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Experiment Perilous

Play trailer Poster for Experiment Perilous Released Dec 18, 1944 1h 31m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 46% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
When psychiatrist Hunt Bailey (George Brent) encounters elderly Clarissa "Cissie" Bedereaux (Olive Blakeney) during a violent storm in 1903, his unusual relationship with the strange Bedereaux family begins. Suspicious of Cissie's sudden death and bewitched by a painting he sees of Allida (Hedy Lamarr), the gorgeous but troubled wife of Nick Bedereaux (Paul Lukas), Hunt sets out to discover if Allida is really insane, as her husband claims -- or if Nick is the disturbed one.
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Experiment Perilous

Critics Reviews

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J. R. Jones Chicago Reader The densely layered plot doesn’t always add up, but in the end that enhances the sense of mystery, which Tourneur sees not as some narrative puzzle to be solved but as an irreducible aspect of human experience. Aug 10, 2022 Full Review Alberto Abuín Espinof It captivates and proposes a very curious mix of drama, romance and suspense. [Full Review in Spanish] Sep 4, 2019 Full Review Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television Highly atmospheric thriller. Feb 1, 2012 Full Review Nick Davis Nick's Flick Picks I wish that the strongest passages of Experiment Perilous were more representative of the film's overall achievements. It's practically an essay in the boons and the perils of starting off wonderfully. Rated: B- Jan 17, 2010 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Tourneur's well crafted suspense thriller about a scary husband menacing his wife (Hedy Lamarr) bears thematic resemblance to the far superior Gaslight, by George Cukor, for which Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar. Rated: B- Jul 20, 2009 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Elegant mystery melodrama. Rated: B- Oct 24, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Me encanta el estilo de Tournaur. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Overheated but entertaining drama, Hedy of course is gorgeous. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Pleasingly sinister and slightly fruity melodrama set in New Yoick at the turn of the 20th century. A suave and very Hungarian Paul Lukas tries to convince psychiatrist George Brent that his missus Hedley, sorry, Hedy Lamarr is bonkers (technical term) but is she? Director Jacques Tourneur was a dab hand at films like this and he doesn't disappoint, putting together an entertaining and diverting piece of nonsense which looks splendid - the set design and swirling snowstorms help in creating a hedley, sorry, heady atmosphere. It's not all out of the top drawer though: George Brent's performance is as woody as the non-business end of asparagus but even that is quite charming. And the music is a bit intrusive at times. Someone really should have told the orchestra to go pianissimo. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Meh. Boring story about George Brent trying to rescue the beautiful Hedy Lemarr from here husband who is trying to make her think she's insane. The only real saving grace of this melodrama is that director Jacques Tourneur does manage to inject a fair amount style into the film, with quite a few striking shots and sequences sprinkled throughout the film. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review s r Some good stuff, but short of a whole film. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member As much as I love Tourneur, I must concede that this a minor work. The opening is so atmospherically compelling and the finale so outrageous it makes the body of the film feel oddly out of place and disappointing. Most of the film is carried (or not carried) by expository dialogue rather than mood and the central dangers of the protagonists are never truly understood until the final confrontation. All in all it's a shame because there are some really fine moments in the film. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Experiment Perilous

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Movie Info

Synopsis When psychiatrist Hunt Bailey (George Brent) encounters elderly Clarissa "Cissie" Bedereaux (Olive Blakeney) during a violent storm in 1903, his unusual relationship with the strange Bedereaux family begins. Suspicious of Cissie's sudden death and bewitched by a painting he sees of Allida (Hedy Lamarr), the gorgeous but troubled wife of Nick Bedereaux (Paul Lukas), Hunt sets out to discover if Allida is really insane, as her husband claims -- or if Nick is the disturbed one.
Director
Jacques Tourneur
Producer
Warren Duff, Robert Fellows
Screenwriter
Warren Duff
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 18, 1944, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 3, 2017
Runtime
1h 31m
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