In this example of forties Gothic a woman comes to fear the man to whom she is attached. Here Bennett’s husband is an architect who obsessively collects ‘felicitous rooms’ in which women have been murdered, and she realizes that she must uncover the secret of one room that is always kept locked. Lang brings a precise expressionism to bear on this baroque popularization of Freudian psychoanalysis, creating an atmosphere in which the subconscious seems suspended as in a dream or a nightmare. Cast includes Joan Bennett, Michael Redgrave and Anne Revere. Based on the story by Rufus King.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
311168
Language
English
Audience classification
PG
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Expressionism in motion pictures
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Detective and mystery films
Courtroom, Crime, Espionage & Thrillers → Film noir
Feature films → Feature films - United States
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Freud, Sigmund, 1856-1939
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Obsessive-compulsive neurosis
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)