"Experiment Perilous"

[Innesfan]

On Turner Classic Movies this afternoon was the vintage psychological thriller from 1944, EXPERIMENT PERILOUS, starring George Brent, Paul Lukas and the ever-glamorous Hedy Lamarr who, IMO, had the best stage name in Hollywood. I hadn't seen it in ages but recalled that the climactic scene involved some very large aquariums. As wikipedia puts it:

"A frenzied gun battle and fist fight in their home, featuring the destruction of several large aquariums, replete with shattered glass, gushing water and floundering fish, may be the most memorable (and most often imitated) scene in the film."

The film is set in 1903 and the main foyer of this opulent Manhattan townhouse is lined on both sides with gigantic Edwardian-era aquariums occupied by equally period-correct goldfish. I took some poor quality cell phone snaps of the climactic scene. I think you'll get the idea. That's George Brent about to get wet.

 

[GaryE]

So the film is a tragedy.

 

[Back in the fold]

Thanks for the heads up . I’ve never seen that one and old black and white classics are something of a passion of mine . George Brent looks good there . I love how people dressed in those old films . Always so dapper and elegant .

 

[Innesfan]

Thanks for the heads up . I’ve never seen that one and old black and white classics are something of a passion of mine . George Brent looks good there . I love how people dressed in those old films . Always so dapper and elegant .

Set in 1903 as it is and having been made in 1944, the peak of the Hollywood studio system, the costuming is impeccable and lavish. The film had the misfortune of being released the same year as "Gaslight" and the two classic psychological thrillers share very similar plots--a domineering husband who is attempting to drive his wife insane by gaslighting her into believing that she's losing her mind. So in many ways, "Experiment Perilous" has never emerged from Gaslight's substantial shadow.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I am a huge movie fan. I especially like the old B&W films. I have not seen the one in this thread, however. I am also a fan of the old silent films. I have even seen the very first vampire film ever made.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is a 1922 silent German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen.

I am a huge fan of Katharine Heburn, Jimmy Stewart, Humphry Bogart, James Cagney, Cary Grant among others. I have seen every Marx Brothers film. Her are some of my favorite old movies:

Arsenic and Old Lace
Harvey
To Have and Have Not ("Was you ever bit by a dead bee?" is a famous line spoken by Walter Brennan (as Eddie) to Humphrey Bogart in the 1944 film To Have and Have Not.)
Philadelphia Story
Bringing Up Baby
The African Queen
The Treasure of Sierra Madre ("Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges!")
Casablanca
The Maltese Falcon
Topper
Hobson's Choice
Gunga Din (You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din! Though I’ve belted you and flayed you, By the livin’ Gawd that made you, You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!) The movie was loosely based on the poem by Rudyard Kipling.

I could probably list 50 or more movies easily, but I figured the above was a good start.

And for you fish tank scenes in movie fans:

 

[Innesfan]

And for you fish tank scenes in movie fans:

As the wiki description noted..."the most often imitated scene" in the film. Here's another example, from the first of the Tom Cruise iterations of "Mission Impossible." The 'Akvarium Restaurant' in Prague scene: