Behind Locked Doors (1948)

Starring Lucille Bremer, Richard Carlson, Douglas Fowley, Ralf Harolde, Tom Brown Henry
Directed by Oscar Boetticher
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A reporter hires a private investigator to enter a private asylum as a patient, to prove a fugitive from justice is holed up there.

This intriguing low budget suspense picture, filled with the shadowy photography of a film noir, is a winner, written by Malvin Wald (The Naked City) and directed by Budd Boetticher, better known for his western movies.  There's not a big star in the cast, although Carlson would become a bigger name later, but it's filled with plenty of accomplished actors, including future Ed Wood regular Tor Johnson as one of the asylum's violent patients, who never speaks, but has some pivotal scenes.  Despite Henry's benevolent demeanor as the asylum's director, Carlson quickly discovers that there's sadism and abuse within the facility beyond the criminal they're sheltering, pointing out important issues although the film never quite becomes a social drama.  I liked the film very much, and though Carlson comes on to Bremer harder than would be acceptable today, the two of them have a nice screen chemistry.