The Red House (1947)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Delmer Daves

Writers:

George Agnew Chamberlain (novel) and
Delmer Daves (written for the screen by)

Release Date:

21 July 1947 (France)

Genre:

Thriller | Film-Noir | Mystery

Tagline:

Of this man ... and the girl who lived in The Red House ... people spoke only in whispers! (poster)

Plot:

Pete and Ellen have reared Meg as their own, ever since she was a baby and her parents took off. Now a teen...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Theremin | Based On Novel

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	Pete Morgan
Lon McCallister	...	Nath Storm
Judith Anderson	...	Ellen Morgan
Rory Calhoun	...	Teller
Allene Roberts	...	Meg Mogan
Julie London	...	Tibby Renton
Ona Munson	...	Mrs. Storm
Harry Shannon	...	Dr. Johnathan Byrne
Arthur Space	...	The Sheriff

Also Known As:

No Trespassing

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Sol Lesser Productions

Quotes:

Meg Mogan: She hurt bad?
Nath Storm: She's dead.

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995) (TV)

eerie and memorable

First, I saw this as a child and recall being absolutely mesmerized and terrified by the creepy music associated with the house. Upon seeing it again some months back, I was immediately brought back to childhood and felt the same strangled dread. Sometimes memories of things from youth don't hold up but in this case, RED HOUSE remains a bizarre and scary movie into adulthood.

Robinson's perfomance is very atypical but effective. He was a far more versatile actor than most people realize. As definitive as his fatcat gangster moll roles were in LITTLE CAESAR, KEY LARGO and the like, he was equally believable as victims and suckers, as in movies like SCARLET STREET. It is surprising that the studio was able to slip some very sexual material by the censors into this movie; Robinson is a deeply troubled and surprisingly sympathetic "deviant" here and things are handled with relative frankness.

This isn't a perfect movie (some motivational problems in particular) and i didn't plan to comment on it, but i strongly disagree with the comments of another reviewer who dismissed Robinson so I wanted to briefly opine with my dissenting opinion. One final note: besides the highly chilling music, this movie features a very haunting ending that will stay with you for years to come. This is pretty twisted stuff given the era, and despite some datedness, it's certainly worth a look for those who like their noir gothic and haunted.