Experiment Perilous

This impure amalgam of "Gaslight" and "Rebecca," marred by an aimless, convoluted plot, is almost redeemed by Tourneur's genuine sympathy with its Gothic implications. Hedy Lamar is beautiful, Olive Blakeney lingers in the memory as Cissie, but Paul Lukas is miscast, and George Brent is . . . well, he's George Brent.

There's more than a passing similarity to GASLIGHT here. Tourneur sticks with the outsider character, so this tale feels far less immediate and tense and takes on more of an air of mystery. But the film is crippled by dull characterizations. Brent is absolute zero and Lukas is only slightly more interesting. Lamarr is lovely but quite wooden. The film has that dreamlike Tourneur vibe to it, I just couldn't engage with the characters and the plot doesn't have a very satisfying payoff.

Hedy Lamarr has an ethereal quality to her that makes her perfect for this part. The whole film is a very compelling mix of mystery and melodrama that hangs on Tourneur's direction, using atmospheric visuals and the sense of mystery to heighten the stakes of the relatively uneventful melodrama. It's a bit thin when you examine it, but fun to watch all the same.

Diagnosis Dull.

82.50

Starts off promisingly with an intriguing mystery and a thick atmosphere, but tails off badly in the middle section and never recovers. Ironically, considering the title, the biggest thing missing here is peril. Brent's involvement never feels anything more than tenuous, and the stakes only get raised in the final act, by which time the mystery has already reached its wholly underwhelming climax.

This is the cheaper version of Gaslight (with elements of Rebecca thrown in). There's some ambiance and Lamarr does make a beautiful leading lady, but that's pretty much all the highlights here. The "us" character (the doctor) has a girlfriend at the beginning of the film; unlike us, she walks away long before the end of it.

Not particularly convincing and doesn’t create a sense of peril - but an interesting watch.

Not horrible, and Lamarr is as lovely as ever, but for a melodrama/noir this is seriously lacking in suspense. There is a lot of music playing for no apparent reason that I didn't think really fit some of the scenes. The effects in the ending are quite excellent, but there's not too much here other than that. An inferior Gaslight (this was released in the same year as the Bergman version.) Shockingly dull for a Tourneur, though. He's usually at least interesting.

The two males leads are pretty badly miscast--someone like Claude Rains would have been a much better option for Nick. As for Brent, he starts off well enough, but doesn't have the verve to be a romantic lead. The film struggles to drum up interest beyond the bare bones of the plot, likely. because so much of the story is told in an unnecessarily confusing way. Atmosphere is sometimes good, and I like the way Tourneur is pointing us toward complexity and mystery in people.

I liked the settings and old school atmosphere, but the story never took-off for me. Such a good foundation, good actors, and all that. But the murder mystery was too slow and unspectacular to make it all come together in the way it had the potential for.