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Maltin's summary, and his star-and-a-half rating, for this quickie film noir fails to put it in the context of other, far more dismal Monogram productions. "Fear" has lots of interesting camera-pushes, nice use of close-ups, relatively interesting lighting, and a great nightmare montage. Plus, an expressive touch at the moment the key murder takes place (which I won't reveal) is just brilliant. Three things link this film to Fritz Lang's work--the marked coat (from "M") the dream-frame ("The Woman in the Window"), and perhaps most explicitly the palmreading of Larry's hand, revealing an "M", which stands for. . . . [supply your own dramatic music here]. Noir fans should seek this one one out for sure. Others may not be so impressed.

The dream (or nightmare) structure was a staple of the noir cycle; The Woman in the Window, Fear in the Night, and its remake Nightmare were some of the films that employed this device. Far from a cop-out, it was a way of packaging a rather subtle psychological insight: that our dreams expressed our conflicts between our superegos and our ids. (In a later film with noirish roots, Brian De Palma's Body Double, the "story" of the movie similarly sketched the protagonist's worst self-estimation, triggered by a claustrophobic episode.)

In Fear, a medical student (Peter Cookson) is on the brink of abandoning school because his money has run out; in frustration, he murders a professor who moonlights as a pawnbroker. Questioned by the police, he ill-advisedly spouts warmed-over Nietzsche like the effete killers in Hitchcock's Rope. Then, out of the blue, a scholarly periodical to which he submitted an article sends him a check for $1000 (!) -- the most implausible occurrence in the entire noir cyle. He grows more reckless, and suspicion continues to grow....

Fear was a low-budget Monogram programmer (clocking in at just over an hour) but looks a lot better, angled and shadowed like more lavish productions. It won't satisfy the literal-minded, but it's a decent enough way to while away a dark hour.

The programmer's a compelling noir except for the Production Code's required Hollywood ending. Up to that end point, however, the narrative amounts to a dark look into the ravages of psychological guilt. Larry's got a promising future as a med-student, but he also can't make tuition for his final school year. Dead broke, he's about to get tossed out of his fleabag apartment for non-payment. Desperate, Larry feels driven to murdering his pawn-brokering professor for the cash box riches he's hidden. Trouble is Larry's haunted by his crime, especially when fate delivers an unexpected publisher's check for an article he's written. Had he waited just one more day, he wouldn't have needed to murder for money. How cruel is fate and how relentless now are the cops.

Actor Cookson as Larry delivers an appropriately grim facade up to the end. To me, he, is an unknown performer, but subtly effective in the conflicted role. At the same time, there's something about him reminiscent of a sinister Tony Perkins. And how about the luscious Anne Gwynne. Her available presence makes his predicament that much worse. Then too, there's the magisterial Warren William as the head cop, taking a break from his ruthless pre-Code businessmen, e.g. Employee's Entrance (1933).

There're also some unsettling touches-- the onrushing train that crushes us all, the magic act that beheads without showing us recovery, the ominous black cat that awaits poor Larry. These are just some of the imaginative touches leading us to a bleak world where anything might happen.

Anyway, the programmer may be an atmospheric cheapo, but had the producers been able to complete the tale without the cop-out ending, it would also rise way above that meager status. So, when you see Larry cross the street at the near end, reach for the off-button. It's worth it.

Peter Cookson (Larry) is a student who needs money – his college fees and rent need paying and he can't do it. He goes to College Professor Francis Pierlot (Prof Stanley) who moonlights as a loan shark to help him out. Pierlot keeps all his money in his apartment in a safe and he's also a pretty unpleasant character. Is he unpleasant enough to be murdered? Yeah, probably…….but will his attacker get away with things…

This film zips along and keeps us watching as to whether a crime will go unpunished and things are done in a suspenseful manner. Unfortunately, the ending doesn't quite live up to expectations so view this film as a bit of fun. You'll see what I mean.

A desperate student murders a pawnbroker, but is hounded by an odd but persistent detective... and his own conscience. Sound familiar? No attempt is made to credit Dostoyevsky, but the film is quite clearly a modern adaptation of "Crime and Punishment". And for a quickie (just over an hour) B-movie production with a cast of no-name actors, it's not too shabby. The performances aren't great, but I liked Anne Gwynne as the love interest and Warren William as the crafty police chief. Zeisler pulls off a few nice flourishes and delivers a tight little package. The story makes for prime noir material, and is hard to mess up. However, they blew it with a cheap ending. Not just cheap, but woefully predictable. I should research C&P adaptations.... Kaurismaki's is okay, but there ought to be a better one out there.

"Fear" is a decent B-movie...though I think it could easily have been better...especially the terrible ending.

The story begins with Larry in a lot of trouble. It seems his and all the other scholarships have been rescinded and he is deeply in debt...so much so that it looks as if he won't be able to complete his final year in medical school. Again and again, Larry has been to see a nasty unofficial loan shark...one of his professors! And, in desperation, he feels it's acceptable to kill the man...though after killing the guy, he panics and doesn't even steal the money he'd planned to take. Now, he is slowly becoming a bundle of nerves...and the longer the movie progresses, the more guilty he behaves.

The writer of the film obviously thought of Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment", as Larry feels that he's above the law and entitled to kill if he wants. However, like the man in Dostoyevsky's novel, he later realizes he can't live with himself. First, this is a bit dull....why just do the expected? Second, considering Larry had written an article for a magazine that essentially says some people are special and above the law, he's obvious as a suspect. The film, though interesting, lacks subtlety and surprises....but what REALLY ruins the film is the ending...one that completely blindsides AND annoys the viewer....a magical ending that comes from out of no where. Up until the ending, I might have given this one a 5 or 6...and perhaps my 3 is charitable considering just how badly it ends!

I can appreciate that the budget constraints were severe, but I cannot appreciate how anyone could rate this film any higher than I have. The story was not "an original screenplay" by any measure. The acting was stilted. And the ending was horrible. Even noir aficionados will have a hard time sitting through this 68-minute torture fest.

Extremely Low-Budget Film-Noir that manages to entertain due to a strong Storyline (cribbed from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment) and some nifty Camera Work and a creative overall Style. What it lacks in slickness it makes up for in Mood and some expressionistic flourishes.

There is a rather tacked-on, weak ending that is a misstep of the first order, but that disappointment aside, this is one of the better attempts at Bargin Bin Noir. There is a sombre and fatalistic tone throughout and there is much more Psychology found here than in most Bottom Rung Programmers. There is a good deal of Cat and Mouse and a lot of Soul Searching.

Despite its restrictions, this can entertain at a deeper level than a lot of Major Studio B-Movies. In fact it is downright amazing how well it works its Magic through tone, style, and execution. This is not to be missed by Fans of Low-Budget Noir's.

Well, in this one we have actress Beatrice Straight's husband (Peter Cookson) and Chris Pine's mother (Anne Gwynne) along with Warren William starring in Fear from 1946, directed by Alfred Zeisler.

This is an American retelling of Crime & Punishment until the final moments of the film.

Cookson is a broke medical student who kills a professor (Francis Pierlot) who doubles as a pawnbroker. However, he leaves the man's apartment in a panic, without taking any money. His guilt consumes him, and it doesn't help that two police detectives (William and Nestor Paiva) are on his case.

What is interesting about this film is that the director was from the German expressionist school and gives us a wonderful dream sequence involving railroad tracks and makes use of angles and shadows effectively.

As for the end of the film - it's a device used in so many films during that time. It's really a cop out, even if I did get a kick out of it.

Poverty row Monogram Pictures produced Fear based on Dostoevsky's Crime And Punishment. We've seen better adaptions.

Medical student Peter Cookson is really up against it financially. Rent is overdue, he owes the college money. He goes to a professor who doubles on the side as a shylock. In a moment of anger he kills the professor.

The plot follows fairly closely the Dostoevsky story, but it has one big cop out of an ending. In addition leading man Peter Cookson gives a rather bland performance.

Police captain Warren William and dpgged detective Nestor Paiva do a lot better.

For a Monogram feature and Sam Katzman this is fine art.

Peter Cookson is a medical student who receives the bad news that the medical college he is attending is no longer able to afford to grant scholarships. His future becomes suddenly darker as he's faced with having to drop out with only one year to go. How this bad news affects his psyche is more or less what the film is about in a post-war 1940's era take on psychology and dreams. It seems to revolve around a sense of alienation portrayed through a surprisingly riveting dream sequence that occurs on a dark night on the railroad tracks. In spite of its meager budget this movie succeeds in rating fairly high up on the standards of my film scale.

I rated Fear (1946) 5/10. Pretty great B #noir. A lot of good visuals that are reminiscent of German films of the 20s and 30s. It's too bad it is a bit too trite and kind of like a zillion others to be amazing.

Dostoyevsky abbreviated in American style and turned into a bestselling pulp fiction but not without efficiency - the film is mediocre but not bad, and for a variation of a great theme its Hollywood turnabout of the end makes it quite interesting. Cookson is a very American Raskolnikov, but he is not a poor emaciated student but a medical student not without some social standing, especially among his fellow students, with whom he shares some beer. Cathy (Eileen) here is not a fallen destitute like Sonia, and she is not burdened by that miserable family Marmeladov. The victim of the murder is not an old greedy worthless woman but a male pawnbroker not without some decency. As an American version of "Crime and Punishment" it is not on par with Josef von Sternberg's version ten years earlier with Peter Lorre, which stuck to the book, but the twist to the story makes this version quite original and not be despised, although hardly to be included in any Dostoyevsky films canon.