IMDb reviews From IMDb
★ 8 / 10
“The play that made Broadway Gasp!” This is
dennyjt
“The play that made Broadway Gasp!” This is a gripping melodrama, anchored by a fearsome performance by Morris as a controlling, maniacal mother to Taylor…
“The play that made Broadway Gasp!” This is a gripping melodrama, anchored by a fearsome performance by Morris as a controlling, maniacal mother to Taylor, determined to sabotage his marriage to winsome Venable. It was to be her only film appearance, although she had a fruitful stage career. Her simpering servant is played by Revere, in her debut, as a woman who is the constant victim of her mistress’ cruelty, who suffers in silence. The two males, Taylor and doctor Tapley, who offers solace to Venable, are both rather wet but offer her stolid support. The picture builds tension as Morris enacts her plan to cut Venable from her boy’s life until a stunning climax and a ghastly cackle bring it to a close. Mostly set in one room but this does not distract or weaken the strength of the situation and the rivetting Morris dominates it all.
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★ 7 / 10
When your fortune owns you rather than vice versa
AlsExGal
The main character here is Mary Moore as Victoria Van Brent, the oldest sister and dominatrix in a family whose only remains are herself, younger sister…
The main character here is Mary Moore as Victoria Van Brent, the oldest sister and dominatrix in a family whose only remains are herself, younger sister Caroline, and baby brother Rip. They live together in an old creepy mansion full of reminders of the past but devoid of the present.Victoria - age unspecified but clearly middle aged- always dresses in black, emotionally batters younger sister Caroline to the point where she is just a shadow of a human being, and has got baby brother Rip convinced that his late father is always looking down on him, and that his wishes are Victoria's wishes.Let me straighten out one little matter. The synopsis says that the film is about Victoria threatening people with a secret torture chamber in the house. There isn't one, so if you are expecting Vic to go mad and don the red robe of the inquisitors and put somebody on the rack, then you will be sorely disappointed.The film opens on Rip's wedding day to a "commoner" - a nurse named Ann. Her union to Rip will issue in new blood and life to the family. Victoria has her own idea as to who Rip should marry, and it isn't Ann, whom she assumes is after the family money.Now this had me wondering, why did Victoria wait until AFTER the wedding to take any action to get rid of Ann? Wouldn't it have been easier if Rip was just beginning to see Ann to nip things in the bud? I guess Victoria figures she can get rid of Ann just as easily after she marries Rip as she could before. Now for a woman to never marry in 1910, the time this film was set, was a big deal and a departure from social norms. But Victoria doesn't seem to hate men, she just loves control. The family money just affords her that control. Marriage at the turn of the 20th century for a woman would mean ceding control, and she was not about to do that.Victoria starts out with passive aggressive stuff to put a rift between Ann and Rip, but when that doesn't work, she turns to a more severe and permanent solution.This film has great atmosphere, even if it is a bit claustrophobic. If it didn't say Paramount I'd swear it was a Universal horror with its secret panels and dark corridors. One funny thing about the film - you get a big dose of the thoughts and feelings of everybody in the cast except Victoria, who is the central character. Maybe this is to dehumanize her so the audience can look upon her as pure villain - I know I did.One bit of trivia - This film was based on a play that was very loosely based on the wealthy Wendel family of 19th and early 20th century New York. The last generation -only the third in fact - consisted of one brother and seven sisters who never married. The brother ruled over the sisters with an iron fist, would not let them socialize or marry because he thought heirs would decentralize their fortune, and did not allow electricity or even a phone into the house. So they all lived together in gloom, prisoners of their wealth until the last sibling died in 1931 leaving a fortune worth 100 million in that day's money - two or three billion today. Ironically, with no direct heirs 2303 people came out of the wood work from all over the world claiming to be heirs including an entire village in Germany named Wendel and some actual distant cousins in Czechoslovakia. Eventually, just about every claim was disproven. However, brother John forgot one thing - if nobody knows what you HAVE been doing, then nobody knows what you HAVEN'T been doing either, thus there were many people among the fortune hunters claiming to be illegitimate children of the recluse siblings. I'd recommend this old spooky film if it ever comes your way.
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★ 8 / 10
They had me at the opening credits...
Larry41OnEbay-2
After the Paramount logo, we see the title appear in ordinary white text on glass, followed by credits for cast and crew. Through the glass, behind the text…
After the Paramount logo, we see the title appear in ordinary white text on glass, followed by credits for cast and crew. Through the glass, behind the text, we see a heavy set of doors. Then an enormous face appears between the credits and the doors, drifting forward. It is the stern face of a bitter old woman; a crazy and arrogant witch of a face. Then suddenly the image presses against the text and the glass shatters!!! That's right, the old woman has a look so hard, a face so tough, that it shatters glass!!! With acting and dialogue that film festivals live for, this near-campy drama of psychological manipulation and domination pushes the limits of pre-code thrillers.
Inspired by the eccentric, reclusive Wendel family of New York's Fifth Avenue, Elizabeth MacFadden's stage melodrama, Double Door, was adapted for the screen in 1934. Set in 1910 Manhattan, the film stars Mary Morris and Anne Revere, repeating their stage roles as the domineering, calculating Victoria Van Brett and her weakling sister Caroline.
SPOILERS: The title refers to the door guarding the Van Brett's secret vault, wherein are stored the family jewels. Years earlier, Victoria, the only member of the family who knows the vault's combination, locked Caroline in the dark, airless chamber, literally frightening her into madness. At present, the misleadingly sweet and sour-natured Victoria has embarked upon a campaign to destroy Ann Darrow (Evelyn Venable), the new bride of her half-brother Rip Van Brett (Kent Taylor). I initially planned to just check out a few minutes of this film to see if it was any good, but could not stop watching it until the end, which will leave you breathless...
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