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'Rat Man' A Freud Case dramatized in a short

posted 18 years ago by ForeignFilmguy
6 replies | jump to latest

About 15 years ago, I borroed from a psychologist a film called, "Rat Man" when I was in college doing a paper on Freud. I should have copied it because I did not know what I had.

Anyhow, it was a short film, about a half hour to 45 minutes, dramatizing the "Rat Man" case. It has on minorly famous British actor playing the patient(someone you would know if you so him).

The movie was just, ok, but in this country we do not get the whole picture on Freud's cases. In general we get an analogy instead of the actual notes that read like a book dramatization.

Now that you all found the Monty Cliff movie, anyone looking to tackle "Rat Man?" It is not list in IMDB, was a short film, that could have been done by the BBC. SO far however, in the LAST 10 YEARS, the actual film and information at nowhere to be found, and this psychologist, retired and "disappeared" from NY.

Anyone interested in helping me find this film!

[–] lastreghetta 18 years ago

I saw this film too, in a psychology class at UCLA. I projected the film fo the clss, and I remember that I checked it out from the UCLA film library. So, I know that they have it (it was a 16mm print). But I don't kow what their policies are about lending films. I too would love to see it again. It had a really great strange quality to it, and I've remembered it ever since.

[–] Rollo_Treadway 17 years ago

This reply comes very late, but anyhow: Your post reminded that I have seen the film you mentioned on TV - about 30 years ago! I remember it made quite a strong impression on me.

So I did a little googling and, while I couldn't find the film itself, here's a little more info about it:

Freud: The Rat Man. An Investigation of a Case of Obsessional Neurosis Conducted by Dr. Sigmund Freud.
A BBC TV/Time-Life co-production.
Running time: 55 mins.

This info is from a video list page on the website of the Argosy University Chicago Campus Library, so it looks like they at least have a tape of it! Here's the url:
http://www.auchicagolib.org/Video%20List%20Files/Video%20List%20-Numer ic.htm

[–] ForeignFilmguy 17 years ago

Thank you so, so much! It has been 15 years for me. I could not find the tile because looking for "Rat Man" really did not make the search very easy, and I am usually great with databases and finding even the most "obscure" books or movies etc.

If I can locate a copy, I are you interested in a copy?

[–] Rollo_Treadway 17 years ago

Sure! Best of luck in your hunting!

[–] ForeignFilmguy 17 years ago

One last question, and I do not know if you answered it. You had seen it 30 years ago. The last time for me was about 17 years ago. Under what circumstances did you see it? TV, Psychology class, some other class workshop or organization meeting? I would love to find the audience for a movie like that. The movie itself by today's standards would be horrible. However for me, I wanted to use the film as a matter of reference to make it more of a horror film that the case studies are.

So if you can tell how you saw it, it might help me figure out what to do with it.

[–] Rollo_Treadway 17 years ago

I saw it as an ordinary TV broadcast on Norwegian television, circa 1977-78, I think. This was also the period of the British TV series Tales of the Unexpected based on Roald Dahl's short stories, and I think I probably watched the Rat Man film somewhat in that spirit - as a kind of "weird tale"!

Like I said, it made a strong impression, and I don't think the production values were too bad, especially as it was an American-British co-production. But of course 30 years is a long time to remember details.

Maybe you could try writing directly to BBC or Time-Life to ask about the film, but I guess it might be difficult. Still, best of luck in your search!