It's difficult to understand why "High Wall" remains such an overlooked and under-appreciated movie. It certainly has much to commend it, such as the creative and stylish expressionist cinematography which greatly enhances the action and the judicious use of close ups which add intensity to some of the more dramatic moments (especially those involving the two main characters). The grid-like shadows that adorn the walls, floors and patients in the Psychiatric Hospital, emphasise the perception of it being an institution where people are caged in. A high speed sequence in one of the early scenes in which Steven Kenet (Robert Taylor) drives a car recklessly and crashes with his wife's dead body in the front passenger seat, effectively grabs the audience's attention and provokes interest in what events had led to such a dramatic incident. This thriller also features one of the most casual murders imaginable where the weapon used is an umbrella handle! Equally bizarrely, there is also the spectacle of a psychiatrist who goes completely off the rails when she takes a series of actions which are seriously unprofessional.
Steven Kenet (an ex-bomber pilot) is arrested after his wife's murder but genuinely can't remember whether he killed her or not and is therefore, referred to a Psychiatric Hospital for assessment. Medical tests reveal the presence of a blood clot on his brain and it's believed that the clot is the most likely cause of his memory lapses. An operation to remove the clot is recommended but Steven initially refuses permission. Steven's six year old son had been living with his mother and one day when Dr Ann Lorrison (Audrey Totter) is trying to persuade him to change his mind about the operation, she tells him that his mother has died and that unless he has the operation, there is no possibility that he could be declared mentally fit enough to deal with his own finances and his son would then have to be admitted to the county orphanage. The operation goes ahead and is successful but still does not bring back any memory of his wife's death.
A man called Henry Cronner (Vince Barnett) tries to sell Steven useful information about his wife's death but is murdered shortly after. This leads Steven to believe that he may be innocent and he then agrees to be given the truth drug (sodium pentothal) so that he can describe to Ann all that he remembers from the night of his wife's murder. He can remember starting to attack his wife and then when he woke up she was dead.
Ann goes to her car and is surprised to find Steven is in the back seat. He gets her to take him to the murder scene where he goes through everything he can remember. One night when Ann visits Steven, he locks her in his cell and escapes. Ann searches for him and eventually finds him outside the murder scene. At the apartment where the murder took place, they meet someone they suspect may be involved and Ann administers the truth drug and carries out some questioning which gradually reveals who murdered Mrs Kenet.
Dr Lorrison had initially suspected that Kenet may be guilty and that he'd refused treatment to protect himself from prosecution. As she got more familiar with his case she started to feel more sympathetic towards him and after he'd had the operation and undergone the sodium pentothal test, her attraction to him had deepened.
Dr Lorrison is a remarkably unethical practitioner who improperly gains temporary custody of her patient's son and then, when it suits her, tells Kenet that his son is in danger of being sent to an orphanage. At a later stage she disingenuously informs Kenet that his son has been taken in by a woman called Martha Ferguson (conveniently omitting to mention that Ferguson is actually her aunt with whom she lives). After the first occasion when Kenet escaped from the hospital and forced her to go with him to the scene of the murder, she didn't report the matter to her colleagues and after his second escape she also went to join him at the same location. This time however, she readily injected the suspect with sodium pentothal despite the fact that he was confused and groggy after being savagely beaten up by Kenet!!!
Robert Taylor turns in a very good performance as a man whose condition makes him tense and truculent at times and whose predicament also makes him anguished and confused. He projects all these feelings quite powerfully and also shows a more tender side to his personality in the scenes involving his son.
Steven Kenet (an ex-bomber pilot) is arrested after his wife's murder but genuinely can't remember whether he killed her or not and is therefore, referred to a Psychiatric Hospital for assessment. Medical tests reveal the presence of a blood clot on his brain and it's believed that the clot is the most likely cause of his memory lapses. An operation to remove the clot is recommended but Steven initially refuses permission. Steven's six year old son had been living with his mother and one day when Dr Ann Lorrison (Audrey Totter) is trying to persuade him to change his mind about the operation, she tells him that his mother has died and that unless he has the operation, there is no possibility that he could be declared mentally fit enough to deal with his own finances and his son would then have to be admitted to the county orphanage. The operation goes ahead and is successful but still does not bring back any memory of his wife's death.
A man called Henry Cronner (Vince Barnett) tries to sell Steven useful information about his wife's death but is murdered shortly after. This leads Steven to believe that he may be innocent and he then agrees to be given the truth drug (sodium pentothal) so that he can describe to Ann all that he remembers from the night of his wife's murder. He can remember starting to attack his wife and then when he woke up she was dead.
Ann goes to her car and is surprised to find Steven is in the back seat. He gets her to take him to the murder scene where he goes through everything he can remember. One night when Ann visits Steven, he locks her in his cell and escapes. Ann searches for him and eventually finds him outside the murder scene. At the apartment where the murder took place, they meet someone they suspect may be involved and Ann administers the truth drug and carries out some questioning which gradually reveals who murdered Mrs Kenet.
Dr Lorrison had initially suspected that Kenet may be guilty and that he'd refused treatment to protect himself from prosecution. As she got more familiar with his case she started to feel more sympathetic towards him and after he'd had the operation and undergone the sodium pentothal test, her attraction to him had deepened.
Dr Lorrison is a remarkably unethical practitioner who improperly gains temporary custody of her patient's son and then, when it suits her, tells Kenet that his son is in danger of being sent to an orphanage. At a later stage she disingenuously informs Kenet that his son has been taken in by a woman called Martha Ferguson (conveniently omitting to mention that Ferguson is actually her aunt with whom she lives). After the first occasion when Kenet escaped from the hospital and forced her to go with him to the scene of the murder, she didn't report the matter to her colleagues and after his second escape she also went to join him at the same location. This time however, she readily injected the suspect with sodium pentothal despite the fact that he was confused and groggy after being savagely beaten up by Kenet!!!
Robert Taylor turns in a very good performance as a man whose condition makes him tense and truculent at times and whose predicament also makes him anguished and confused. He projects all these feelings quite powerfully and also shows a more tender side to his personality in the scenes involving his son.