Line #20 Film/ShockCorridor


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shockcorridor_5238.jpg]]
2
3	->''"Whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad."''
4	-->-- Creator/{{Euripides}}, 425 B.C.
5
6	1963 drama directed by Creator/SamuelFuller.
7
8	Johnny Barrett (Creator/PeterBreck), an ambitious journalist, is determined to win a Pulitzer Prize by solving a murder committed in a lunatic asylum and witnessed only by [[RuleOfThree three]] inmates, from whom [[PoliceAreUseless the police have been unable to extract the information]]. With the connivance of a [[TheShrink psychiatrist]], and the reluctant help of his girlfriend Cathy (Creator/ConstanceTowers), he succeeds in having himself declared insane and sent to the asylum. There he slowly tracks down and interviews the witnesses - but things are stranger than they seem ...
9
10	----
11	!!This film provides examples of:
12
13	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Johnny wanted to solve the mystery of the murder at the asylum and get to the bottom of the case. To do so he enters as a mental patient [[spoiler:and finally goes insane for good]].
14	* BecomingTheMask: [[spoiler:Johnny eventually goes from feigning insanity as a cover story to becoming insane for real by the end of the film.]]
15	* BedlamHouse: The asylum has this dysfunctional feel to it.
16	* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Johnny gradually believed his BrotherSisterIncest cover story was factual and he's really a mental patient.
17	* BittersweetEnding / DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Johnny solves the mystery, the murderer is caught, and Johnny gets his Pulitzer. But his obsession leads to him mentally snapping--he is now catatonic, and a patient at the asylum. And there seems to be no hope for Cathy reconciling with him.]]
18	* BoomerangBigot: Trent, as a self-proclaimed black Klansman.
19	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: A self-inflicted example, as Johnny's prolonged exposure to the asylum's atmosphere caused him to brainwashed himself into thinking he's really insane and believing in his own BrotherSisterIncest cover story.
20	* BrotherSisterIncest: Johnny fakes desiring and attempting it with his pretend sister to get committed.
21	* CannotSpitItOut: Johnny's speaking impairment in critical situations as a result of the electroshock therapy.
22	* CatapultNightmare: Trent is performing one of these.
23	* CentralTheme: America is a madhouse!
24	* CreateYourOwnVillain: All the inmates in the asylum are driven mad as a result of some failing in American society, whether it's the RedScare and Confederate Lost Cause, rampant bigotry, nuclear weapons or [[spoiler:tabloid journalism and obsession with fame]].
25	* DrivenToMadness: The whole point of it. It's about a journalist has himself declared insane in order to investigate the murder in the mental hospital. But he slowly losing his mind.
26	* ElectroconvulsiveTherapyIsTorture: The electroshock treatment Johnny is given only makes him worse.
27	* {{Fanservice}}: Cathy's song number in a skimpy Vegas show-girl outfit.
28	* FatBestFriend: The gigantic opera singer instantly befriends Johnny.
29	* FlippingTheTable: This happens during the dispute at the canteen.
30	* GeniusDitz: Dr. Boden, a brilliant nuclear scientist, has regressed to the mental level of a six-year old, spending his time drawing crude childish pictures and playing hide-and-go-seek.
31	* GoAmongMadPeople: Johnny.
32	* HeroicBreakdown: Johnny undergoes one as he is BecomingTheMask.
33	* HollywoodLaw: The movie acts like the murderer has been nailed when Johnny beats him into a confession. In reality, that would be inadmissible in court. The only witness is also a delusional mental patient who thinks he's a little boy most of the time. So it's likely the murderer would go free.
34	* InnerMonologue: Johnny's thoughts are the main narrative.
35	* InsaneEqualsViolent: {{Averted}} in the case of Boden and Stuart and some of the other inmates who are harmless, but it's certainly true of Trent, the nymphomaniacs and Johnny.
36	* InternalizedCategorism: Trent has experienced so much bigotry that he starts mouthing slurs and even sports a Ku Klux Klan outfit despite being African-American.
37	* IrisOut: The movie starts with an Iris-In effect on the long asylum corridor.
38	* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Cathy's crazy love for Johnny.
39	* MistakenForIncest: This is a big plot point, where the protagonist is an ambitious journalist that pretends to have an incestuous fixation on his own sister (she is actually his girlfriend) in order to be committed to an asylum where he is pursuing a story. Completely PlayedForDrama.
40	* NapoleonDelusion: Stuart believes that he's UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar general J. E. B. Stuart.
41	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:By faking to be insane and vulnerably exposing himself to the mental hospital's environment, Johnny had unintentionally brainwashed himself into believing in his own BrotherSisterIncest cover story and he's actually insane.]]
42	* OrderliesAreCreeps: Wilkes anyway.
43	* PunctuatedPounding: Who! Killed! Sloan! (Johnny pounding Wilkes' head on the floor)
44	* PunishmentBox: Johnny is threatened by the warden with having this treatment.
45	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In the opening scene, Cathy is giving one of these to Johnny concerning his obsession.
46	* RefugeInAudacity: The whole movie, with its over-the-top satire, is filled with this. The Trent episode is especially bold.
47	* RoomFullOfCrazy: A mild version with the drawings in the nympho ward.
48	* SanitySlippage: Johnny's losing it towards the end, becoming a legit inmate of the asylum, thereby BecomingTheMask as it was originally his cover.
49	* SelectiveObliviousness: Pagliacci views everything as an opera, often imitating the movements of an orchestral conductor around the other inmates. When Johnny screams during a panic attack, Pagliacci mistakes it for a sour note.
50	* ShellShockedVeteran: Stuart, a Korean War vet traumatized by his brainwashing by the DirtyCommunists and disgraced by the American public as a traitor.
51	* SocietyIsToBlame: All the inmates in the asylum are driven mad by certain ugly facets of American society.
52	* SplashOfColor: While the movie is produced in black and white, the nightmares/visions of the characters are depicted in color. This is actually footage Fuller shot for a planned adventure film in Brazil's Karaja community, that ultimately got cancelled.
53	* TalkativeLoon: Trent in particular.
54	* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Trent mentions this twice in his hate speeches.
55	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Johnny, trying to convince the shrink of his sanity.

Context Film / ShockCorridor