# Please help me identify this movie I saw a long time ago:

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-movie-i-saw-a-long-time-ago/843647>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 19, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-movie-i-saw-a-long-time-ago/843647 "2019-11-19T13:29:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-movie-i-saw-a-long-time-ago/843647/1 "2019-11-19T13:29:08Z")

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It was made probably in the late '40s. I want to say Ray Milland was in it, but I don’t think that’s right. It’s about a guy who just can’t get his life together, maybe even becomes alcoholic. (It’s not _ **The Lost Weekend** _, I’m sure.)

Turns out, the whole time he was was suppressing a horrible memory from when he was a child: He accidentally killed a playmate by sliding down the banister in front of a brownstone and kicking the kid onto a spiked fence, impaling him. When the protagonist finally remembers, there’s a flashback where we see the playmate sitting at the edge of the banister with his back toward us and the star’s feet heading toward him.

Ring a bell?

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**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-movie-i-saw-a-long-time-ago/843647/2 "2019-11-19T14:37:18Z")

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[Spellbound.](https://youtu.be/KTFG9YDV_8o?t=116)

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**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-movie-i-saw-a-long-time-ago/843647/3 "2019-11-19T14:43:38Z")

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Damn… you’re good.

So did you already know of the movie, or did you just exercise some super-human Google-Foo?

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-movie-i-saw-a-long-time-ago/843647/4 "2019-11-19T18:34:43Z")

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Aha, Gregory Peck, not Ray Milland. That would definitely have made my search easier.

Thanks! 🆒

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**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\
**Post date:** [November 19, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-movie-i-saw-a-long-time-ago/843647/5 "2019-11-19T18:49:41Z")

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> [@Enright3](#):
>
> Damn… you’re good.
> 
> So did you already know of the movie, or did you just exercise some super-human Google-Foo?

Google fu today, but the scene did sound familiar. I just couldn’t place it.