After the death of her brother, Rick Barrett (Paul Cavanagh), Celia Barrett (Joan Bennett) finds herself an heiress and an eligible bachelorette. Her lawyer, Bob Dwight (James Seay) is in love with her, and she is ready to marry him, but he wants her to be sure, so he recommends that she take a vacation and think it over. Celia goes to Mexico with her friend Edith Potter (Natalie Schafer) and takes in some of the sights. While there she meets and falls in love with an architect, Mark Lamphere (Michael Redgrave).
After a whirlwind romance Mark and Celia get married. On their honeymoon Celia plays a prank on Mark and locks him out of the bedroom. Mark becomes cold and distant to Celia. He leaves Mexico saying that he has business to attend to and tells Celia that he will send for her soon. At first Celia is in a panic that she did something terrible but after a few days she receives a telegram from Mark telling her to meet him at his hometown of Levender Falls. When she arrives, Celia is met at the train station by Mark’s sister, Caroline Lamphere (Anne Revere). She tells Celia that Mark is in New York on business. Caroline takes Celia to the family estate, Blade’s Creek.
Celia realizes that she knows virtually nothing about her husband when she finds out that Mark is a widower with a teenage son, David (Mark Dennis). She also finds out that David and Mark don’t get along. David is taken care of by Caroline and by Mark’s secretary, Miss Robey (Barbara O’Neil). Celia then finds out that David believes that Mark killed his first wife and David’s mother, Eleanor.
During a house party Mark shows his guests six rooms that he has reconstructed based on scenes from several notorious murders of women. Mark describes in detail the horrible events that occurred in each room. A seventh room is locked. Mark refuses to let anyone see the room. Mark’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic and frightening. Celia begins to fear that Mark was responsible for Eleanor’s death and is planning to kill her too.
“Secret Beyond the Door” was released in 1947 and was directed by Fritz Lang. It is an American film noir and psychological thriller.
Some believe the movie to be a reimagining of the “Bluebeard” story; others compare it to “Rebecca” or even the 1937 film “Love From A Stranger”. The themes of the film apply to just about every other woman in peril story especially if the possible victimizer is the woman’s own husband. Although the story may be standard, the cinematography is exceptional.
The movie is full of wonderful noir style lighting and atmosphere. The noir elements are the best part of the movie. The story is, at times, a little overboard, and at others a little slow. I think that the movie loses a lot of its credibility getting mired in Freudianism. Some of the film stalls trying to explain Freud’s concepts and how they apply to Mark. As the film progresses the noir elements and the psychological elements are blended together to showcase a strange dream sequence. If you’re looking for movies with lots of spooky and distorted visuals, this is a prime example of it.
Joan Bennett, who plays Celia, was married to the film’s producer Walter Wanger.