a successful doctor who is intrigued by the criminal mind. As he gets involved in pulling off some robberies for his "research", he finds himself feeling a "heady intoxication like champagne". He tries to get out of the criminal life but his antagonist, Bogie of course, won't let him. As in many films, it's now Bogart vs Robinson. Who wins? Nice try, just watch and enjoy the movie and you'll see. This was before Bogie was a headliner and it's fun to see how he was developing his on screen persona. If you're a Bogie and Eddie G. fan, you'll like this one. It's definitely worth a look.

What a fun movie!

Edward G. Robinson plays a respected doctor who decides that the only way to truly understand criminal behavior for an academic study he is writing is to become a criminal himself. He joins a thieving ring run by Jo Keller (Claire Trevor, looking hotsy-totsy) and proceeds to both help the thieves with their crimes while at the same time studying them for the biological and psychological effects of their actions. Trouble arises when Jo's right-hand man, played by Humphrey Bogart, begins to feel like a third wheel, and blackmails Robinson when he discovers his true identity.

This film is a real treat. It's funny, creepy and suspenseful, all at the same time. Robinson begins to enjoy being a criminal, and his detached approach to crime makes him capable of committing murder without a second thought. Is he sane or insane? That's the question a jury must answer at the film's climax, and one the viewer still won't be able to answer after the movie's over.

Robinson, Trevor and Bogart have enough chemistry together to start a fire, and the three of them would team up again 10 years later for another terrific film, John Huston's "Key Largo." Anatole Litvak provides the fluid direction.

Grade: A-

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)

Don't get your hopes up for a lost Warner Bros. classic. This is good stuff, fun and all, and it does star Edward G. Robinson in his prime, but the plot is too clever and cute for its own good, and the lighthearted feel makes it sometimes almost trivial. As if the movie makers themselves know this is a throwaway.

Not to knock it too hard. It does have Humphrey Bogart about to become a famous star, and it has Claire Trevor in the role as a moll (which is a bit odd for her, but you should see her in "Born to Kill" for her best at this).

Robinson plays a doctor who is so detached from reality he decides to research the physiology of criminals while they are committing a crime (pupil dilation, blood pressure, etc.). And since that's hard to do, he starts doing his own crimes. And since he's a celebrated doctor, he gets away with all of them. At first you think, how fun! And you expect it to really wind up into either a crazy comedy or a real crime thriller with the downfall of this great man.

It avoids either and ends up in a kind of compromise. It's sometimes funny, and it has elements of watching this man get himself cornered by his own activities. There is no pathos here, however, and the humor is breezy, not hilarious. Bogart and Trevor are the more serious side, but they are used to offset Robinson in his slightly silly role. In all, the plot churns along and you end up enjoying the details, the acting, the dark Warner Bros. filming.

The director is worth noting. Anatole Litvak, whose style using dramatic light and moving camera is evident here. He also had a tendency for melodrama, which is not apparent at all. He had just come to the US for a four year contract with the huge Warner Bros. and this was his second film with them. I assume that required adjustment. You can, oddly, still (perhaps) feel his style in the way scenes are laid out and shot.

A well-made but trivial film? There were lots of them, and this is completely enjoyable. And Robinson, as always, is wonderful.