There have been times throughout the process of writing this blog that I’ve neglected to take into account that movies are supposed to be fun. Films can serve greater social and artistic purposes, but virtually everyone who comes to respect cinema in these terms initially goes to the movies because it is enjoyable. The experience of seeing a great or good movie for the first time is, and should be, less about the process of evaluating camera angles and mise en scène, and more about the progression of becoming emotionally engaged in character and story. In seeing these films and writing these reviews I’ve found that it’s usually the cinematic sludge that causes me to take specific notes, whereas the merits of the best films are easily recalled after the credits have rolled. Such was the case with Fritz Lang’s Secret Beyond the Door (1948), a genre bending noir that has never quite found its deserved place amongst its director’s lauded canon.
The somewhat disorienting narrative focuses on Celia (Joan Bennett), a young and affluent New York socialite who takes a trip to Mexico after the death of her caretaking brother. During the holiday she meets a charming but mysterious architect, Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave), and falls madly in love. Within weeks the two are married. All is well for a time as they remain in Mexico for their honeymoon, but Celia begins to detect anger in Mark that she cannot describe, nor discern its coming. She questions her analytical thoughts, believing that she’s just paranoid, and dismisses an incident as a strange coincidence.
Things however do not improve when she returns with Mark to the U.S., coming to live with him in his rural estate. She learns from his sister, who runs the house, that Mark was married before, that he has an impertinent son, and that his first wife died tragically after they had separated. What’s more, the constant presence in the house of Mark’s supposedly deformed secretary, who was scared in a fire while saving David, the son, adds to the already potent tension. As if the atmosphere in the house were not strained enough Mark reveals at a party a unique feature that adds to the morose atmosphere. He gives a tour of an entire wing of the home that is comprised of rooms, which he collects like stamps, in which murders have taken place; each one recreated to look just as it did when these crimes of passion were committed.
He coldly describes the actions that took place in the genuine rooms, to which this hall is an architectural manifestation of tribute. Strangely, these crimes all seem to have been committed by men whose desire for their female victims was only quenchable through death. Odder still, is that for as open as Mark is about his collection, there is one room to which the door always remains locked. (….Dun dun dun!)
Secret Beyond the Door is a bit of a mixed bag; part horror and part noir, with a note of Freudian character study thrown in for good measure. It’s part of a movie trend of the 1940s, sometimes described as “female gothic,” that includes films such as Rebecca (1940) and Val Lewton’s The Seventh Victim (1943) that feature strong female characters in danger. Such films may have eventually inspired the critically lambasted “women in peril” formula, but ironically they are themselves often critically admired. Rebecca won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1940, and though the Lewton film and Secret were never acclaimed or loved in their own time*, they’ve gone on to garner praise as top notch B-movies.
Here, Lang was openly inspired by Rebecca, but his version suffered numerous drawbacks, including budget overruns and clashes between director and star Bennett. The script also has weak elements, such as a shifting voiceover perspective between its leads that makes for a confusing progression. It’s not a superior film, and certainly not Lang’s greatest effort, but it is gripping entertainment and for that it’s worth your time.
Language: English
Runtime: 99 Minutes
Grade: 3 Hats Off
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