''Shockproof'' is a 1949 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...

directed by

Douglas Sirk Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left for ...

and starring

Patricia Knight Patricia Knight (born Marjorie Heinzen; April 28, 1915 – October 26, 2004) was an American actress who appeared in a few movies in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Career In 1949, Knight and her husband, Cornel Wilde, acted at Cape Playhouse i ...

and

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...

. Wilde and Knight were husband and wife during filming. They divorced in 1951.

Plot

Griff Marat (

), is a parole officer who falls in love with a parolee, Jenny Marsh (

). Marsh had gone to prison in order to protect Harry Wesson (

John Baragrey John Baragrey (April 15, 1918 – August 4, 1975) was an American film, television, and stage actor who appeared in virtually every dramatic television series of the 1950s and early 1960s. Early years Baragrey was born in Haleyville, Alabam ...

) a gambler with whom she was having an affair. Warned to steer clear of Harry permanently, Jenny disobeys, still feeling loyal to him. A raid on Harry's bookie joint while Jenny is there costs her the job Griff has found for her. Out of concern for her welfare, Griff hires Jenny as a caretaker for his blind mother (Esther Minciotti). Griff has political ambitions that Harry would like to ruin, so, knowing it is against regulations for the parolee and parole officer to be involved, Harry encourages Jenny to accept Griff's romantic advances. Jenny knows the regulations too, but realizes she loves Griff and they get married; she makes one more trip to speak to Harry, to tell him that she truly loves Griff. During their conversation, Harry threatens to reveal letters she had written him, in which she expressed her love. Jenny points Harry's own gun at him and, after a brief struggle, he ends up shot and seriously wounded. Griff and Jenny attempt to flee to Mexico. This fails but, willing to do anything to keep his wife from going back to jail, Griff takes a job in an oil refinery. Their photographs regularly appear in newspapers, but the last straw for Jenny is when a paper which includes their pictures is delivered to every neighbor in their refinery community. The couple decide to go back and turn themselves in. When the police take them to Harry in the hospital, he clears Jenny's name by swearing that the shooting was an accident.

Cast

as Griff Marat *

as Jenny Marsh *

as Harry Wesson * Esther Minciotti as Mrs. Marat * Howard St. John as Sam Brooks *

Russell Collins Russell Collins (born Russell Henry Collins, October 11, 1897 – November 14, 1965) was an American actor whose 43-year career included hundreds of performances on stage, in feature films, and on television. Early life Born in 1897 in Indiana ...

as Frederick Bauer * Charles Bates as Tommy Marat * Gilbert Barnett as Barry (uncredited)

Background

The director of ''Shockproof'',

, said he took the assignment because the film dealt with one of his favorite themes: the price of flouting taboos. In

Samuel Fuller Samuel Michael Fuller (August 12, 1912 – October 30, 1997) was an American film director, screenwriter, novelist, journalist, and World War II veteran known for directing low-budget genre movies with controversial themes, often made ou ...

's original script, the film ended with a violent rebellion by Marat against the system that kept him and Marsh apart. The studio had ''

National Velvet ''National Velvet'' is a novel by Enid Bagnold (1889–1981), first published in 1935. It was illustrated by Laurian Jones, Bagnold's daughter, who was born in 1921. Plot summary ''National Velvet'' is the story of a 14-year-old girl named ...

'' scriptwriter

Helen Deutsch Helen Deutsch (21 March 1906 – 15 March 1992) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and songwriter. Biography Deutsch was born in New York City and graduated from Barnard College. She began her career by managing the Provincetown Player ...

step in to pen a soft-suds rewrite. A number of Fuller's screenplays, including ''

The Naked Kiss ''The Naked Kiss'' is a 1964 American neo-noir melodrama film, written and directed by Samuel Fuller and starring Constance Towers, Anthony Eisley, Michael Dante, and Virginia Grey. The film follows a former prostitute who attempts to assimilate ...

'', ''

The Baron of Arizona ''The Baron of Arizona'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Samuel Fuller and starring Vincent Price and Ellen Drew. The film concerns a master forger's attempted use of false documents to lay claim to the territory of Arizona late in ...

'', ''

House of Bamboo ''House of Bamboo'' is a 1955 American film noir shot in CinemaScope and DeLuxe Color, directed and co-written by Samuel Fuller, and starring Robert Ryan. The other co-screenwriter was Harry Kleiner. The cinematographer was Joseph MacDonald. Pl ...

'', ''

Forty Guns ''Forty Guns'' is a 1957 American Western film written and directed by Samuel Fuller, filmed in black-and-white CinemaScope and released by the 20th Century Fox studio. The film stars Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan and Gene Barry. Plot In ...

'', '' The Big Red One'' and this film, featured a lead character called Griff.

Reception

A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' writer,

Matt Zoller Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and film-maker. Career Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for ''New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as w ...

, discussed the significance of "Shockproof" in 2007 when the film received its first theatrical showing in New York City: "...while ''Shockproof'' will inspire more groans than gasps, it's essential viewing for fans of Mr. Fuller and Mr. Sirk — and that's why the Two Boots Pioneer Theater and an online film discussion group teamed up to give this critically and financially unsuccessful movie its first New York run. The lurid setup and obsessive-loner-versus-the-system mechanics are pure Samuel Fuller. Mr. Sirk's personality is expressed in the film's affection for its screwed-up characters, in the poetic deployment of mirrors, windows and stairways, and in the low-angled wide shots of Griff's house, a space that seems both nurturing and oppressive."

Trivia

The British serial killer

John Straffen John Thomas Straffen (27 February 1930 – 19 November 2007) was a British serial killer who was the longest-serving prisoner in British history. After killing two young girls in the summer of 1951, he was found unfit to plead at trial and com ...

committed a murder on the way to see Shockproof at the cinema in 1951.

References

External links

* * * * {{Douglas Sirk 1949 films 1949 crime drama films American black-and-white films American crime drama films Columbia Pictures films Film noir Films scored by George Duning Films directed by Douglas Sirk 1940s English-language films 1940s American films