A couple of bizarre incidents in the early part of this mystery thriller get the action off to a great start because as well as being attention-grabbing, they're also very effective in piquing the audience's curiosity about the real reasons for, what appear to be, two completely illogical occurrences. Why did a seemingly respectable art lecturer suddenly act like a thug and then claim that he'd been in a train crash that didn't happen? Finding the answers to these questions becomes extremely dangerous for the lecturer who has to cope with his own fear, paranoia and confusion as well as various other threats before discovering the connection between what happened to him and the existence of an international art forgery conspiracy.George Steele (Pat O'Brien) is the art forgery expert who, after recently leaving the Army, works for an art museum in Manhattan where his populist lectures regularly ruffle a few feathers. One night, looking wild-eyed and agitated, he smashes through the glass entrance doors of the museum before punching a policeman in the face. The establishment's board members, who'd been in a meeting upstairs, quickly come down to the lobby to see what's going on and are shocked to see their colleague in a very confused state and to hear his claim that he'd been in a train wreck. After realising that he's not drunk, board member Dr Lowell (Ray Collins), who's also a psychiatrist, becomes concerned that he may be having a mental breakdown and asks George to recount what had happened to him before he'd arrived at the museum.After being criticised by Barton (Erskine Sanford) the museum director, who hadn't appreciated the controversial nature of his lecture or his intention to use X-ray equipment to show how art forgeries can be recognised, George and his girlfriend, Terry Cordell (Claire Trevor) had gone for a drink. They'd been interrupted when George received a telephone call in which he was informed that his mother had been taken ill and had been transferred to hospital. After explaining the situation to Terry, he'd taken a train to visit the hospital but en route, there'd been a head-on crash with another train. George couldn't then remember anything else until his return to the museum. A sceptical-looking detective lieutenant Cochrane (Wallace Ford) knows that no train accidents have been reported and that George's mother had not been admitted to any hospital. Burton, Cochrane and fellow board member Stevenson (Damian O'Flynn), all wish to avoid George being arrested to preserve the good reputation of their establishment and after English art expert, Traybin (Herbert Marshall) has a few words with Cochrane, the detective agrees not to press charges but puts a tail on George.George (who the board fire from his job) then begins his own investigation and gradually finds that someone is setting him up, before becoming the prime suspect for Stevenson's murder, uncovering a major art forgery racket and discovering the part that narcosynthesis had played in what had happened to him."Crack-Up", as well as having a great title, has a sufficient number of developments happening in quick succession to keep the interest-level high throughout but there's also some unusual things going on between the characters which raise some suspicions as the story progresses (e.g. why is Terry so friendly with Traybin?, why does Cochrane so readily take Traybin's advice ? etc). Overall, the movie's suspenseful and very atmospheric with Robert De Grasse's stunning cinematography playing a huge part in this connection and the acting is consistently good, with Pat O'Brien's sometimes eccentric performance contributing greatly to the entertainment.

Crack-Up is directed by Irving Reis and collectively written by John Paxton, Ben Bengal and Ray Spencer from Fredric Brown's story Madman's Holiday. It stars Pat O'Brien, Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall, Ray Collins, Wallace Ford and Dean Harens. Music is by Leigh Harline and cinematography by Robert De Grasse.Art curator George Steele (O'Brien) believes he has been in a train crash, but he's told that no such crash has occurred. Is he cracking up, or the victim of something sinister?I'm not trusting anyone this week.Out of RKO, Crack-Up is an above average film noir that is apparently under seen. It thrusts George Steele on a crusade to prove he is not losing his mind and on his way to residency at Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital. As he trawls around the city with a foggy head, his thoughts still remembering his service in WWII, he tosses off sarcastic quips and evades tricky situations with guile and ingenuity. Who can he trust though? If anybody?I'm outta my head. I drive around in cars picking up psychopathic killers.His journey encompasses a number of locations that are expertly born out for noirish purpose. Smokey steam train, dimly lighted station, a ship of many murky corners, the harbour as well, a penny arcade and of course many damp streets at night that are ripe for conversations; both hushed and threatening. With Reis (The Gay Falcon) and De Grasse (The Body Snatcher) using chiaroscuro effects, the atmosphere is suitably eerie, dovetailing perfectly with George's psychologically paranoid funk.About as smart as cutting my throat to get some fresh air!Set to the backdrop of the art world, the narrative has an opinion on art styles and snobbery while wrapping the plot around the crooked line of forgeries. It's not wholly successful for dramatic worth or intrigue, and in fact the visual presentation and very good performances of O'Brien and Trevor deserve a more cohesive story and a motive revelation of the crimes considerably stronger in substance. However, with its technical attributes most positive, some very well constructed scenes (the train crash sequence is excellent) and noir staples in place (amnesia, shady characters, sleuthing for truth et al), Crack-Up is well worth checking out. 7/10

Pat O'Brien is typically known for playing priests, the level-headed foil for James Cagney's explosive gangster. In other words, he's usually the least-interesting character in the film. 'Crack-Up (1946)' marks a welcome change-of-pace for the actor. No longer is O'Brien the calm, collected cleric, but a confused art critic at the end of his rope, doubting his own sanity as he battles murder and conspiracy. He perhaps isn't perfect for the role – the film's lurid moments would have been even more lurid had the lead actor been able to act more deranged – but O'Brien receives good supporting back-up from Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall and Ray Collins. Director Irving Reis (best known for his "Falcon" series, though he also co-directed the annoyingly manipulative 'Hitler's Children (1943)' with Edward Dmytryk) does well to develop the film's mood, not afraid to dabble in a bit of surrealism to help translate the mental confusion and degradation of his main protagonist. There's also a little Freudian psychoanalysis in there, as was popular at the time, but the distraction it causes to the story is only an afterthought.The role of WWII in shaping the film noir style should not be underestimated. In 'Crack-Up,' combat veteran George Steele (O'Brien) remarks that his greater fear in the trenches was that his mind might unexpectedly snap "like a tight violin string." These combat-related fears are here transcribed into a society ostensibly recovering from the war, suggesting that the shadow of the twentieth century's most costly campaign was still bearing over America, a sinister spectre of uncertainty and disarray. The film's undisputed centrepiece, though it is never adequately explained, is Steele's recollection of a train crash, a sequence that almost suggests an episode of "The Twilight Zone." As Steele watches the blazing beams of an oncoming train, time appears to stand still. He sits transfixed, calm and emotionless, a deer in the headlights. In classic film noir fashion, both he and the audience know what is about to happen, but all are powerless to stop it. The train barrels towards its predestined fate, a blistering collision of light and flames. Or does it?Perhaps drawing some inspiration from Lang's 'Scarlet Street (1945),' this film noir concerns itself with the art of art fraud and forgery. The filmmakers' approach to the topic is strictly populist. At the beginning of the film, art critic Steele gives a lecture that openly denigrates the booming popularity of surrealism and "modern art," dismissing the style as being of use only to snobbish social-climbers {an unfair view, since Hitchcock had employed the services of Salvador Dali just one year earlier for 'Spellbound (1945)'}. It is these very same snobs who have planned an elaborate scheme to replace masterpiece canvasses (titled "Gainsborough" and "The Adoration of the Kings," respectively) with worthless replicas, before destroying the copies – not for monetary gain, but because they're snobs, and would like to have the classic works of art all to themselves. If all of 'Crack-Up' was as lurid as the opening sequence and train-wreck flashback, then Irving Reis would have had a masterpiece on his hands. As it is, we are left with an entertaining if occasionally stodgy thriller.

In Crack-Up the idea is to make art expert Pat O'Brien think he's done just that. O'Brien wants to bring in some x-ray equipment to show how art forgeries can be done to stimulate interest in his lectures.Of course when you've got that going on at the museum, there's going to be someone who doesn't anyone snooping around. So O'Brien is framed with an elaborately concocted train wreck. Of course the train wreck never happened and people start thinking Pat has cracked up.The only one who believes him is girl friend Claire Trevor and between the two of them, they've got quite a task before them. To convince everyone including police detective Wallace Ford that O'Brien is still playing with a full deck and find out just why someone wants everyone to think there's a suit missing from that selfsame deck.Crack-Up is a good noir thriller from a studio which turned out quite a few of them in post World War II Hollywood. RKO always operated on a shoestring and the nice thing about noir films is that you didn't need a big budget. A good script and solid acting is usually what put over a noir.Herbert Marshall lends some British authority as a man from Scotland Yard who acts very mysteriously indeed. For those who like the noir genre, they will not be disappointed.