When Freud was still exciting everyone...

fbarthet

The Great Fritz did not like that movie. I do.

OK, this is not one of his really best. But this is still a very good film.

People who pay too much attention to the "Psychoanalysis" side of the movie are missing the point. It is true that the reason given for the hero "psychosis" is a bit (a bit?) weak and the way he is "cured" miraculously at the very end is simply laughable (that's why Mr Lang did not like the movie, he was German and did not like when rationality was thrown away through the window).

But the general atmosphere is gripping from beginning to the end. There is a constant tension with each moment of relaxation quickly followed by another anxious discovery. The play on the shadows (ah la la, that black and white!!!), the use of the mansion as one of the character of the movie, all that is very enjoyable.

The acting is excellent too. Michael Redgrave is good playing a very seductive, charming, ... and bloody annoying man. His character is weak and self-absorbed but still likable.

But Joan Bennett is here for him. She never achieved the same status than Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwick but was a dedicated actress able to play a socialite or a whore, a real bitch or a pure heroin. She is really excellent in the role of a normal woman confronted to an abnormal situation and risking everything to save the man she loves. Her character actually matures during the process. It is good to see a strong woman leading the charge. It is not all that frequent in Hollywood in the 40's (or later...).

The movie was not a success. Maybe the public saw it as a reminiscence of "Spellbound" (an woman who risks everything to save the deranged man she loves. Freud, Freud, Freud again and again). I love "Spellbound". Maybe that's why I love "Secret behind the Door...". Because of it and not in spite of it.

score 8/10

fbarthet 29 July 2014

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3057924/