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Red House

posted 8 years ago by petrilloi
3 replies | jump to latest

Some really foolish comments in the reviews here. The absolute worst being from the idiot who says he hates Miklos Rosza. This film fell into public domain because it was independently produced by Eddie G.himself, who was attempting to form his own production company. Unfortunately Robinson got into trouble with HUAC at about this time. His company was scuttled, he did really junky films for a few years until he finally gave some names to the committee and got forgiven and cast in Ten Commandments (1956). This film was shelved for a year and then ignored upon release. That's why it exists in bad quality PD copies. Pity, because it is a well produced, effective pastoral gothic which should have been a big success. Sometimes people and films just have nothing but bad fortune instead of success.

[–] bnwfilmbuff 8 years ago

I was less impressed with this than many on this board. I did not think this was the best performance by Edward G. He wasn't nearly sinister enough for my liking to generate some real fear. Nath is way too brave. Wilde's character is undeveloped. The "secret" is allowed to ooze out during the course of the movie so there is no surprise element at the end. I thought that the direction was mediocre. Not a bad movie but it could have been so much better.

[–] targa9 8 years ago

I thought the movie was quite memorable (my acid test) and EG Robinson's performance, esp. those eyes, were inimitable, warm and inviting one minute, dark and creepy the next, and scared later. Oh, and then there's his "wise" look. The story was good and original, to me. I loved it, bad print and all!

[–] MisterDenton 8 years ago

I loved this film, although more for the scenery and atmospheric, haunting cinematography than anything else. It really is too bad to hear that it wasn't very appreciated when it was made. The HUAC years were pretty dark times, and in addition to the personal trouble they brought to those involved, it's a shame how much they disrupted the production of film itslef.

In any case, The Film Detective just released a nice blu-ray transfer of the film. It's imperfect, but it's probably as clear and sharp a picture as we're likely to get for this film, which is definitely best seen in HD.