With so many movies in the early-30's about high society I didn't think I'd be in the mood for yet another one. Boy was I wrong. "Double Door" was an astounding movie.
The movie took place in New York City in 1910. The focus was the Van Bretts, one of the oldest families in New York and one of the oldest and wealthiest families on Park Avenue. A woman named Victoria 'Vicky' Van Brett (Mary Morris) was the torch bearer and matriarch of the Van Brett family. She was a mean, dictatorial, spiteful old woman. If you look up "old hag" in the dictionary her face will be there. She was akin to May Robson's character in the movie "You Can't Buy Everything" (1934).
Vicky ruled the Van Brett family with an iron fist, and at the moment she was cross with her younger half-brother Rip (Kent Taylor) for marrying a nurse. How could he marry an "upper servant"!?
In that respect, "Double Door" was just like several other movies of that era in which a romantic rich boy desires to marry a girl from a lower class. It's always a fight for love. And in every case the woman has to prove that she's not marrying the man for his money, only out of love. More specifically, "Double Door" is similar to "Shopworn" (1932), "Another Language" (1933), and "Silver Cord" (1933) in which the mother is the most vociferous against her son's sweetheart.
In "Double Door," Vicky made no attempts to hide her contempt for Rip's bride, Anne Darrow (Evelyn Venable). Even though Vicky wasn't Rip's mother she fit the part due to the large difference in age and the fact she had to fill the role as his mother when both his parents died. Vicky was set on driving Anne away if it was the last thing she did.
Vicky had so much control over Rip, Anne, and her younger sister Caroline Van Brett (Anne Revere) because she controlled the purse strings. She was the executor of the Van Brett estate so all Van Bretts and all the servants had to bend to her will; and what an unyielding will she had.
Mary Morris was excellent as Victoria Van Brett. Although she was not even forty when this movie was made, she had the mannerisms, voice, and movements of a woman at least sixty-years-old. Even when she stared (or glared) she conveyed so much. I'm sorry she didn't do more. When I looked up her filmography she only had "Double Door" to her credit. It could be that she was a stage performer and only did this movie because she'd done it in theater before. In any case, I thought her performance was Oscar-worthy.
Anne Revere was also exceptional as Caroline Van Brett, Vicky's sister. She was a forty-two-year-old woman with the mentality of a two-year-old. She was so utterly handicapped by Vicky's dominance that she never developed. She was a sad sight. She spoke and behaved like a child--always in search of Vicky's love and approval.
Kent Taylor and Evelyn Venable were passable as Rip and Anne, the newlyweds. Anne's manner of speaking didn't seem to fit to me considering she was a nurse before marrying Rip. She spoke proper and posh as though she was from society herself. The only thing I can think to attribute that to is her training or taking lessons in order to fit in with her husband's family and friends.
A lot of credit has to be given to the writer, Elizabeth McFadden, and the director, Charles Vidor, who was able to make the play work on screen. I'm giving out flowers everywhere on this one. "Double Door" was a true treat.
Free on YouTube."
The movie took place in New York City in 1910. The focus was the Van Bretts, one of the oldest families in New York and one of the oldest and wealthiest families on Park Avenue. A woman named Victoria 'Vicky' Van Brett (Mary Morris) was the torch bearer and matriarch of the Van Brett family. She was a mean, dictatorial, spiteful old woman. If you look up "old hag" in the dictionary her face will be there. She was akin to May Robson's character in the movie "You Can't Buy Everything" (1934).
Vicky ruled the Van Brett family with an iron fist, and at the moment she was cross with her younger half-brother Rip (Kent Taylor) for marrying a nurse. How could he marry an "upper servant"!?
In that respect, "Double Door" was just like several other movies of that era in which a romantic rich boy desires to marry a girl from a lower class. It's always a fight for love. And in every case the woman has to prove that she's not marrying the man for his money, only out of love. More specifically, "Double Door" is similar to "Shopworn" (1932), "Another Language" (1933), and "Silver Cord" (1933) in which the mother is the most vociferous against her son's sweetheart.
In "Double Door," Vicky made no attempts to hide her contempt for Rip's bride, Anne Darrow (Evelyn Venable). Even though Vicky wasn't Rip's mother she fit the part due to the large difference in age and the fact she had to fill the role as his mother when both his parents died. Vicky was set on driving Anne away if it was the last thing she did.
Vicky had so much control over Rip, Anne, and her younger sister Caroline Van Brett (Anne Revere) because she controlled the purse strings. She was the executor of the Van Brett estate so all Van Bretts and all the servants had to bend to her will; and what an unyielding will she had.
Mary Morris was excellent as Victoria Van Brett. Although she was not even forty when this movie was made, she had the mannerisms, voice, and movements of a woman at least sixty-years-old. Even when she stared (or glared) she conveyed so much. I'm sorry she didn't do more. When I looked up her filmography she only had "Double Door" to her credit. It could be that she was a stage performer and only did this movie because she'd done it in theater before. In any case, I thought her performance was Oscar-worthy.
Anne Revere was also exceptional as Caroline Van Brett, Vicky's sister. She was a forty-two-year-old woman with the mentality of a two-year-old. She was so utterly handicapped by Vicky's dominance that she never developed. She was a sad sight. She spoke and behaved like a child--always in search of Vicky's love and approval.
Kent Taylor and Evelyn Venable were passable as Rip and Anne, the newlyweds. Anne's manner of speaking didn't seem to fit to me considering she was a nurse before marrying Rip. She spoke proper and posh as though she was from society herself. The only thing I can think to attribute that to is her training or taking lessons in order to fit in with her husband's family and friends.
A lot of credit has to be given to the writer, Elizabeth McFadden, and the director, Charles Vidor, who was able to make the play work on screen. I'm giving out flowers everywhere on this one. "Double Door" was a true treat.
Free on YouTube."