Secret Beyond the Door ***½ (1947, Joan Bennett, Michael Redgrave, Anne Revere) – Classic Movie Review 2177

Fritz Lang’s 1947 American film noir psychological thriller Secret Beyond the Door updates the Bluebeard story about a woman (Joan Bennett) who suspects her new architect husband (Michael Redgrave) plans to kill her.

Esteemed director Fritz Lang revisits themes and ideas from Gaslight, Suspicion, Bluebeard, Jane Eyre and Rebecca, plunders them gleefully and wholeheartedly, and then reheats them to intriguing if rather less effect in this 1947 black-and-white film noir psychological mystery thriller Secret Beyond the Door.

Joan Bennett stars as lovely young New Yorker heiress Celia, who goes to Mexico on vacation and encounters a handsome, mysterious stranger called Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave) who catches her eye in a crowd. They marry and enjoy a honeymoon within a few days of first meeting.

They then move to settle in his ancient mansion on the American East Coast where new husband Mark has added new rooms  to a wing where murders took place. Celia uncovers many secrets about the house and her husband but she still needs to find out what is in the room Mark keeps permanently locked. And Celia soon starts convincing herself that Mark is a charming but crazed serial killer out to murder her.

Derivative though the story by Rufus King may be in Silvia Richards’s screenplay, this moody, atmospheric psychological thriller still has a lot to recommend it. Among its admirable qualities, it can boast a hard-working, attractive cast, Stanley Cortez’s superb noirish black and white cinematography, Miklos Rozsa’s score, Max Parker’s production designs and many good, effective moments in its twisty plot.

Even if it is not quite among Lang’s best movies, it is certainly engrossing and enjoyable. ‘It was jinxed from the beginning’, he said, ‘Trouble with cameraman, trouble with script.’ Well, it recorded a loss of $1,145,000. The budget is estimated at around $1.5 million and the box office was only $700,000. It was produced by Joan Bennett’s husband Walter Wanger, so this must have been quite a blow for the couple. It was also produced by Lang’s Production Company, so this must have been quite a blow for him too.

Also in the cast are Anne Revere, Barbara O’Neil, Natalie Schafer, Paul Cavanagh, Anabel Shaw, James Seay, Virginia Brissac, Houseley Stevenson, Mark Dennis, Robert Barber, Tom Chatterton, David Cota, Frank Dae, Harry Denny, Watson Downs, Danny Duncan, Robert Espinoza, Virginia Farmer, Paul Fierro, Jesse Graves, Marie Harmon, Donald Kerr, and Nolan Leary.

Release date: December 24, 1947.

Secret Beyond the Door is directed by Fritz Lang, runs 99 minutes, is made by Walter Wanger Productions and Diana Production Company, is distributed by Universal Pictures, is written by Silvia Richards, based on a story by Rufus King, is shot in black-and-white by Stanley Cortez, is produced by Walter Wanger and Fritz Lang, and is scored by Miklós Rózsa, with production designs by Max Parker.

The cast are Joan Bennett as Celia Lamphere, Michael Redgrave as Mark Lamphere, Anne Revere as Caroline Lamphere, Barbara O’Neil as Miss Robey, Natalie Schafer as Edith Potter, Paul Cavanagh as Rick Barrett, Anabel Shaw as Intellectual Sub-Deb, Rosa Rey as Paquita, James Seay as Bob Dwight, Mark Dennis as David Lamphere, Virginia Brissac, Houseley Stevenson, Mark Dennis, Robert Barber, Tom Chatterton, David Cota, Frank Dae, Harry Denny, Watson Downs, Danny Duncan, Robert Espinoza, Virginia Farmer, Paul Fierro, Jesse Graves, Marie Harmon, Donald Kerr, and Nolan Leary.

© Derek Winnert 2015 – Classic Movie Review 2,177

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