Blind Alley [USA] [DVD] (1939)

Best known for his role as "Boston Blackie," Chester Morris plays a cold-blooded killer in the original version of a story, later filmed as The Dark Past, which explores the psychological causes for psychopathic behavior in a fascinating and unusually complex crime/suspense film for it's time. Ralph Bellamy plays the sympathetic psychologist Dr. Shelby, whose quiet weekend in the country is disrupted by a group of thugs, including an escaped convict (Morris) and his gun-moll gal (Ann Dvorak). The doctor senses that the brutal murderer is tormented by something buried deeply in his subconscious, and decides to probe the mind of the man to try to give him answers and protect the lives of his wife, young son and weekend guests. Using innovative photographic techniques and faith in science, the film dramatizes the interplay between childhood imagination and experience, and the adult subconscious mind, while making the suggestion that environment is a strong determiner of psychological stability. Director Charles Vidor (Gilda) brought this fascinating, ahead-of-it's-time subject matter to the screen. Newly remastered.