The Red House is a 1947 American thriller film noir[1][3] directed by Delmer Daves, and starring Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson, Rory Calhoun, Allene Roberts, and Julie London. Its plot follows a young woman raised by a brother and sister who are concealing a secret involving an abandoned farmhouse located deep in the woods on their sprawling property. It is based on the 1945 novel of the same name by George Agnew Chamberlain (1879-1966). The screenplay is by director Delmer Daves and Albert Maltz, uncredited.[4] This was Ona Munson's last feature film appearance.
Handicapped farmer Pete Morgan and his sister Ellen live on an isolated farm with their adopted child, Meg. They keep to themselves and are viewed as mysterious by the nearby town. Now a teenager, Meg convinces Pete to hire one of her 12th-grade high school classmates, Nath Storm, to come help with chores on the farm. On the first evening, when it is time for him to go home, Nath says he is going to take a shortcut through the old woods, a part of Pete's property he forbids anyone from entering. Pete becomes agitated, insisting the woods are dangerous and contain a haunted house which is painted red, and that Nath must stay out.
After traveling through the woods in the dark, Nath returns spooked after hearing moans and yells. However, a few days later, he is embarrassed at his cowardice and returns there after dark. He is struck from behind and knocked down into a stream. He returns to the farm believing that Pete hit him, but Meg and Ellen say Pete has been in the room with them since Nath left. Soon, both Nath and Meg become obsessed with searching for the mysterious "red house" and agree to go into the woods every Sunday, Nath's only day off, to look for it. They have no luck.
In the meantime, Meg begins to fall in love with Nath, but his jealous and manipulative girlfriend Tibby has other plans for him. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Pete has secretly given local handyman and petty thug Teller rights to hunt on the land in return for keeping trespassers off of the property.
One Sunday Nath cannot get out of a date with Tibby, so Meg goes off on her own to look for the red house. She finds it in a rocky ravine located a few miles from Pete's farm along an old cow path. Whilst running back to the farm Teller fires several rifle shots to scare her from returning. Meg falls down a slope and breaks her leg. That evening, when Meg does not return, Nath ventures into the woods to find her and brings her back to the farm. Pete is furious that both young people defied his warning to stay out of the woods. Later, learning that Nath climbed a tree to secretly visit Meg in her bedroom he fires Nath, banishing him from the farm and ever seeing Meg.
Nath returns to working for his mother at a local general store in town. With Nath's encouragement, his mother marries a long-time admirer and goes off for several weeks on her honeymoon, leaving Nath to mind the store. Nath soon takes additional work for the summer at Tibby's family farm close to town. As Meg recovers from her broken leg, Pete begins to crack up. He starts calling her Jeannie, and becomes controlling and domineering. Ellen and Pete have a conversation about how it was that some years ago they rented the red house to a young couple. Pete had been in love with the wife, Jeannie, since before she was married. She had not returned his love, causing him to develop an obsessive desire for her.
Nath catches the flirtatious Tibby dallying with Teller and sucker punches him. He is convinced that Teller is somehow responsible for Meg's broken leg. Nath confronts Tibby and finally learns how vain and selfish she is. Teller then punches Nath, while Tibby watches with satisfaction. Teller and Tibby then begin to kiss in front of Nath.
One evening, after she had been assaulted and injured by Pete over the red house and its hold over him, Ellen decides to burn it down. As she walks through the woods, Teller mistakes her for Nath and shoots and severely wounds her. Meg, having heard the gunshot, finds Ellen then rushes back to tell Pete, who refuses to help. Meg phones Nath and he says he will bring a stretcher after he calls the sheriff and the doctor. Pete fails to dissuade Meg from returning to the woods. By the time Nath arrives, Ellen is dead. In the meantime, Teller goes to Tibby's home and persuades her to elope with him in her father's truck. They sneak off into the country roads, but are pulled over by an alerted highway patrol. Teller makes a run for it, but stops at a warning shot and is apprehended. Tibby, who thought they were being detained to prevent the elopement, learns instead it is for murder.
Meg and Nath bring Ellen's body back. Meg demands the truth about the red house and who Jeannie is. Pete finally confesses that Ellen had been keeping the secret for him, about him being in love with a woman named Jeannie who later married another man. The married couple had a little girl, Meg. When she was two years old the couple decided to move away because of Pete's infatuation with Jeannie. Pete went to the red house to plead with her to choose between her husband and him. As they heard her husband returning, Jeannie began screaming. To stop her, Pete covered her mouth, claiming he accidentally suffocated her. He then killed her husband in cold blood. Pete buried the bodies in the basement of the ice house that sits next to the red house. Since Jeannie's husband told everyone they were leaving town, no one ever suspected they were murdered. Rather than abandon the infant, Pete and Ellen adopted little Meg. During the story, Nath slips out of the house with Pete's rifle to go after Teller.
Meg convinces Pete to help stop Nath. Pete agrees, and together they drive to the red house. Already losing his mind, Pete crumbles completely at the sight of the house and the memories it dredges up. Delusional, he thinks Meg is actually Jeannie, who is leaving him again. Re-living the experience, he puts his hand over her mouth and starts suffocating her. Nath and the sheriff show up in the nick of time. Pete takes off in his truck, intentionally crashing it into the ice house, where it plunges into the pond beneath it. As the truck sinks below its surface Pete is drowned with it.
Back at the farm a few days later, Nath and Meg watch the smoke from the red house rise, set fire by Nath to finish the job Ellen had tried to do. They talk about starting a new life together, looking forward rather than looking back.
Writing for The New York Times, A. H. Weiler enjoyed the picture, calling it "an edifying offering, which should supply horror-hungry audiences with the chills of the month... told intelligently and with mounting tension". As a strength of the film, Weiler cited a "uniformly good cast", including an "excellent" Robinson, a "fine" McCallister, and Anderson, who gives a "taut performance". Weiler also praised "Delmar Daves' fluid direction... and an appropriately macabre musical assist from Miklós Rózsa."[5]
Spencer Selby commended the film in his 1997 book Dark City: The Film Noir: "Murky psychological thriller with resonant settings and an emotive Rózsa score".[6]
Dave Sindelar gave The Red House a positive review in 2008: "It's not perfect; it's a little too long, so you end up figuring some of the final revelations before you should, and it gets a little repetitive at times, but the strong acting and some memorable images make it worth the investment."[7]
Copyright status
Chamberlain's 1943 novel has no copyright registration at the Library of Congress. The five issues of The Saturday Evening Post in which the story was serialized were registered for copyright by The Curtis Publishing Co.; the copyrights of all five issues were renewed in 1973 by The Saturday Evening Post Company.[8]
The movie was registered for copyright by Thalia Productions (LP864; 7 February 1947); that copyright was not renewed.[9]
The Red House was released as a two-disc DVD and Blu-ray set on April 24, 2012, transferred from original 35mm elements and digitally restored in high definition, by Film Chest and HD Cinema Classics. Features include the theatrical 35mm trailer, a comparison of scenes before and after restoration, and an original movie art postcard.[10] The film was released again on March 29, 2016, by The Film Detective as a standalone Blu-ray. This release contains no special features.[11]
Double Indemnity is a 1944 American crime thriller film noir directed by Billy Wilder, co-written with Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The film was based on James M. Cain's novel of the same name, which ran as an eight-part serial in Liberty magazine beginning in February 1936.
Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American psychological thriller film noir melodrama directed by John M. Stahl and starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price. It follows a socialite who marries a prominent novelist, which spurs a violent, obsessive, and dangerous jealousy in her. It is based on the 1944 novel of the same name by Ben Ames Williams, adapted by screenwriter Jo Swerling.
Sudden Fear is a 1952 American film noir thriller film starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance in a tale about a successful woman who marries a murderous man. Directed by David Miller, the screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee and Robert Smith was based upon the novel of the same name by Edna Sherry.
Lost Highway is a 1997 surrealist neo noir film directed by David Lynch and co-written by Lynch and Barry Gifford. It stars Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, and Robert Blake in his final film role. The film follows a musician (Pullman) who begins receiving mysterious VHS tapes of him and his wife (Arquette) in their home. He is suddenly convicted of murder, after which he inexplicably disappears and is replaced by a young mechanic (Getty) leading a different life.
The Killing is a 1956 American film noir directed by Stanley Kubrick and produced by James B. Harris. It was written by Kubrick and Jim Thompson and based on Lionel White's novel Clean Break. It stars Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, and Vince Edwards, and features Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Jay C. Flippen and Timothy Carey.
Criss Cross is a 1949 American film noir crime film starring Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea, directed by Robert Siodmak and written by Daniel Fuchs based on Don Tracy's 1934 novel of the same name. This black-and-white film was shot partly on location in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. Miklós Rózsa scored the film's soundtrack. It was remade as The Underneath in 1995.
The Stranger is a 1946 American thriller film noir directed and co-written by Orson Welles, starring himself along with Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young. Welles's third completed feature film as director and his first film noir, it centers on a war crimes investigator tracking a high-ranking Nazi fugitive to a Connecticut town. It is the first Hollywood film to present documentary footage of the Holocaust.
The Phantom of the Opera is a 1989 American horror film directed by Dwight H. Little and based on Gaston Leroux's novel of the same name. The film is an updated and gorier version of Leroux's classic tale and stars Robert Englund as the titular character. The film was a critical and commercial failure.
Road House is a 1948 American film noir drama film directed by Jean Negulesco, with cinematography by Joseph LaShelle. The picture features Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm and Richard Widmark.
Too Late for Tears is a 1949 American film noir starring Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, and Dan Duryea. Directed by Byron Haskin, its plot follows a ruthless woman who resorts to multiple murders in an attempt to retain a suitcase containing US$60,000 that does not belong to her. The screenplay was written by Roy Huggins, developed from a serial he wrote for The Saturday Evening Post. Arthur Kennedy, Kristine Miller, and Barry Kelley appear in support.
Human Desire is a 1954 American film noir drama starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Broderick Crawford directed by Fritz Lang. It is loosely based on Émile Zola's 1890 novel La Bête humaine. The story had been filmed twice before: La Bête humaine (1938), directed by Jean Renoir, and Die Bestie im Menschen, starring Ilka Grüning (1920).
Archibald Seth Armstrong is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Stan Richards from 1978 until 2004. The role of Seth began as a temporary "bit part" and he was due to appear for just a few episodes, but proved so popular that further appearances were made until Seth became a full-time regular character in the summer of 1980. Seth continuously annoyed the landlord Amos Brearly and later Alan Turner who took over in 1991, who memorably often shouted "Get out Seth!".
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a 2005 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Ken Kwapis from a screenplay by Delia Ephron and Elizabeth Chandler, based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Ann Brashares. It stars America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel. It follows four best friends who buy a mysterious pair of pants that fits each of them despite their differing sizes. They share the pants equally as they spend their first summer apart.
Let's Be Happy is a Technicolor 1957 British musical film starring Tony Martin, Vera-Ellen and Robert Flemyng and directed by Henry Levin. It was written by Dorothy Cooper and Diana Morgan in CinemaScope. This film was an updated remake of Jeannie (1941), starring Barbara Mullen, which itself was based on the stage play Jeannie by Aimée Stuart.
Taking Off is a 1971 American comedy film, directed by Miloš Forman. It tells a story of an average couple in the suburbs of New York City, who, when their teenage daughter runs away from home, connect with other parents of vanished children and learn something of youth culture.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 is a 2008 American comedy-drama film and a sequel to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The original cast return to star in the film. It was directed by Sanaa Hamri and written by Elizabeth Chandler, who wrote the previous film. The film is based upon the fourth novel in the book series: Forever in Blue (2007), but incorporates scenes and storylines from The Second Summer of the Sisterhood (2003) and Girls in Pants (2004).
Steamboat Willie is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Studio and was released by Pat Powers, under the name of Celebrity Productions. The cartoon is considered the debut of both Mickey and Minnie Mouse, although both characters appeared several months earlier in a test screening of Plane Crazy. Steamboat Willie was the third of Mickey's films to be produced, but it was the first to be distributed, because Disney, having seen The Jazz Singer, had committed himself to produce one of the first fully synchronized sound cartoons.
5 Against the House is a 1955 American heist film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Guy Madison, Kim Novak, Brian Keith and William Conrad. The screenplay is based on Jack Finney's 1954 novel of the same name, later serialized by Good Housekeeping magazine. The film centers on a fictional robbery of Harold's Club, a real Reno casino.
Strangers in the Night is a 1944 American film noir mystery film directed by Anthony Mann and starring William Terry, Virginia Grey and Helene Thimig.
Jinxed is a 2013 fantasy-comedy film that premiered on Nickelodeon on November 29, 2013. The film stars Ciara Bravo and Jack Griffo. The film was directed by Stephen Herek and produced by Amy Sydorick & Scott McAboy.
Jancovich, Mark (2014). ""The Murderer's Mind": Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, and the Monstrous Psychologies of 1940s Horror Film". In DeGiglio-Bellemare, Mario; Ellbé, Charlie; Woofter, Kristopher (eds.). Recovering 1940s Horror Cinema: Traces of a Lost Decade. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. pp.161–179. ISBN978-1-498-50380-8.
Further reading
^Spencer Selby (1984). Dark City: The Film Noir. McFarland Classic. ISBN0-7864-0478-7.
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