Shock Treatment is a 1964 American neo noir drama film directed by Denis Sanders and written by Sydney Boehm, based on Winfred Van Atta's 1961 novel of the same name.

Taking place in a mental institution, starring Stuart Whitman, Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, and Lauren Bacall.

Mrs. Townsend's executor, Harley Manning, is suspicious of Ashley and hires actor Dale Nelson to simulate madness and land himself in the same institution.

In payment for the illegal impersonation, Manning puts $10,000 in a safety deposit box in Nelson’s name, withholding the key until the mission is accomplished.

Needing to feign mental illness and gain Ashley’s confidence, Nelson prepares for his role by studying books on psychology and gardening.

Nelson gets himself arrested by breaking a store window, railing against "conformity", and ranting about the monetary worth of chemicals in the human body.

She responds to his threat by twice injecting him with drugs that leave him in states of catatonia, using him as a human guinea pig for her experimentation.

Nelson testifies at Beighley's sanity hearing, and she herself is institutionalized, insisting repeatedly that she knows the money exists "after 31 separate hours" of questioning Ashley.