Experiment Perilous
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Written by Warren Duff from a novel by Margaret Carpenter
1944/US
RKO Radio Studio
IMBd page
First viewing Criterion Channel
Nick Bederaux: Life is short and the art long. Decision difficult, experiment perilous. (Quoting Hippocrates)
I watched Jacques Tourneur’s Experiment Perilous” (1944), which is currently on the Criterion channel as part of its Noir by Gaslight collection.
Doctor Huntington Bailey (George Brent) is on a train when he is approached by an old lady. When she learns where he is going, she describes the many strange circumstances surrounding the Bederaux family. She raised both her brother Nick (Paul Lukas) and his future wife Allida (Hedy Lamarr). Later he learns that the woman died while visiting her brother.
Nick is the epitome of a control freak when it comes to his much younger wife. He tries to enlist George in the effort “cure” her of her supposed mental illness. But of course George falls in love with her first. The conflict between Nick and George builds to an explosive climax.
I understand that people love George Brent but I don’t get his appeal and think he is one of the blandest actors around. Hedy Lamarr looks gorgeous throughout but she is also not much of an actress in my view. So this heavily “Gaslight”-inspired film did little for me.
