Secret Beyond the Door...

19471947
PGPG
1h 39m

When a lovely woman and her new husband settle in an ancient mansion on the East coast, she discovers that he may want to kill her.When a lovely woman and her new husband settle in an ancient mansion on the East coast, she discovers that he may want to kill her.When a lovely woman and her new husband settle in an ancient mansion on the East coast, she discovers that he may want to kill her.

6.8/10

4.8K

Director
- Fritz Lang
Writers
- Silvia Richards(screenplay)
- Rufus King(story)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Joan Bennett and Michael Redgrave in Secret Beyond the Door... (1947)

Michael Redgrave in Secret Beyond the Door... (1947)

Donna Martell in Secret Beyond the Door... (1947)

Mark Dennis in Secret Beyond the Door... (1947)

Director
- Fritz Lang
Writers
- Silvia Richards(screenplay)
- Rufus King(story)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

In this Freudian version of the Bluebeard tale, a young, trust-funded New Yorker goes to Mexico on vacation before marrying an old friend whom she considers a safe choice for a husband. However, there she finds her dream man, a handsome, mysterious stranger who spots her in a crowd. In a matter of a few days they marry, honeymoon, and move to his mansion, to which he has added a wing full of rooms where famous murders took place. She discovers many secrets about the house and her husband, but what she really wants to know is what is in the room her husband always keeps locked. —Julie van Arcken <antigone@teleport.com>

husband wife relationship mansion tour museum room 42 more

Taglines
- Some Men Destroy What They Love Most!
Genres
Certificate
- PG
Parents guide

Trivia
The grove of trees through which Celia (Joan Bennett) runs when she flees the house is the same grove through which the Wolf Man ran in The Wolf Man (1941), also made by Universal. In particular, the tree, against which she leans, is the same one under which the Wolf Man was beaten.

Goofs
When Celia takes an impression of the key in wax, she only takes the impression on one side, which would render the key made from that impression useless without the reverse side.

Quotes
Mark Lamphere: There's something in your face that I saw once before in South Dakota. Wheat country. Cyclone weather. Just before the cyclone, the air has a stillness. A flat, gold, shimmering stillness. You have it in your face - the same hush before the storm and when you smile it's like the first breath of wind bending down the wheat. I know that behind that smile is a turbulence that...
Celia Barrett: I heard his voice and then I didn't hear it any more, because the beating of my blood was louder. This was what I'd hunted those foolish years in New York. I knew before I knew his name or touched his hand and for an endless moment I seemed to float like a feather blown to a place where time had stopped.

Connections
Featured in Kékszakállú (2016)

Top review

6/10

Tepid thriller, fantastic cinematography

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.

helpful•19