AMONG THE LIVING (1941)

Paramount Pictures, 69m 9s

An undervalued noir-horror composite ripe for rediscovery, director Stuart Heisler's AMONG THE LIVING is a veritable movie milestone for those fascinated with film noir and horror. New to domestic home video thanks to the always reliable folks at Kino Lorber, this Paramount production contains a mélange of crucial elements that would influence both the horror film and the emerging film noir genre.

As the curtain rises, businessman Maxim Raden has departed. He built Radentown, but ultimately put a large portion of area residents out of work with the closure of his textile mill. After a 25-year absence, his son John Raden (Albert Dekker) has returned home with his wife Elaine (Frances Farmer) for his father's send-off. It was 25 years ago John's twin brother Paul (also Albert Dekker) was buried, or so John was raised to believe. But according to Dr. Ben Saunders (Harry Carey), Paul lost his sanity as a child after witnessing his father assaulting his mother. Paul attempted to intervene when Maxim physically lashed out at the boy, which permanently compromised his son's state of mind. Maxim sent John away while Ben falsified Paul's death certificate. It is soon revealed Paul in fact is among the living, though confined to a straitjacket in a secured sector of the Raden manor, where he has lived in isolation, his unsteady mental state allowed to fester.

Paul goes berserk when he learns his cruel father is to rest next to his beloved mother. After he learns his brother is alive and has broken free from home imprisonment, John wants to involve local law enforcement. In the interest of avoiding public scandal, Ben convinces John the matter should be handled privately. Unsurprisingly, Paul loves his new freedom to wander wherever he wishes, but proves himself completely clueless about how to make a move on the cute brunette Millie Pickens (Susan Hayward), who is taken in by his well-meaning clumsiness. But there is nothing cute about Paul loose on the streets after the discovery of the murdered caretaker Pompey (Ernest Whitman), who is found positioned in such a way to suggest the impenetrable mental issues embedded deep within Paul's fragile psyche.

Impressive matte effect for its era

In the 1940s, the horror genre underwent its slow transition from classic Universal monsters to Paramount's landmark PSYCHO (1960, long since distributed on home video via Universal). RKO producer Val Lewton often is credited for spearheading horror's dark new path from horrific appearances to horrific minds, starting with his first RKO B-horror effort CAT PEOPLE (1942). AMONG THE LIVING anticipates the Lewton approach, particularly with the character Paul, who looks completely normal but has lost any grip on sanity he ever had. Though not a monster from an appearance standpoint, Paul is exactly that from a psychological perspective. His condition easily can be traced back to irresponsible, selfish behavior on the part of those who should have cared for him (thus Paul is a sympathetic figure). With its victim of physical and psychological abuse Paul, a prisoner since childhood, AMONG THE LIVING paves the way toward PSYCHO in its implication that untethered evil emanates from within the traditional family. Maxim Raden's faculties must be questioned here as well:  his plan was to hide his son in one room of his house indefinitely?

A story of brief runtime but considerable dimensions, AMONG THE LIVING is composed of critical elements that would find their way into a towering silo of standard film noir themes and motifs. In a transitional theme that merges horror concerns with film noir functions, the horrors of the past shape the present day. Abused by his domineering father, Paul remains tormented by his mother's screams. Maxim Raden may be dead and unable to mistreat his wife any longer, but Paul continues to hear her screams. The psychologically tormented man Paul prefigures mentally traumatized characters that would populate noir films such as THE BLUE DAHLIA (1946), NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947), MOONRISE (1948) and ACT OF VIOLENCE (1949).

Already dangerously disturbed, Paul is dragged to an even lower level by the fatalistic film noir climate, especially at the crazed atmosphere of the appropriately named River Bottom Cafe, where an out-of-his-element Paul is targeted by Peggy Nolan (Jean Phillips), a tempting blonde. A heightened sense of trauma is well illustrated in the nighttime tavern scene, where Paul learns the hard way about the effects of alcohol on the human body. The combination of alcohol and his tortured mind makes him ill-equipped to deal with the frenetic pace the club encourages on and around the dance floor. Bodies twist and contort, women screech, faces get slapped. The evening culminates with a chilling chase that leads to murder in a dark alley.

A noirish chase down rain-soaked streets

In its evocation of mental illness, AMONG THE LIVING communicates the sense of alienation experienced by its protagonist Paul. He wants to be like everyone else, but he cannot because he isn't. An alienated existence forms the backbone of many a film noir, i.e. HIGH SIERRA (1941), DETOUR (1945), POSSESSED (1947) and TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY (1951). The horrible toll of imprisonment sometimes provides a related theme, again in HIGH SIERRA, TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY and even more explicitly in MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945), BRUTE FORCE (1947) and CAGED (1950). That lack of belonging or purpose in an impersonal society frequently is accompanied by an irreversible sense of doom, sometimes equated with a dead-man-walking theme, as seen in THE KILLERS (1946), THE DARK CORNER (1946), DECOY (1946), RIDE THE PINK HORSE (1947), OUT OF THE PAST (1947), ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948) and most obviously in D.O.A. (1950).

An irresolvable sense of long-term corruption traces the contours of most every legit film noir. In AMONG THE LIVING that notion is personified by the murky motives of Dr. Ben Saunders, who has a history of placing his private life ahead of professional duty. Ben falsified Paul's death certificate, pressures John to avoid working with the police on Paul's escape, indicates Pompey died of heart failure though he obviously was strangled, and initially refuses to deliver testimony that would clear John from his brother's wrongdoing. An atmosphere of intense corruption is sure to ignite social tensions, as we see in the form of an implausibly large group of unruly locals who quickly agree to take matters into their own hands when it comes to the murderer on the prowl. A $5,000 bounty for the killer's capture whips them into a lawless frenzy that anticipates the noir cult classic TRY AND GET ME! (1950). The corrupting power of money is readily apparent in the malcontent Millie, a noir femme fatale prototype driven primarily by material things. Anything to do with money seems to maintain an almost hypnotic pull on her. When she tries on a new dress, her legs are fetishized to connect her sex appeal with a man's purchasing power. She really gets off on the idea of that reward money, which could outfit her in a new fur coat (that timeless movie indicator of a woman's status; a woman either has one or wishes for one).

Albert Dekker is highly effective in his dual role as the twins. His other film noir appearances include EXPERIMENT PERILOUS (1944), THE KILLERS (1946), KISS ME DEADLY (1955) and ILLEGAL (1955), an exceptional noir film I need to get around to reviewing one of these days. Director Stuart Heisler was at the beginning of his Paramount contract days with AMONG THE LIVING. Over the course of his career he would work in various genres. His other film noir credits include THE GLASS KEY (1942), another formative noir classic, and I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES (1955), a reimagining of HIGH SIERRA. Cinematographer Theodor Sparkuhl again worked with director Heisler on THE GLASS KEY. Co-screenwriter Garrett Fort also co-wrote the screenplay for FRANKENSTEIN (1931). The angry mob of AMONG THE LIVING certainly draws parallels to the sci-fi/horror classic. Co-screenwriter Lester Cole was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of screenwriters and directors cited for contempt of Congress and ultimately blacklisted for alleged ties to the Communist Party. Cole was raised as a socialist and was an unapologetic Communist Party member as an adult, which or course got him in the crosshairs of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Ironically troubled actress Frances Farmer, whose assignment was limited in this film, was struggling with alcoholism and paranoid schizophrenia at the time of filming.

The new Kino Lorber Blu-ray presentation of AMONG THE LIVING is framed at the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37:1. The source material shows occasional damage but overall looks really good in motion. This release should be considered a must-own for genre movie fans. The major supplement is an audio commentary track by accomplished film scholar Dr. Jason A. Ney, Director of the Writing Center and Assistant Professor of English at Colorado Christian University. Ney has contributed frequently to the Film Noir Foundation publication NOIR CITY and is in his element with this critique of AMONG THE LIVING's credentials as an early film noir and a transitional horror film in which fears and anxieties are grounded in reality rather than the world of the fantastic. The interplay of genres is apparent from the opening sequence, when the "decrepit house" horror motif interlocks with the brand of class tensions that would define so many noir films going forward. He mentions several films that anticipate AMONG THE LIVING, including THE BLACK ROOM (1935), a Boris Karloff horror vehicle that revolves around an evil twin. THE BLACK ROOM served as a noir bridge to THE DARK MIRROR (1946), with Olivia de Havilland's famous portrayal of twin sisters. Ney also notes Harry Carey had starred in BURNING BRIDGES (1928), a Western with a plot structure quite similar to that of AMONG THE LIVING. Director Stuart Heisler learned how to merge genres into one film with THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL (1941), the film he made prior to AMONG THE LIVING.

Ney helpfully identifies AMONG THE LIVING's major film noir components as follows:

• A deeply cynical view of human nature.
• An unflinching exploration of damage caused by human weakness.
• A critique of the American city as a place of isolation and despair.
• Bleak fatalism with a protagonist doomed to a sad ending.

Ney argues that Heisler's chase sequence that ends with the murder of Peggy Nolan holds up well even by today's standards with its careful progression from terror to horror. He also is on solid ground with his evaluation of Millie as femme fatale. She uses her sexuality to steer Paul in the direction of her own agenda, then questions his masculinity when his compliance loses momentum.

The Blu-ray disc also includes an assortment of trailers for additional titles available from Kino Lorber.