Main Cast: Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, Ethel Barrymore, Kent Smith, Rhonda Fleming
Release Year: 1946
Country: US
Run Time: 83 minutes
Plot
The wonderfully suspenseful psychological drama Spiral Staircase is the prototype of the "old dark house, lady in distress" thriller, full of dark corners, flickering candles and featuring a mysterious, menacing killer whose true identity remains hidden until the end. Helen Capel (Dorothy McGuire), mute because of a childhood trauma, cares for the owner of the house, the wealthy Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore), a demanding, widowed invalid. Helen has quietly fallen in love with one of Mrs. Warren's sons, Dr. Parry (Kent Smith), who she believes to be a gentle and understanding man. Helen's peaceful life is changed forever when three local women, all with physical handicaps, are found murdered. The movie builds to a suspenseful conclusion as Helen finds herself in the midst of a life-and-death battle in the house, as the true identity of the murderer is revealed. Dorothy McGuire is exquisite as the innocent, sweet Helen and gives a totally convincing performance in the difficult role. She uses her expressive face to perfectly convey Helen's emotions, fear and ultimate bravery. Ethel Barrymore won an Academy Award nomination for her performance as Mrs. Warren and plays the difficult "Grande Dame" with great relish. Director Robert Siodmak, noted for his stylish direction of atmospheric suspense films, uses all his plot devices with great skill and craftsmanship, increasing the suspense and sense of foreboding as Helen is observed through the eyes of her stalker, who the audience sees only as a pair of menacing eyes. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
Review
Adapted from an Ethel Lina White novel, Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase (1946) is an effectively chilling Gothic film noir with an ominous, expressionistic atmosphere. With its questionable group of residents and servants, headed by Ethel Barrymore's crusty matriarch, the Warren household is already as twisted as the title stairs even before they suspect that a murderer is in the house. Enhancing the visual menace of the old, isolated mansion and the climactic dark and stormy night, Siodmak reveals the sinister presence of the killer targeting Dorothy McGuire's mute maid solely through close-ups of his crazed, peeping eyes -- the same eyes that already killed several other pretty young things with physical infirmities. As McGuire skillfully communicates a wide range of emotions through pantomime, and her impairment increases the suspense, her reaction to the final threat becomes all the more potent. It was Barrymore, however, who earned an Oscar nomination for her Grande Dame acting. Greeted in 1946 as a solid thriller regardless of its gestures towards explaining a pathology, The Spiral Staircase was remade, with considerably fewer chills, in 1975. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Albert S. D'Agostino - Art Director, Jack Okey - Art Director, Edward Stevenson - Costume Designer, Harry Scott - First Assistant Director, Robert Siodmak - Director, Harry Gerstad - Editor, Harry Marker - Editor, Roy Webb - Composer (Music Score), Constantin Bakaleinikoff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Nick Musuraca - Cinematographer, Dore Schary - Producer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, Vernon Walker - Special Effects, John L. Cass - Sound/Sound Designer, Terry Kellum - Sound/Sound Designer, Mel Dinelli - Screenwriter, Ethel Lina White - Book Author
Set in early 20th century New England, the screenplay by Mel Dinelli is about a serial killer who is murdering disabled young women in the community. His next victim apparently is Helen, a mute girl who works as a live-in companion for wealthy, bedridden Mrs. Warren, who urges her to leave the house, as does Dr. Parry, who knows the reason for Helen's loss of speech and hopes to help her get her voice back. Rounding out the household are Mrs. Warren's son and stepson, her verbally-abused nurse, a secretary, a handyman and his wife, a housekeeper with a taste for brandy.
The Spiral Staircase was adapted as a half-hour radio play on the November 25, 1949 broadcast of Screen Director's Playhouse, starring Dorothy McGuire in her original role.
