Secret Beyond the Door... (1948)
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54% of critics liked it
(13 reviews) -
64% of users liked it
(590 ratings)
Even star Joan Bennett and director Fritz Lang regarded The Secret Beyond the Door as the weakest of their collaborative efforts. Bennett plays spoiled socialite Celia, who falls recklessly in love with the handsome but emotionally complex Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave, in his first American… More Even star Joan Bennett and director Fritz Lang regarded The Secret Beyond the Door as the weakest of their collaborative efforts. Bennett plays spoiled socialite Celia, who falls recklessly in love with the handsome but emotionally complex Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave, in his first American film). After their wedding, Celia becomes uncomfortably aware that Mark's mild distrust of women is actually a deep-set, and potentially dangerous, hatred. Even when facing the possibility that she'll be murdered in her sleep, Celia remains loyal to her unbalanced husband. The slowly mounting tension is enhanced by the mood-drenched cinematography of Stanley Cortez and the feverish musical score by Miklos Rozsa. But when it's all over, The Secret Beyond the Door fails to linger in the memory in the manner of such earlier Lang-Bennett efforts as The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Fritz Lang
- Written By
- Rufus King, Silvia Richards
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1949 Limited
- Studio
- Universal Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Probably the most psychoanalytically oriented of his features, and because it's Lang, the murkiness is mainly a strength.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Mr. Lang is still a director who knows how to turn the obvious, such as locked doors and silent chambers and roving spotlights, into strangely tingling stuff.
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Variety Staff, Variety
Mental complexities of the principals makes it sometimes hard to sort out the various motivations used to spin the tale.
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Tom Milne, Time Out
[Lang's] direction is masterly, imposing meanings and tensions through images that are spare, resonant and astonishingly beautiful. A remarkable film.
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Allen Eyles, Radio Times
The result is heavy going and pretentious.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
Featured Audience Ratings
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Cast
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Joan Bennett
as Celia Lamphere
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Michael Redgrave
as Mark Lamphere
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Anne Revere
as Caroline Lamphere
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Barbara O'Neil
as Miss Robey
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Natalie Schafer
as Edith Potter
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Anabel Shaw
as Intellectual Sub-Deb
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Rosa Rey
as Paquita
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James Seay
as Bob Dwight
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Mark Dennis
as David
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Virginia Brissac
as Sarah
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Paul Cavanagh
as Rick Barrett
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Tom Chatterton
as Judge
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David Cota
as Knife Fighter
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Frank Dae
as Country Squire
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Danny Duncan
as Ferret-Faced Man
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Virginia Farmer
as Lavender Falls Couple
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Paul Fierro
as Fighter
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Jesse Graves
as Porter
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Donald Kerr
as Ticket Man
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Nolan Leary
as Station Agent
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Donna Martell
as Young Mexican Girl
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Kay Morley
as Sub-Debs
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Pedro Regas
as Waiter
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Julian Rivero
as Proprietor
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Paul Scardon
as Owl Eyes
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Houseley Stevenson Sr.
as Andy
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Lucio Villegas
as Priest
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Eddy Waller
as Lem
- Crane Whitley
- Marie Harmon
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Ralph Littlefield
as Gothic Man
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Harry Denny
as College President
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Watson Downs
as Conductor
- Robert Espinosa
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Peggy Remington
as Dean of Women
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Wayne Treadway
as Beefy Man
