"Double Door" focuses on Anne, a young bride in turn-of-the-century Manhattan who finds herself at the mercy of her husband's embittered, older half-sister, Victoria, who controls the family estate with an iron fist. Anne at first attempts to win her new sister-in-law over, but finds that Victoria's manipulation and scare tactics could be lethal.
This dour adaptation of the stage play of the same name (and featuring two stage originals: Mary Morris and Anne Revere) works for two reasons: One, the night-and-day performances from Evelyn Venable, playing the innocent Anne, and Mary Morris, the wretched and vindictive sister-in-law; and two, the sprawling mansion setting, which provides an ominous, classically spooky backdrop for the psychological games to unfold (think "The Old Dark House", but on Fifth Avenue).
Morris, a stage actor who only ever appeared on film here, is the main attraction for most, and while her theatrical style at times pokes through, she is still fiercely effective in this role--the character of Victoria belongs in the ranks of the most wicked female villains in film history, up there with Annie Wilkes, Alex Forrest, and Mrs. Danvers. She is vile, greedy, and controlling, and Morris wrings every last drop of these character elements. Venable plays counterpoint as the likable newcomer who at first hopes to see some good in Victoria, only to find her relentless abuses too much to bear, while Anne Revere is memorable as Victoria's downtrodden sister who has been terrorized by Victoria her entire life (even being locked in a soundproof vault as "punishment").
The majority of the film consists of a back-and-forth dynamic between the Victoria and Anne before it ratchets up in the last act to a quasi-murder mystery, with Victoria's confounding propensity for evil reaching its apparent peak. There is a notable mix of melodrama here with psychological thriller elements and, at times, horror, though for most modern audiences, "Double Door" will play more like a straightforward psychological drama soaked in gloom. As a character showcase of exemplary wickedness, "Double Door" is among the best pre-Code examples. 8/10.
This dour adaptation of the stage play of the same name (and featuring two stage originals: Mary Morris and Anne Revere) works for two reasons: One, the night-and-day performances from Evelyn Venable, playing the innocent Anne, and Mary Morris, the wretched and vindictive sister-in-law; and two, the sprawling mansion setting, which provides an ominous, classically spooky backdrop for the psychological games to unfold (think "The Old Dark House", but on Fifth Avenue).
Morris, a stage actor who only ever appeared on film here, is the main attraction for most, and while her theatrical style at times pokes through, she is still fiercely effective in this role--the character of Victoria belongs in the ranks of the most wicked female villains in film history, up there with Annie Wilkes, Alex Forrest, and Mrs. Danvers. She is vile, greedy, and controlling, and Morris wrings every last drop of these character elements. Venable plays counterpoint as the likable newcomer who at first hopes to see some good in Victoria, only to find her relentless abuses too much to bear, while Anne Revere is memorable as Victoria's downtrodden sister who has been terrorized by Victoria her entire life (even being locked in a soundproof vault as "punishment").
The majority of the film consists of a back-and-forth dynamic between the Victoria and Anne before it ratchets up in the last act to a quasi-murder mystery, with Victoria's confounding propensity for evil reaching its apparent peak. There is a notable mix of melodrama here with psychological thriller elements and, at times, horror, though for most modern audiences, "Double Door" will play more like a straightforward psychological drama soaked in gloom. As a character showcase of exemplary wickedness, "Double Door" is among the best pre-Code examples. 8/10.