The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse
       
Director: Anatole Litvak
Year: 1938
Rating: 7.0
When you put three tough Warner Brothers cookies on the screen at the same time it has to be fun and this one is. Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor and Humphrey Bogart spit dialogue at one another like machine gun fire in this very quirky tale that Bogart referred to as Dr. Clitoris. Bogart is still three years away from The Maltese Falcon and fame but he has the tough guy mannerisms down pat after having played a heavy in a load of films. Robinson is great as a nutty innocent sociopath who seems very normal and is the protagonist of the film. Trevor tries to keep peace between them in that slow talking slur of hers. The film balances itself precariously between black comedy and crime caper and manages to succeed better than one might expect. Definitely an odd choice of a name for Robinson that must have brought smirks all around. Though not a noir by any definition, there are a couple terrific noir shots in black and white that would make any noir proud. Director Anatole Litvak keeps the film on its toes throughout with a quick moving narrative and a sly story. He was another director – born in Kiev – who fled Europe because of the Nazis.

 

Dr. Clitterhouse (Robinson) is a very respectable doctor who moves easily among the top of society. He is conducting research on the cause of criminality. To do this effectively, he decides to commit crimes himself and so burgles a few homes of their jewels. His nurse (Gale Page) discovers what he has been doing but he calmly explains that it is for a greater good and so she says nothing. But he needs more research and so seeks out the head of a gang by going to visit. Imagine his surprise when he finds out Jo is a female and a very alluring female at that. Tough as tacks but with a hidden soft spot under the exterior.



She has a gang of about ten men – do you ever feel guilty, she is asked - do bankers who foreclose or businessmen who steal from the poor – no, I feel straighter than they are. In her gang are a few familiar names – Allen Jenkins. Ward Bond, Maxie Rosenbloom, Vladimir Sokoloff – actors you would normally find in a comedy which this approaches at times. But her number two man is Rocks – Bogart with his hair slicked back, a perpetual scowl and a bowler. He is used to being the guy everyone takes orders from and that Jo counts on, but Clitterhouse ingratiates himself into the gang and devises brilliant thefts. He also insists on taking their blood pressure and blood after a caper. Research. Rocks isn’t happy about that.