Friday, May 25, 2018

Secret Beyond the Door

Secret Beyond the Door is a 1948 film noir directed by Fritz Lang and starring Joan Bennett and Michael Redgrave. Natalie Schafer, best known as Lovey Howell in Gilligan's Island, also has a role. A new bride discovers her husband is hiding secrets. You might be reminded of Bluebeard or perhaps Rebecca. Don't get me wrong, this is a fine enough movie, but I don't understand why it's included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

via Youtube:


The New York Times concludes a mixed review with this: "for all its psycho-nonsense, this film has some mildly creepy spots and some occasional faint resemblance to "Rebecca," which it was obviously aimed to imitate." Slant Magazine gives it 2.5 out of 5 stars and concludes, "Insofar as every Fritz Lang film you haven’t seen is an undiscovered country, Secret Beyond the Door flies high over its seemingly anonymous place in the master’s 1940s phase."

Empire Online calls it a "Sloppy effort". Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 54%. TCM has information.

6 comments:

  1. I've never heard of this film, but I will definitely be watching it today. Thanks for the link and the review.

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    1. I hope you enjoyed it. I love these old movies :)

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  2. Not seen this movie, it sounds interesting as some of the reviews liken it to a Hitchcock movie 😁. Happy Friday and wishing you a lovely weekend! J 😊 x

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    1. Yes, I had such high expectations and it wasn't _that_ good, but I did enjoy watching it.

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  3. I haven't seen this film, but it sounds good. I seriously need to do some movie catch up for sure.Happy long weekend. Hugs-Erika

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    1. Movies are such a fun way to spend time. I probably spend as much time watching movies as I do reading books.

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