Stage actress Mary Morris gives what can be called a tour-de-force performance in Paramount's precode thriller DOUBLE DOOR. Since the filmed play lends itself to histrionics, it is remarkable that Miss Morris is able to etch such a vivid character without resorting to the scenery chewing one might expect.
She conveys just the right amount of menace without being too severe. At the heart of this twisted tale is a strong woman who protects her family despite the ways in which she runs the household. She manipulates them to ensure unity in the face of outside interference and opposition.
Her main obstacle comes in the form of a lower class gal (Evelyn Venable) marrying into the Van Brett fortune. Of course, she cannot go so far as prevent her younger half-brother (Kent Taylor) from wedding the unsuitable creature, but she can sure as heck do her best to run the woman off!
Aiding in these efforts is a mousy sister (Anne Revere), afraid of her own shadow, who will help in these dastardly schemes...or else. We learn that the younger sister has been locked inside an airtight room when she became defiant. So she will cooperate or risk being locked up again.
It is explained that the enclosed room, a vault, was built by the family's long-deceased patriarch. He often went in there to sleep, away from all the noise outside their Fifth Avenue home. He died inside the vault.
Morris and Revere have great rapport in their scenes together. Both actresses had been in the hit Broadway production. The rest of the movie's cast consists of Paramount contractees who are all quite effective. Miss Venable does nicely as the outsider who marries into the fold. Her character morphs from vulnerable in the beginning to more determined later on, especially when she decides she must get her husband out of this place.
There is an engrossing final sequence where the women go toe to toe. Venable is held hostage in the vault by Morris. Since it is airtight and thus soundproof, nobody can hear her cries for help. The groom thinks his bride left with another man (Colin Tapley) which isn't true.
Supposedly the two sisters in the story are based on the real-life Wendel sisters of Manhattan. The Wendel family was known for its money and its frugality. Despite their enormous wealth, the Wendel sisters spent their final years living in a way that suggested squalor. Reminiscent of GREY GARDENS. The last surviving sister had no heirs and left what would be worth $1 billion in assets today to charity. She had a white French poodle that continued to make headlines after she died.
There is a scene in the film where Morris tries to hide the fact that she's concealed Venable inside the makeshift tomb. A pudgy white poodle runs into the room and scratches on a panel to alert the others about what is really going on. I won't reveal the ending. But it is a house of death and someone does lose their life in the last scene. The death is cleverly foreshadowed in the very first shot of the film.
She conveys just the right amount of menace without being too severe. At the heart of this twisted tale is a strong woman who protects her family despite the ways in which she runs the household. She manipulates them to ensure unity in the face of outside interference and opposition.
Her main obstacle comes in the form of a lower class gal (Evelyn Venable) marrying into the Van Brett fortune. Of course, she cannot go so far as prevent her younger half-brother (Kent Taylor) from wedding the unsuitable creature, but she can sure as heck do her best to run the woman off!
Aiding in these efforts is a mousy sister (Anne Revere), afraid of her own shadow, who will help in these dastardly schemes...or else. We learn that the younger sister has been locked inside an airtight room when she became defiant. So she will cooperate or risk being locked up again.
It is explained that the enclosed room, a vault, was built by the family's long-deceased patriarch. He often went in there to sleep, away from all the noise outside their Fifth Avenue home. He died inside the vault.
Morris and Revere have great rapport in their scenes together. Both actresses had been in the hit Broadway production. The rest of the movie's cast consists of Paramount contractees who are all quite effective. Miss Venable does nicely as the outsider who marries into the fold. Her character morphs from vulnerable in the beginning to more determined later on, especially when she decides she must get her husband out of this place.
There is an engrossing final sequence where the women go toe to toe. Venable is held hostage in the vault by Morris. Since it is airtight and thus soundproof, nobody can hear her cries for help. The groom thinks his bride left with another man (Colin Tapley) which isn't true.
Supposedly the two sisters in the story are based on the real-life Wendel sisters of Manhattan. The Wendel family was known for its money and its frugality. Despite their enormous wealth, the Wendel sisters spent their final years living in a way that suggested squalor. Reminiscent of GREY GARDENS. The last surviving sister had no heirs and left what would be worth $1 billion in assets today to charity. She had a white French poodle that continued to make headlines after she died.
There is a scene in the film where Morris tries to hide the fact that she's concealed Venable inside the makeshift tomb. A pudgy white poodle runs into the room and scratches on a panel to alert the others about what is really going on. I won't reveal the ending. But it is a house of death and someone does lose their life in the last scene. The death is cleverly foreshadowed in the very first shot of the film.