The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse

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The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) is a film starring Edward G Robinson and Humphrey Bogart.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Dr. Clitterhouse, played by Robinson, is a wealthy society doctor in New York City who decides to research criminal behavior by the method of becoming one. He begins a series of daring jewel robberies during parties which he is invited to by his wealthy patrons. He measures his blood pressure, temperature and pulse but is unable to obtain satisfactory data.

He decides to study actual career criminals so he makes contact with a gang of thieves headed by Bogart, playing a character named "Rocks Valentine". As "The Professor", he wrestles control of the gang, and Rocks' girlfriend, away from Rocks, who is extremely resentful and begins plotting against him. Dr. Clitterhouse decides he has enough data from studying the gang after a series of very lucrative high-profile robberies and retires to study his research, leaving the gang once again under Rocks' control.

Rocks learns Dr. Clitterhouse's real name and shows up at his Park Avenue office one day and tries to blackmail him into continuing his leadership of the gang's activities, as Rocks recognizes his talents, but wishes to keep all the profits and power for himself.

Dr. Clitterhouse realizes he is being placed in a hopeless position by Rocks' demands and blackmail, and also experiences an epiphany of sorts in which he realizes he has not studied the ultimate crime, murder. He poisons Rocks' drink with an overdose of sleeping medication, and narrates to him the events leading up to his death, tunnel vision, etc. Rocks realizes at the last moment he has been fatally poisoned and tries to draw his gun and fire at Dr. Clitterhouse, but is rendered unconscious by the overdose before he can aim and fire.

The doctor is ultimately tracked down and caught by the police, with whom he has very cordial relations with due to his position in society. He is placed on trial and due to his insistence that he did everything for purely scientific reasons of medical research and the claim that his book is a "sane book" and his claim that it is "impossible for an insane man to write a sane book", the jury finds him Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity; the basis for which is that his life depends on proving that he is insane but he insists that he is sane and therefore faces the death penalty willingly on scientific principle, which the jury finds is clear evidence that he is insane. The movie closes in the courtroom with a close-up of Robinson muttering the word "marvelous...".