Crack Up (1946 film)

CrackUp is a 1946 film noir directed by Irving Reis, remembered for directing many Falcon movies of the early 1940s including The Falcon Takes Over. The drama is based on Madmans Holiday, a shortstory written by mystery writer Fredric Brown. The drama features Pat OBrien, Claire Trevor, Herbert Marshall, and others.

Museum director Barton Erskine Sanford reprimands staff member Steele over the sensational style of his public lectures and is annoyed that he wants to demonstrate a forgery detection method by Xraying a masterpiece that was recently exhibited, Drers Adoration of the Kings. Afterward, while having a drink with girlfriend and magazine writer Terry Cordell Trevor, Steele receives an urgent telephone call informing him that his mother has been taken to a hospital. He rushes to Grand Central Station and catches the last train. About forty minutes later, Steele watches helplessly as another train crashes head on with his.Cochrane reveals that Steeles mother was never taken to the hospital. Anxious to avoid a scandal, Barton pleads with Cochrane not to arrest the man. Stevenson, the curator and Steeles friend, and Dr. Lowell Ray Collins, a member of the museums board of directors, vouch for Steeles character. In private, Traybin Marshall, an art expert with Scotland Yard investigating the suspicious loss of a Gainsborough painting, tells Cochrane he wants Steele freed, with detectives discreetly following him, as he is uncertain if Steele is involved. Steele is released but is fired by Barton at the direction of the museum board because of his mental instability. ........

Source: Wikipedia