The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938)

What makes it different from others?

Brilliant and touching

A lot of fun.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The prominent Dr. Clitterhouse (Edward G. Robinson) becomes a burglar to study the criminal mind. After four heist, he meets the fence Jo Keller (Claire Trevor) that has a hotel to cover-up her activities. He decides to team-up with her gang to observe the thieves in action using the alias The Professor and becomes close to Jo. However the gangster "Rocks" Valentine (Humphrey Bogart) decides to get rid of The Professor and double-crosses him up during the heist of a store. When Rocks discover the true identity of The Professor, he blackmails Dr. Clitterhouse that sees only the ultimate crime to resolve the situation: murder. What will happen to Rocks and Dr. Clitterhouse?"The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse" is a cynical black-humor comedy with Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart and screenplay by John Huston. The plot is funny, with hilarious situations of Dr. Clitterhouse, a prominent doctor that uses his relationship with the high-society and the chief of police to rob and understand the criminal mind. In the end, is Dr. Clitterhouse sane or insane? My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): Not Available on Blu-Ray or DVD.

The renowned Dr. Clitterhouse (Edward G. Robinson), interested in the criminal personality, joins a gang of thieves anonymously. He finds himself strangely thrilled in their presence. He carries out research, pupilary dilation and whatnot, and eventually plans their big heist. (He gives his part of the proceeds to charity.) Then, his work accomplished, he bids the gang adieu.Alas, one of the more obnoxious of the gangsters, Rocks (Humphrey Bogart), unravels Robinson's professional identity, tracks him down in his office, and tries to blackmail him into coming up with more master plans. Robinson coolly poisons Bogart and dumps his body in the river, believing that the police will attribute the death to accidental drowning.Some doctor! He neglects to put Bogart's body in the bathtub and fill his lungs with water, so the cops find a stomach full of paraldehyde chloride and a homicide. It doesn't take them long to find that Dr. Clitterhouse is responsible.The trial is a mockery (co-written by John Huston). Robinson's lawyer put on a psychiatrist who befogs the air with psychiatric gibberish. Catch-22 applies, the jury concludes. Robinson, the defendant, has only one chance of getting off without being fried -- he must be insane. However, Robinson takes the stand and declares repeatedly and emphatically that he's perfectly sane. Therefore, if he's so convinced he's sane, he must be insane. He gets off with a trip to a psychiatric hospital. "Remarkable," comments Robinson.Humphrey Bogart was making a slew of movies around this time, usually in the same roles -- secondary and villainous. He always made fun of his performance in this film, and of the film itself, lending its title a vulgar change. But, although Bogart's part is stereotyped, the film isn't that bad. The protagonist, Robinson, does a fine job of projecting professional cool. He's believable as a supercilious doctor. He did a much different job of showing a professional man's anxiety in Fritz Lang's superior "The Woman in the Window".Litvak hurries the film along. The motto of the later gangster films was abbreviated to ODTAA -- one damned thing after another. Characters whiz in and out of door. When they speak on the phone, it sounds like this: "Hello, gimme Leftie -- Leftie? Take the envelope and get rid of it -- What? -- No, don't do that -- Yeah, just what I told you -- No, don't come here -- Right." (Hangs up.) The pauses between these snapped-out comments don't last long enough for anyone on the other end of the call to take a deep breath, let alone make a comment or ask a question. Not a second is wasted. Nobody even says good-bye.I kind of like it.

Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, The (1938) *** (out of 4) Extremely weird and bizarre gangster film from Warner that spoofs their other gangster films. A doctor (Edward G. Robinson) decides to start robbing so that he can study criminal's in the heat of the job. In order to get better tests done he joins a gang being run by Claire Trevor and the dangerous Humphrey Bogart. This film's suppose to be a comedy but it's a tad bit too strange to work as that but it remains an entertaining movie due to the three stars. Warner made a lot of gangster pictures through this decade and this one here is certainly their strangest. Co-written by John Huston.

This is a decent and VERY typical gangster film from Warner Brothers that is so similar to a long string of such films made by this studio during this era. While this might be a negative for some, fans of the genre such as myself will find that this is yet another well-written and well-acted gangster film complete with the usual Warner stars and support cast. In this case, though, the story is a bit unusual in that Edward G. Robinson plays a doctor who infiltrates a mob to test his theories concerning the criminal mind. While I admit this is a little silly, all the usual story elements combine to still make a very watchable and enjoyable film. While not among his or Bogart's best, it is a rousing good time nonetheless.