Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Pat O'Brien is an art expert who gives lectures at a tony art museum in a big city. While riding on a speeding train, he sees another iron horse approaching. As O'Bien stares in mounting horror, it gets close. Too close. And then -- Ka-BOOM -- lights flash on and off, everything tumbles upside down, and when O'Brien comes to he finds he's punching his way drunkenly through the door of the museum, interrupting an important staff meeting, and the police are brought in to handle him. They coach the kinetic O'Brien onto a couch and everyone listens to his story, which is exciting, thrilling even, except for the fact that there has been no train crash anywhere.The plot takes us deep into the seamy underworld of fine art. Well, we all knew it was a garbage pit to begin with, full of hoity-toity zealots who fling around the names of high-falutin' Frogs like Picasso, Gainsborough, Hopper, Rivera, el Greco, Carravagio, Da Vinci, Turner, Goya, Dürer, Hokusai, and Wang Wei. But, okay, this doesn't make for much of a feature-length picture, so we are soon in noir territory, if you can imagine good-natured Pat O'Brien as the central figure in a movie filled with dark shadows, fog, louche dives, penthouse apartments, tuxedos, intrigues, helpful but suspicious friends, truth serum, murder, and insurance fraud.The reason for O'Brien's imagined crack-up is banal and I won't give it away, though the discerning viewer may guess it before long. It's not a bad film. It's routine, but you'll probably stick around for the end when, as movie detectives are fond of saying, all will be explained.

A couple of bizarre incidents in the early part of this mystery thriller get the action off to a great start because as well as being attention-grabbing, they're also very effective in piquing the audience's curiosity about the real reasons for, what appear to be, two completely illogical occurrences. Why did a seemingly respectable art lecturer suddenly act like a thug and then claim that he'd been in a train crash that didn't happen? Finding the answers to these questions becomes extremely dangerous for the lecturer who has to cope with his own fear, paranoia and confusion as well as various other threats before discovering the connection between what happened to him and the existence of an international art forgery conspiracy.George Steele (Pat O'Brien) is the art forgery expert who, after recently leaving the Army, works for an art museum in Manhattan where his populist lectures regularly ruffle a few feathers. One night, looking wild-eyed and agitated, he smashes through the glass entrance doors of the museum before punching a policeman in the face. The establishment's board members, who'd been in a meeting upstairs, quickly come down to the lobby to see what's going on and are shocked to see their colleague in a very confused state and to hear his claim that he'd been in a train wreck. After realising that he's not drunk, board member Dr Lowell (Ray Collins), who's also a psychiatrist, becomes concerned that he may be having a mental breakdown and asks George to recount what had happened to him before he'd arrived at the museum.After being criticised by Barton (Erskine Sanford) the museum director, who hadn't appreciated the controversial nature of his lecture or his intention to use X-ray equipment to show how art forgeries can be recognised, George and his girlfriend, Terry Cordell (Claire Trevor) had gone for a drink. They'd been interrupted when George received a telephone call in which he was informed that his mother had been taken ill and had been transferred to hospital. After explaining the situation to Terry, he'd taken a train to visit the hospital but en route, there'd been a head-on crash with another train. George couldn't then remember anything else until his return to the museum. A sceptical-looking detective lieutenant Cochrane (Wallace Ford) knows that no train accidents have been reported and that George's mother had not been admitted to any hospital. Burton, Cochrane and fellow board member Stevenson (Damian O'Flynn), all wish to avoid George being arrested to preserve the good reputation of their establishment and after English art expert, Traybin (Herbert Marshall) has a few words with Cochrane, the detective agrees not to press charges but puts a tail on George.George (who the board fire from his job) then begins his own investigation and gradually finds that someone is setting him up, before becoming the prime suspect for Stevenson's murder, uncovering a major art forgery racket and discovering the part that narcosynthesis had played in what had happened to him."Crack-Up", as well as having a great title, has a sufficient number of developments happening in quick succession to keep the interest-level high throughout but there's also some unusual things going on between the characters which raise some suspicions as the story progresses (e.g. why is Terry so friendly with Traybin?, why does Cochrane so readily take Traybin's advice ? etc). Overall, the movie's suspenseful and very atmospheric with Robert De Grasse's stunning cinematography playing a huge part in this connection and the acting is consistently good, with Pat O'Brien's sometimes eccentric performance contributing greatly to the entertainment.

A predictable film noir for fans of the genre. Pat O'Brien (ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES) is the lead and begins the film with a bang as he's involved in a train crash. Bizarrely, people then begin to tell him that the crash never happened, and it's all in his mind. The plot thickens as it transpires that O'Brien is the curator at a museum holding some priceless paintings that a criminal gang want to get their hands on. Is he genuinely going out of his mind, or are people trying to convince him of that for their own nefarious purposes? Shades of Danny Boyle's TRANCE here, but like that film, CRACK-UP is strictly average entertainment. O'Brien doesn't make for a particularly likable lead and I think others like Herbert Marshall (FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT) would have done a better job. There's a whole lot of mystery going on, a somewhat sluggish pace, a few rather unbelievable action sequences, and one of the most predictable endings you can imagine.

A thriller in the popular post-war noir style, CRACK-UP (1946) is not a top-grade film noir, but it does incorporate some interesting ideas, like x-raying paintings to determine if they are forgeries.Pat O'Brien (ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES) is a WWII vet and art curator who gives lectures on paintings at an art museum. While trying to account for his actions one strange night, he finds himself pretty deep in some kind of criminal racket. On the lam from the law, he decides to get to the bottom of things on his own. (O'Brien is a street-smart art curator, knowing how to evade the police, sneak into and out of buildings, and arrange meetings in shady places.) He's mixed up in something serious. He knows too much. His life is in danger. Can he trust *him*? Can he trust *her*? Should he be trusting anybody at this point?There are a handful of secondary characters, but the film doesn't take the time to explain who they are or what their deal is. We only know that they are associated in some way with O'Brien and/or the museum. And we know that one of those people in the room must be the "bad guy". And so the guessing game begins.Why is Herbert Marshall so interested in O'Brien's activity? What was that person doing on the night of the murder? Is that a crooked cop? Why didn't the cigarette boy recognize him? Who's that lurking in the shadows? Could O'Brien be betrayed by *them*?The final solution to the art theft mystery seems like too much work, too much risk, and too much bloodshed to be worth it all. (And what good is a painting that's too hot to be displayed for anybody?) But what do I know about great art?Pat O'Brien is past his 1930s prime and looking a bit William Bendix-y around the edges. He is joined by the lovely Claire Trevor, a film noir staple, as an old friend and his only true ally. The cast also includes Herbert Marshall, Wallace Ford, and Ray Collins. The film has some typical noir touches, and the art theme is unique. Seeing the x-rayed paintings is fascinating, so the movie has that going for it. But the film overall doesn't stand out. It's okay, but not great.