CRACK UP: his art's really not in it.

Casting Hollywood's Professional Irish Padre in residence as an art curator is the most notable element in this otherwise rather run of the mill RKO film noir B-movie from 1946. It takes a considerable suspension of disbelief to accept Pat O'Brien as a student of the Old Masters and for much of the film it appears that O'Brien himself is struggling with the concept.

He plays George Steele as a man overwhelmed with ennui, unable to arose any sense of fear or excitement even when he finds himself wanted for murder and running for his life from various art world villains who want him dead. There's a weariness in his delivery which suggests a man who hasn't had a refreshing sleep since the British Eighth Army turned the tide of the North Africa campaign at El Alamein in late 1942.
The World War 2 reference is not entirely facetious since Steele is a vet, possibly on the brink of a crack-up following his wartime experiences. Has he really been in the train wreck he claims he has at the start of the story or is it a product of his damaged mind? Does his long suffering girl friend Terry (Claire Trevor in another thankless supporting role) really have his welfare at heart or is she secretly in cahoots with the mysterious Englishman Traybin (Herbert Marshall)?
Other than a couple of genuinely suspenseful and artfully composed sequences on board a train the plot, involving stolen masterpieces and x-rays of forgeries, soon gets a little confusing and tiresome and I found myself empathising with O'Brien's lack of energy.
Over-plotted and undercharged CRACK UP sets out with good intentions and a suitably noirish ambiance but is let down by O'Brien's performance and the ultimate implausibility of the story's twists and turns. On the plus side it must be one of the very few Hollywood made thrillers where the hero literally sleeps through the climax!