Secret Beyond the Door

Part psychological thriller and part Gothic melodrama, Fritz Lang’s Secret Beyond the Door uses Joan Bennett’s whispered voice-over, expressionist camera work in dungeon-like sets, and a not-so-subtle door metaphor to create what feels like a 99-minute cinematic dream. Opening in a stunning, 400-year-old, Mexican chapel where a wealthy heiress named Celia (Bennett) is about to marry the mysterious architect Mark Lamphiere (Michael Redgrave), the story then follows the newlyweds to Mark’s mansion in which he has redesigned many rooms as perfect replicas of famous murder scenes, which, except for one that remains locked at all times, he enjoys displaying for guests. Not only are Mark’s macabre interests a surprise to Celia, but so are the fact that he is a widower and lives with his estranged, young son David (Mark Dennis) who believes Mark killed his mother. Also residing in the mansion are Mark’s protective sister Caroline (Anne Revere) and his disfigured secretary, Miss Robey (Barbara O’Neil), who may or may not harbor a secret love for her employer. As so often happens in Gothic noir (see Rebecca, 1940; Suspicion, 1941; and many more), Celia begins to fear that the husband she hastily married may be planning to kill her for her money, a theory supported by her financial manager Bob Dwight (James Seay) who, not surprisingly, has had a crush on her for years. Despite a few convolutions in the script, Lang creates a feast of dramatic shots composed of staircases, doors, cellars, candles, paintings, and plenty of characters wearing unsettled expressions.