Secret Beyond the Door

Intensely Thrilling
Secret Beyond the Door is told by the main character (Joan Bennett), a new bride of a man she met on vacation (Michael Redgrave). She finds that her new husband has kept many things from her, most notably that he was previously married to a woman, now deceased, with whom he had a son. She feels lost and out of the loop in the home the two share with his sister and secretary. Soon, instead of feeling disoriented, she feels terrified for her life, and with good reason.

Fritz Lang directed this film and there are many characteristic elements. First, the initial foreshadowing by use of symbolism is evident both in Lang's silent films and in his film noir talkies. There are several other elements of film noir in this film like narration, flashback, and realistic, imperfect characters.

Joan Bennett is beautiful, like a slightly more plain version of Hedy Lamarr. She is relatable enough to like which makes the viewer more interested in the film.

Michael...

Excellent thriller.
This lesser known old dark house thriller from Lang, comes highly recommended. It's not about a haunted house actually, but I'd still call it spooky. I first saw it only a few years ago, but it's already become a fave of mine in this particular category. -Sort of, anyway; the beginning is a bit slow and too romantic, and manages to look completely un-interesting to a Horror fan, but the wait is worth it. While on vacation in South America Bennett falls for stranger Redgrave, and promptly moves in with him. -He's strange indeed; with all the secret rooms in the big house, and two other just as strange occupants. I'll say no more; now go check it out. If you enjoyed the British "Dead Of Night" for instance, Lang's long corridors and the eerie atmosphere here should be a sure pleaser.

"Paging Mister Freud..."
Secret Beyond the Door was a case of fourth time unlucky for Fritz Lang and Joan Bennett, who evidently put the past triumphs of the Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street behind them to fight like cats and dogs throughout the acrimonious and over budget production while at times reducing co-star Michael Redgrave to a nervous wreck with the director's tyrannical behavior to emerge with a film hated by its star, preview audiences alike and critics alike (one memorably described it as `a woman's picture made by a misogynist') that proved a disastrous box-office flop. Add to that censorship problems, Lang being singularly unimpressed by cinematographer Stanley Cortez (The Magnificent Ambersons, Night of the Hunter) because Bennett overruled his original choice of Robert Krasker, the studio dropping his idea of having actress Colleen Collins deliver Bennett's voice-over narration as too confusing and having an affair with the screenwriter, Silvia Richards, that apparently led to some...

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