Shockproof *** (1949, Cornel Wilde, Patricia Knight, John Baragrey) – Classic Movie Review 8,459

Douglas Sirk’s smart film noir thriller Shockproof stars Cornel Wilde as a parole officer inveigled into a damaging affair with a murderess ex-convict (Patricia Knight). Sam Fuller writes the screenplay for the married stars.

Director Douglas Sirk’s smart, atmospheric, well-made 1949 black and white crime film noir romantic melodrama thriller Shockproof stars Cornel Wilde as parole officer Griff Marat who is inveigled into a damaging affair with murderess ex-convict Jenny Marsh (Patricia Knight).

She is just out of jail after serving five years for killing a man in defence of her lover, Harry Wesson (John Baragrey). Marat intends his parolee Jenny must go straight and crosses a line by finding her a job in his house, but then she starts to fall for him.

Shockproof is co-written by Samuel Fuller (with Helen Deutsch) and directed by Sirk, so you get two cult names for the price of one. Wilde and Knight act rousingly and show lots of steamy sexual chemistry, a big boost to the film.

Unfortunately, Columbia Pictures got Deutsch to pen a toned-down, blanded-out rewrite to Fuller’s original violent screenplay, harming the film, which ends rather abruptly and clumsily. Nevertheless, the setup, situations, characters, dialogue, photography (by Charles Lawton Jr), stars and the supporting turns are all commendable, and the film offers significant examples of both Sirk and Fuller’s work.

Also in the cast are Esther Minciotti, Howard St John, Russell Collins, Charles Bates, Gilbert Barnett, Frank Jacquet, Ann Shoemaker, King Donovan, Claire Carleton, Al Eben, Fred Sears, Jimmy Lloyd, Cliff Clark, and Arthur Space.

Shockproof is directed by Douglas Sirk, runs 79 minutes, is made and released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Helen Deutsch and Samuel Fuller, is shot in black and white by Charles Lawton Jr, is produced by S Sylvan Simon, and is scored by George Duning.

Sirk said he took the job because the film dealt with one of his favourite themes, the price of flouting taboos.

The cast are Cornel Wilde as Griff Marat, Patricia Knight as Jenny Marsh, John Baragrey as Harry Wesson, Esther Minciotti as Mrs Marat, Howard St John as Sam Brooks, Russell Collins as Frederick Bauer, Charles Bates as Tommy Marat, Arthur Space as police inspector at hospital, Gilbert Barnett as Barry, Frank Jacquet, Ann Shoemaker, King Donovan, Claire Carleton, Al Eben, Fred Sears, Jimmy Lloyd, and Cliff Clark.

Patricia Knight (born Marjorie Heinzen; April 28, 1915– October 26, 2004).

Patricia Knight (1915–2004) may not be a name to conjure with now, and she made only six movies, but the stars were married at the time, from 21 September 1937 till they divorced in 30 August 1951 (with one daughter). After her divorce from Wilde, Knight’s film career collapsed. She married Danish businessman Niels Larson on 24 October 1954. She died in Hemet, California, in 2004, aged 89.

Five days after Wilde’s divorce, he married actress Jean Wallace. They starred together in several films, including The Big Combo (1955), Lancelot and Guinevere (1963), and Beach Red (1967), but divorced in 1981.

The films of Patricia Knight are: The Fabulous Texan (1947) as Josie Allen, Roses are Red (1947) as Jill Carney, Shockproof (1949) as Jenny Marsh, The Second Face (1950) as Lynn Hamilton, The Magic Face (1951) as Vera Janus, and The Lone Wolf (1954) as Janice Avon.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8,459

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Patricia Knight (1915–2004) in Shockproof (1949).