Secret Beyond the Door... (1947)

Best movie of this year hands down!

A Masterpiece!

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Another take on the BLUEBEARD/REBECCA type storyline from German auteur Fritz Lang, although I have to say that this is one of his worst movies. The story involves an idealistic young bride who marries a handsome man and moves into his ancestral home only to discover that he's hiding some very dark secrets. Who is the mysterious scarred woman in his home, and what secret is lurking behind door number seven? There seem to have been hundreds of similarly-themed movies made during the 1940s and this is definitely a lesser effort compared to what's come before (Hitchcock's own version of REBECCA was a masterclass in suspense). SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR is slow and stodgy, with little incident to recommend it. Even worse, despite some impressive sets and locations, there's little of the Gothic atmosphere you'd hope from such a production.Joan Bennett is a rather cold heroine and not really someone you can support very much. Michael Redgrave (THE LADY VANISHES) is better, but seems a bit miscast in his role - he's too much of a nice guy to really convince as a sinister suitor. Sure, things do pick up for an appropriately exciting climax, but by that stage it's too little, too late.

From director Fritz Lang (Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, Metropolis), I was quite surprised to see that this old film in the genre it was and featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die was only rated two out of five stars by critics, I was still going to watch it regardless. Basically in New York, Rick Barrett (Paul Cavanagh) has died, and his sister and heiress Celia (The Reckless Moment's Joan Bennett) who loved him very much has a brief affair with her brother's friend Bob Dwight (James Seay), he is also administrator to the funds, and they later get married. However she goes on a vacation to Mexico, and there she meets Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave), the eccentric and mysterious owner of a minor magazine, she has a crush on him, and later she divorces her original husband, marries him and moves to Lavender Falls, moving into his mansion Blaze Creek. Celia finds out the manor is administrated by Rick's sister Caroline (Anne Revere), also living there is his secretary Miss Robey (Barbara O'Neil) and his rebel and weird son David (Mark Dennis), born from Rick's previous marriage to a woman called Eleanor. Over a short space of time MArk shows strange behaviour, one night he gives a party to common friends and shows all the rooms in the mansion to the guests, all the rooms relate to men that killed the wives, only one room is never opened and always locked, number 7. Celia is highly inquisitive but equally scared to find out the secret beyond the door, and overcome with curiosity she opens the door and find out the mystery, Mark appears to potentially be planning his wife's murder, but it is not him that goes mad, but Miss Robey setting fire to house, and Mark makes it up to Celia saving her life and they reconcile. Also starring Natalie Schafer as Edith Potter. I agree the reason the film isn't perhaps all that thought out is because many of the flashback sequences are confusing, and it is almost too strange to take seriously, but the performance Bennett is certainly the most interesting, Redgrave I agree doesn't have quite enough romantic appeal but he certainly gets being weird pretty spot on, I think the most watchable sequences were certainly the murderous bits full of surrealism, so it is not a completely disappointing thriller melodrama. Okay!

Rather tepid 1940s thriller. Joan Bennett is beautiful, however, as is the cinematography. Really strikingly shot, which makes it well worth watching; it is reminiscent of Spellbound in parts, with a surreal edge to some of the backdrops.The story, very loosely based on the old Bluebeard fairy tale, is interesting, but the pacing of the film is off, and you never really feel much tension. There are some interesting characters in the house, especially the secretary, but they aren't very developed. So much more could have been done in this area, to make it a truly great film.Without giving anything away, I doubt many of us would have made the same decision that the main characters did in the end. But don't let that distract you from the truly beautiful fashion of this film.

In New York, after the death of her beloved brother Rick Barrett (Paul Cavanagh), the heiress Celia (Joan Bennett) has a brief love affair with Rick's friend and administrator of the funds Bob Dwight (James Seay) and they decide to marry each other. However, Celia travels on vacation to Mexico, where she meets the mysterious owner of a minor magazine Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave) and she has a crush on him. Mark is an eccentric man that collects rooms in his mansion in Blaze Creek and they immediately get married to each other.Celia travels to Levender Falls and she moves to the mansion. She discovers that Mark's sister Caroline Lamphere (Anne Revere) administrates the manor; his secretary Miss Robey (Barbara O'Neil) also lives there; further, Mark has been previously married with a woman called Eleonor and their rebel and weird son, David (Mark Dennis), also lives in the house. Mark has a strange behavior but a gives a party to their common friends and he show his rooms, all of them related to men that killed their wives. But he does not open the room number 7 that he always keeps locked. Celia is intrigued and a little scared with the contents of the rooms and she decides to find what Mark keeps locked in the mysterious room."Secret Beyond the Door..." is a silly and unbelievable psychological thriller by the great director Fritz Lang, unfortunately with a ridiculous and disappointing conclusion. The story of this Bluebeard is intriguing until the moment that he shows his rooms to his wife and guests. The commercial conclusion with happy end is also terrible. The good thing is the wonderful cinematography in black and white and shadows and the camera work. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "O Segredo da Porta Fechada" ("The Secret of the Closed Door")