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IMDbPro

The Maze

  • 19531953
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 20m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
Buy this poster at MovieGoods.com
DramaFantasyHorror
A Scotsman abruptly breaks off his engagement to pretty Kitty and moves to his uncle's castle in the Scottish highlands. Kitty and her aunt follow Gerald a few weeks later, and discover he h... Read allA Scotsman abruptly breaks off his engagement to pretty Kitty and moves to his uncle's castle in the Scottish highlands. Kitty and her aunt follow Gerald a few weeks later, and discover he has suddenly aged. Some mysterious things happen in a maze made from the hedges adjoining t... Read allA Scotsman abruptly breaks off his engagement to pretty Kitty and moves to his uncle's castle in the Scottish highlands. Kitty and her aunt follow Gerald a few weeks later, and discover he has suddenly aged. Some mysterious things happen in a maze made from the hedges adjoining the castle.
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
1.1K
YOUR RATING
    • William Cameron Menzies
    • Daniel B. Ullman(written for the screen by)
    • Maurice Sandoz(novel "The Maze")
  • Stars
    • Richard Carlson
    • Veronica Hurst
    • Katherine Emery
    • William Cameron Menzies
    • Daniel B. Ullman(written for the screen by)
    • Maurice Sandoz(novel "The Maze")
  • Stars
    • Richard Carlson
    • Veronica Hurst
    • Katherine Emery
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 52User reviews
    • 39Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos42

    Richard Carlson, Katherine Emery, Robin Hughes, and Veronica Hurst in The Maze (1953)
    Richard Carlson and Katherine Emery in The Maze (1953)
    Katherine Emery in The Maze (1953)
    John Dodsworth in The Maze (1953)
    Veronica Hurst in The Maze (1953)
    The Maze (1953)
    Katherine Emery and Veronica Hurst in The Maze (1953)
    Lilian Bond, Hillary Brooke, John Dodsworth, Robin Hughes, Veronica Hurst, and Michael Pate in The Maze (1953)
    Richard Carlson, Katherine Emery, Veronica Hurst, and Michael Pate in The Maze (1953)
    Owen McGiveney in The Maze (1953)
    Richard Carlson and Veronica Hurst in The Maze (1953)
    The Maze (1953)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Richard Carlson
    Richard Carlson
    • Gerald MacTeam
    Veronica Hurst
    Veronica Hurst
    • Kitty Murray
    Katherine Emery
    Katherine Emery
    • Edith Murray
    Michael Pate
    Michael Pate
    • William
    John Dodsworth
    • Dr. Bert Dilling
    Hillary Brooke
    Hillary Brooke
    • Peggy Lord
    Stanley Fraser
    • Robert
    Lilian Bond
    Lilian Bond
    • Margaret Dilling
    • (as Lillian Bond)
    Owen McGiveney
    Owen McGiveney
    • Simon
    Robin Hughes
    Robin Hughes
    • Richard Roblar
    Jack Chefe
    • Waiter
    • (uncredited)
    Clyde Cook
    Clyde Cook
    • Cab Driver
    • (uncredited)
    Bess Flowers
    Bess Flowers
    • Dance Extra in Party Sequence
    • (uncredited)
    Kenner G. Kemp
    Kenner G. Kemp
    • Dance Extra in Party Sequence
    • (uncredited)
    Harold Miller
    Harold Miller
    • Dance Extra at Engagement Party
    • (uncredited)
    Bert Stevens
    Bert Stevens
    • Nightclub Table Extra
    • (uncredited)
      • William Cameron Menzies
      • Daniel B. Ullman(written for the screen by)
      • Maurice Sandoz(novel "The Maze")
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The plot may have been inspired by a legend associated with Scotland's Glamis Castle, the ancestral home of the House of Bowes-Lyon. According to the legend, a rightful heir to leadership of the noble house was born horribly deformed, and the Bowes-Lyon family told the outside world he had died at birth. He was then kept sequestered in a secret part of the castle until his death from old age, while the next-born eligible heir took his place in the succession to family leadership.
    • Goofs
      Kitty and Edith's rooms in the castle have their windows blocked with stone. That is shown in a shot of Kitty's room the night they arrived. The only light sources are candles and the fireplaces. Yet, in the morning, both bedrooms are bathed in light as if the sun were streaming in through these blocked windows.
    • Connections
      Featured in ADS-7 Good Friday Easter Appeal Marathon (1977)

    User reviews52

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    The Horror of Craven Castle.
    The Maze is directed by William Cameron Menzies and adapted to screenplay by Daniel Ullman from a story by Maurice Sandoz. It stars Richard Carlson, Veronica Hurst, Katherine Emery, Michael Pate, John Dodsworth and Hillary Brooke. Music is by Marlin Skiles and cinematography by Harry Neumann.

    Scotsman Gerald MacTeam (Carlson) suddenly breaks off his engagement to Kitty Murray (Hurst) and moves to his recently deceased uncle's castle in the Scottish highlands. Kitty wonders why and decides to travel to Craven Castle with her auntie Edith (Emery). Upon arriving they find Gerald a changed man, prematurely aged and acting in a most peculiar way. Just what is going on at this mysterious castle? What is the secret of the big maze out in the grounds?

    One of the early ventures into stereoscopic filming, The Maze is a delightfully off-kilter movie. As pretty much anyone who has seen it can attest, the ending, the culmination of great building by Menzies, is so far off the scale it borders on the preposterous, and for many it ruins the picture. Certainly myself had to rewind to check what I had just seen, for I felt like I must have nodded off and slipped into some sort of bad liquor induced dream!

    That said, for an hour this is a triumph of atmospherics and set design. Menzies and Neumann cover the story with foggy exteriors and murky shadows, while the interior of the castle is a classic case of Gothic horror textures, with Skiles' musical accompaniments are perfectly evocative. The narrative smoothly moves along with the air of mystery hanging heavy, where the visitors to Craven are locked in their rooms at night, thus at night from the gap under the doors of the bedrooms a slow moving shadow is glimpsed roaming the corridors. What is it? What is it in the distant maze that is shuffling around? Leaving weird footprints around the grounds?

    The characters are a stock group for the story, with intrepid girls investigating, shifty servants (naturally), well intentioned friends and lord of the manor harbouring a secret. Menzies fluidly uses the castle and grounds for atmospheric effects, neatly placing the characters within the palpable sense of dread and tragedy, and there truly are some striking scenes, especially the build up sequence to the revelation at film's climax. Then it's that ending...

    On reflection the makers missed a trick, the chance to really create a terrifying shock, but you have to say it's also a product of its time and budget. And whilst I understand fully the groans and laughs that derail what has gone before, there is a sadness right there in the reveal, a touching tragedy that bears thought even if the ludicrousness of it all is practically impossible to forgive. 7/10
    helpful•6
    0
    • hitchcockthelegend
    • Oct 9, 2013

    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 26, 1953 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Monogram/Allied Artists Studios - 1725 Fleming Street, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Allied Artists Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 20 minutes
      • Black and White

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