The Caretakers Reviews

Bergen stars as a young housewife who blames herself for the accidental death of her child and finally has a complete nervous breakdown in the middle of a movie theater while watching a newsreel. She is brought to a mental hospital, where progressive doctor Stack tries experimental effective and humane therapy. His efforts are constantly thwarted, however, by conservative head nurse Crawford. Crawford's methods, of course, cause more harm than good (she even teaches her nurses to use karate on unruly patients). Good performances are marred somewhat by an uneven script, which yields some unintentionally funny moments. The great black-and-white cinematography by Lucien Ballard was nominated for an Oscar.