{"id":37609,"date":"2016-09-19T08:48:31","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T15:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37609"},"modified":"2021-02-04T00:39:06","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T07:39:06","slug":"spiral-staircase-the-1945","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37609","title":{"rendered":"Spiral Staircase, The (1945)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Even with her eyes shut, she seems to be watching you like an evil spirit.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-37610\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Poster.jpg 495w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nOn a dark and stormy night, a mute housemaid (Dorothy McGuire) caring for an infirm woman (Ethel Barrymore) in a country mansion fears for her life after several local girls with disabilities are murdered. Meanwhile, a kind doctor (Kent Smith) believes he can cure McGuire of her trauma-induced muteness, while Barrymore&#8217;s son (Gordon Oliver) romances the household&#8217;s beautiful secretary (Rhonda Fleming), and Oliver&#8217;s stepbrother (George Brent) manages the rest of the staff &#8212; including a tippling maid (Elsa Lanchester), a stern nurse (Sara Allgood), and a manservant (Rhys Williams).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Disabilities<\/li>\n<li>Dorothy McGuire Films<\/li>\n<li>Elsa Lanchester Films<\/li>\n<li>Ethel Barrymore Films<\/li>\n<li>George Brent Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Old Dark House<\/li>\n<li>Robert Siodmak Films<\/li>\n<li>Serial Killers<\/li>\n<li>Servants, Maids and Housekeepers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that while it&#8217;s &#8220;not hard to figure out the mystery&#8221; of this &#8220;classic gothic thriller&#8221;, director &#8220;Robert Siodmak&#8217;s atmospheric direction keeps viewers anxious&#8221;, and there are &#8220;some particularly eerie close-ups of the murderer&#8217;s eye before he attacks his victims&#8221;. Indeed, the primary star of the show is DP Nicholas Musuraca (best known for his work with Val Lewton), whose stunning cinematography turns multiple frames into gorgeous chiaroscuro paintings. The most memorable aspect of the screenplay (based on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ethel_Lina_White\">Ethel Lina White<\/a>&#8216;s novel <em>Some Must Watch<\/em>) is that the protagonist can&#8217;t (won&#8217;t) speak, even to save her own life; to that end, this would make an interesting double-bill with <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=20216\"><em>Wait Until Dark<\/em> (1967)<\/a>, also about an imperiled woman whose disability heightens her vulnerability to a predator.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nicholas Musuraca&#8217;s highly atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-37613\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-37612\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography2.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography2-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Spiral-Staircase-Cinematography2-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s recommended for one-time viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0038975\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1946\/02\/07\/archives\/the-screen-in-review-miss-susie-slagles-with-joan-caulfield-lillian.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/345408\/the-spiral-staircase#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a> <\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/NHa96nBB07E\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Even with her eyes shut, she seems to be watching you like an evil spirit.&#8221; Synopsis: On a dark and stormy night, a mute housemaid (Dorothy McGuire) caring for an infirm woman (Ethel Barrymore) in a country mansion fears for her life after several local girls with disabilities are murdered. Meanwhile, a kind doctor (Kent Smith) believes he can cure McGuire of her trauma-induced muteness, while Barrymore&#8217;s son (Gordon Oliver) romances the household&#8217;s beautiful secretary (Rhonda Fleming), and Oliver&#8217;s stepbrother&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=37609\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37609"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68533,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37609\/revisions\/68533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}