MovieChat Forums > Shock Treatment (1964) Discussion > BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT'D BE...

BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT'D BE...

posted 13 years ago by MicheleWilliams
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I've seen ST before and am watching this on now "All Hallow's Eve's"Eve. FOX Channel gives this two (2) stars, when there are higher-rated, much crappier movies out there that are a snore. It's at least 2 1/2 out of four. An all-star cast. And to be treasured for its kitsch and nostalgia--e.g., that lion "home video" all doctored-up (no pun intended)? A 1964 take on Mental Hospitals! The early Civil Rights Movement, where black actors where allowed a chance at playing patients as well as professionals (though I wasn't quite sure about Ossie Davis--was he akin to that psychiatric nurse in "Snake Pit" who was later committed herself but (in her mind) continuted on in her earlier job at the Hospital?

All in all, but for some suspended disbelief moments--c'mon, this was before the "Easy Rider/Raging Bull," Bob Evans, time for realism in pictures, this is an above-average thriller. Probably, for it's time, it was a ittle "shocking," too. :o

[–] biddle2 7 years ago

I am no critic, but just watched it for the first time. I thought it was pretty good and was surprised by the ending, which is always a plus. As for Ossie Davis character, in the end I assumed Lauren Bacall had been giving him EST because he caught her up to no good.
And as someone else noted, yes- sexually active young women were once upon a time considered mentally ill nymphomaniacs and their families could lock them up if they didn't walk the straight and narrow.
I think my favorite line is when the lawyer is trying to recruit the actor back stage, and the actor tells him "you have been watching the wrong kind of shows", as if he were asking for something else.