HYSTERIA (1965)

American Chris Smith (Robert Webber, right) was in a car accident in London several months ago. He has recovered physically from a fractured skull but has total amnesia—Chris Smith is a name given to him by Dr. Keller (Anthony Newlands), who is about to release him. His medical care has been paid for by an anonymous source, and this same source is providing him with a penthouse apartment. (Plot loophole #1: why hasn't Chris or the doctor put a little muscle into finding who this source is, since one assumes that person could help Chris remember who he is?). The only thing found with Chris in the accident, in which the driver was killed, was a photograph of a model torn out of a magazine. (Plot loophole #2: who was the driver? One assumes that digging into the driver's life might help Chris remember who he is.) Chris gets a private eye named Hemmings on the case—and Gina, his nurse at the hospital who has fallen for him, tries to lend a hand—but in the meantime, he begins hearing voices arguing in the apartment next to his, but when he investigates finds only an empty unfinished apartment. He discovers that the woman in the photo is a model who was found brutally murdered, but one day she shows up at his place—her name is Denise (Lelia Goldoni); she's been his mysterious benefactor because her late husband is the man who was responsible for Chris's injury.  After having hallucinations of a dead body in the shower, he has a breakthrough and his memory of the crash comes back to him—and it's here that my plot summary should end to avoid spoilers. 

This a nifty little psychological thriller. It's easy to figure out that Chris is being gaslighted (or "diaboliqued," as in the classic 50s French thriller DIABOLIQUE), but by whom and why? Anyone—the doctor, Gina, Denise, the private eye—might be an enemy, or a friend, and this is the quandary that kept me more or less engrossed here. Robert Webber is more known as a character actor (THE DIRTY DOZEN, Blake Edwards' 10), but he does a nice job as the lead here. Interestingly, during the flashback, we learn that Chris was a wanderer and a bit of a jerk, which adds unexpected shades to his character. The lovely Goldoni is a nice combination of aloof and mysterious which keeps us on our toes as far as her motivations. Maurice Denham, as Hemmings, is a little shambling like Columbo, and though he disappears from the film for a while, he plays a surprising role in the climax. This Hammer B-film played in the States strictly as a second feature, and isn't well known, but it makes for a fun viewing for fans of tricky thrillers. [DVD]