Average customer rating:
- The Spiral Staircase
- The Spiral Staircase
- A real thriller!
- One emerged from the film feeling as exhausted by terror as McGuire had been...
- Gothic Style Drama and Suspense
|
The Spiral Staircase
Starring:
Dorothy McGuire ,
George Brent ,
Ethel Barrymore ,
Kent Smith , and
Rhonda Fleming
Director:
Robert Siodmak
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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Lanchester, Elsa
| ( L )
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McGuire, Dorothy
| ( M )
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Smith, Kent
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Wagenheim, Charles
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Similar Items:
-
The Heiress (Universal Cinema Classics)
-
Sorry Wrong Number (1948) (Sub)
-
I Wake Up Screaming (Fox Film Noir)
-
House on Telegraph Hill (Fox Film Noir)
-
The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)
ASIN: B000AM6OOE
Release Date: 2005-10-04 |
Amazon.com
An unusual suspense film, The Spiral Staircase tells the story of a mute servant girl threatened by a murderer who has a penchant for killing the handicapped. Ethel Barrymore, Elsa Lanchester, and George Brent co-star, while Dorothy McGuire expertly captures the dilemma of the mute Helen Capel. Capel, who has not been able to speak since childhood, must somehow call for help before becoming the killer's next victim. McGuire's performance carries the film far past any B-movie qualities in the plot, and the last line is one of the most memorable in film history. Silent movie buffs will especially enjoy the opening scene, which takes place at a turn-of-the-century movie parlor. --Mark Savary
Description
A murderer is targeting disabled young women in a sleepy New England town, and Helen (Dorothy McGuire), a mute servant in a Gothic mansion, is terrified she's next! Mrs. Warren (legendary actress Ethel Barrymore in an Oscar®-nominated* performance [Best Supporting Actress, 1946]), the invalid, bullying mistress of the house, warns Helen to leave at once, rather than rely on her weak son and stepson for protection. But even as Helen is packing her things, she suspects she may be too late and the murderer is closer than she ever imagined!
Customer Reviews:
The Spiral Staircase.......2007-06-25
Robert Siodmak's eerie gothic thriller will set your teeth chattering, thanks to a subtly forbidding atmosphere, and top-flight performances from Barrymore, Brent, and especially McGuire, who's the picture of vulnerability as the delicate, silent Helen. A first-rate chiller, with a nifty surprise climax.
The Spiral Staircase.......2007-03-25
Outstanding movie!!! If you love a good thriller this is your movie.
A real thriller!.......2007-02-21
I love this movie, and it is the type of film that was made a long time ago that is just "creepy" enough to be fun rather than nauseating. The
suspence level is great and the performances (especially Ethel Barrymore's) are first-rate. It's really very enjoyable.
One emerged from the film feeling as exhausted by terror as McGuire had been..........2007-01-15
The extra vulnerability of the handicapped has been a magnet to attract some fine directors of suspense...
The fulcrum of Robert Siodmak's 'The Spiral Staircase' was the fact that the beautiful and expressive Dorothy McGuire was dumb - deprived of her speech by shock... Her terror when death stalked had to be wordless, and it was all the more potent... She could not communicate, she could not plead or call for help...
It was New England in 1906, and she was employed by the bedridden mistress (Ethel Barrymore) of an old mansion (decorated in Victorian style). On the girl's day off, a disabled girl was found murdered in the little town. It was the third such murder... In each case the victim had been physically handicapped - and, as we learned later, the murderer killed because he could not tolerate imperfection...
There was a chilling start to the suspense as Dorothy McGuire walked home through a stormy night, rattling a twig against railings... In a lightning flash we saw - but she did not - the silhouette of a man watching her... On into the house and, as she paused on a landing, we saw the feet of the man on another landing... waiting. And then, in a close-up of his eye, we saw her face reflected - an imperfect face...
On this level the tension was maintained in visual terms, through the murder of another girl in the house and the mute's discovery of the body, and her belief that she knows the murderer... She tricks him into a room and locks him in... but, as she is to find, she has locked up the wrong man...
Ethel Barrymore received the film's only Academy Award nomination, as Best Supporting Actress... McGuire would have to wait another year to be nominated as Best Actress, for her great role in Elia Kazan's emotional 'Gentleman's Agreement', 1947.
Gothic Style Drama and Suspense.......2006-10-10
This fondly remembered film uses a gothic atmosphere and a terrific performance from Dorothy McGuire to capture and keep the viewer's attention. The suspense builds slowly and it is the kind of film best watched on a rainy night with a big bowl of popcorn.
Nicholas Musuraca's photography captures the menace of the wind and rain in this truly old-fashioned tale of suspense and romance. Dorothy McGuire shines as the mute Helen under Robert Siodmak's uncluttered direction. Roy Webb, famous for many great scores at RKO, adds another fine one to his list in this Dore Schary production from Selznick. This is a film of atmosphere and performance rather than nail-biting tension. As with many of Ethel Lina White's novels brought to film, the movie is actually better than the book.
The film opens as the mute Helen appropriately watches a silent film while a killer on the loose preys once more on a young woman with an imperfection. Helen is very aware of her own limitations but the young town doctor is in love with her and believes she can be helped to speak once again. When it becomes evident that the killer is connected somehow to the old mansion where Helen takes care of the ill Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore), she is soon in great danger because of her affliction.
From there it is only a matter of figuring out just who Helen should be wary of. An old spiral staircase and a single rainy night will reveal much. The two very different sons of Mrs. Warren offer latent hostility and intrigue while Dr. Parry tries to protect and warn her, as does the sick Mrs. Warren. Rhonda Fleming offers a sexy contrast to McGuires's wholesome mute girl as the secretary romancing the wayward brother Steven. A fine cast that includes Kent Smith as the doctor, George Brent as the responsible son, and Elsa Lanchester round out the players in this gothic style drama.
A shy kiss between Helen and Dr. Parry in a doorway sets the tone for the film, which is very old-fashioned suspense and romance. McGuire has some wonderful moments throughout the film. One such is when she is daydreaming of her marriage to Dr. Parry which becomes a nightmare beacause she cannot utter "I do" at the alter. The pace is slow and deliberate but works because of a wonderful ending, especially the final shot.
Those expecting grandiose tension and suspense will probably be disappointed upon seeing this film for the first time. Those who can ignore all the hype of its reputation, however, will find much to love in its gothic atmosphere and old-fashioned romance. A great film for a rainy night!
Average customer rating:
- The Spiral Staircase
- The Spiral Staircase
- A real thriller!
- One emerged from the film feeling as exhausted by terror as McGuire had been...
- Gothic Style Drama and Suspense
|
The Spiral Staircase
Starring:
Dorothy McGuire ,
George Brent ,
Ethel Barrymore ,
Kent Smith , and
Rhonda Fleming
Director:
Robert Siodmak
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
Film Noir
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Suspense
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Thrillers
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Mystery
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Classics
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Serial Killers
| By Theme
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
General
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Allgood, Sara
| ( A )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Barrymore, Ethel
| ( B )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Bell, James
| ( B )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Brent, George
| ( B )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Corby, Ellen
| ( C )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Fleming, Rhonda
| ( F )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Lanchester, Elsa
| ( L )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
McGuire, Dorothy
| ( M )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Smith, Kent
| ( S )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Wagenheim, Charles
| ( W )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Williams, Rhys
| ( W )
| Actors & Actresses
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| DVD
| Video
Siodmak, Robert
| ( S )
| Directors
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DVDs Under $7.49
| Today's Deals in DVD
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( S )
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Similar Items:
-
The Heiress (Universal Cinema Classics)
-
Sorry Wrong Number (1948) (Sub)
-
I Wake Up Screaming (Fox Film Noir)
-
House on Telegraph Hill (Fox Film Noir)
-
The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)
ASIN: 6305841969
Release Date: 2000-07-11 |
Amazon.com
An unusual suspense film, The Spiral Staircase tells the story of a mute servant girl threatened by a murderer who has a penchant for killing the handicapped. Ethel Barrymore, Elsa Lanchester, and George Brent co-star, while Dorothy McGuire expertly captures the dilemma of the mute Helen Capel. Capel, who has not been able to speak since childhood, must somehow call for help before becoming the killer's next victim. McGuire's performance carries the film far past any B-movie qualities in the plot, and the last line is one of the most memorable in film history. Silent movie buffs will especially enjoy the opening scene, which takes place at a turn-of-the-century movie parlor. --Mark Savary
Customer Reviews:
The Spiral Staircase.......2007-06-25
Robert Siodmak's eerie gothic thriller will set your teeth chattering, thanks to a subtly forbidding atmosphere, and top-flight performances from Barrymore, Brent, and especially McGuire, who's the picture of vulnerability as the delicate, silent Helen. A first-rate chiller, with a nifty surprise climax.
The Spiral Staircase.......2007-03-25
Outstanding movie!!! If you love a good thriller this is your movie.
A real thriller!.......2007-02-21
I love this movie, and it is the type of film that was made a long time ago that is just "creepy" enough to be fun rather than nauseating. The
suspence level is great and the performances (especially Ethel Barrymore's) are first-rate. It's really very enjoyable.
One emerged from the film feeling as exhausted by terror as McGuire had been..........2007-01-15
The extra vulnerability of the handicapped has been a magnet to attract some fine directors of suspense...
The fulcrum of Robert Siodmak's 'The Spiral Staircase' was the fact that the beautiful and expressive Dorothy McGuire was dumb - deprived of her speech by shock... Her terror when death stalked had to be wordless, and it was all the more potent... She could not communicate, she could not plead or call for help...
It was New England in 1906, and she was employed by the bedridden mistress (Ethel Barrymore) of an old mansion (decorated in Victorian style). On the girl's day off, a disabled girl was found murdered in the little town. It was the third such murder... In each case the victim had been physically handicapped - and, as we learned later, the murderer killed because he could not tolerate imperfection...
There was a chilling start to the suspense as Dorothy McGuire walked home through a stormy night, rattling a twig against railings... In a lightning flash we saw - but she did not - the silhouette of a man watching her... On into the house and, as she paused on a landing, we saw the feet of the man on another landing... waiting. And then, in a close-up of his eye, we saw her face reflected - an imperfect face...
On this level the tension was maintained in visual terms, through the murder of another girl in the house and the mute's discovery of the body, and her belief that she knows the murderer... She tricks him into a room and locks him in... but, as she is to find, she has locked up the wrong man...
Ethel Barrymore received the film's only Academy Award nomination, as Best Supporting Actress... McGuire would have to wait another year to be nominated as Best Actress, for her great role in Elia Kazan's emotional 'Gentleman's Agreement', 1947.
Gothic Style Drama and Suspense.......2006-10-10
This fondly remembered film uses a gothic atmosphere and a terrific performance from Dorothy McGuire to capture and keep the viewer's attention. The suspense builds slowly and it is the kind of film best watched on a rainy night with a big bowl of popcorn.
Nicholas Musuraca's photography captures the menace of the wind and rain in this truly old-fashioned tale of suspense and romance. Dorothy McGuire shines as the mute Helen under Robert Siodmak's uncluttered direction. Roy Webb, famous for many great scores at RKO, adds another fine one to his list in this Dore Schary production from Selznick. This is a film of atmosphere and performance rather than nail-biting tension. As with many of Ethel Lina White's novels brought to film, the movie is actually better than the book.
The film opens as the mute Helen appropriately watches a silent film while a killer on the loose preys once more on a young woman with an imperfection. Helen is very aware of her own limitations but the young town doctor is in love with her and believes she can be helped to speak once again. When it becomes evident that the killer is connected somehow to the old mansion where Helen takes care of the ill Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore), she is soon in great danger because of her affliction.
From there it is only a matter of figuring out just who Helen should be wary of. An old spiral staircase and a single rainy night will reveal much. The two very different sons of Mrs. Warren offer latent hostility and intrigue while Dr. Parry tries to protect and warn her, as does the sick Mrs. Warren. Rhonda Fleming offers a sexy contrast to McGuires's wholesome mute girl as the secretary romancing the wayward brother Steven. A fine cast that includes Kent Smith as the doctor, George Brent as the responsible son, and Elsa Lanchester round out the players in this gothic style drama.
A shy kiss between Helen and Dr. Parry in a doorway sets the tone for the film, which is very old-fashioned suspense and romance. McGuire has some wonderful moments throughout the film. One such is when she is daydreaming of her marriage to Dr. Parry which becomes a nightmare beacause she cannot utter "I do" at the alter. The pace is slow and deliberate but works because of a wonderful ending, especially the final shot.
Those expecting grandiose tension and suspense will probably be disappointed upon seeing this film for the first time. Those who can ignore all the hype of its reputation, however, will find much to love in its gothic atmosphere and old-fashioned romance. A great film for a rainy night!
![The Spiral Staircase [Region 2]](http://www.germanelectronics88.com/noimage.gif)
Average customer rating:
- The Spiral Staircase
- The Spiral Staircase
- A real thriller!
- One emerged from the film feeling as exhausted by terror as McGuire had been...
- Gothic Style Drama and Suspense
|
The Spiral Staircase [Region 2]
Starring:
Dorothy McGuire ,
George Brent ,
Ethel Barrymore ,
Kent Smith , and
Rhonda Fleming
Director:
Robert Siodmak
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
Thrillers
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
General
| Mystery & Suspense
| Genres
| DVD
| Video
Allgood, Sara
| ( A )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Barrymore, Ethel
| ( B )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Bell, James
| ( B )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Brent, George
| ( B )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Corby, Ellen
| ( C )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Fleming, Rhonda
| ( F )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Lanchester, Elsa
| ( L )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
McGuire, Dorothy
| ( M )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Smith, Kent
| ( S )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Wagenheim, Charles
| ( W )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Williams, Rhys
| ( W )
| Actors & Actresses
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
Siodmak, Robert
| ( S )
| Directors
| Stores
| DVD
| Video
( S )
| Titles
| Features
| DVD
| Video
Similar Items:
-
The Heiress (Universal Cinema Classics)
-
Sorry Wrong Number (1948) (Sub)
-
I Wake Up Screaming (Fox Film Noir)
-
House on Telegraph Hill (Fox Film Noir)
-
The Dark Corner (Fox Film Noir)
ASIN: B00005MNI0 |
Amazon.com
An unusual suspense film, The Spiral Staircase tells the story of a mute servant girl threatened by a murderer who has a penchant for killing the handicapped. Ethel Barrymore, Elsa Lanchester, and George Brent co-star, while Dorothy McGuire expertly captures the dilemma of the mute Helen Capel. Capel, who has not been able to speak since childhood, must somehow call for help before becoming the killer's next victim. McGuire's performance carries the film far past any B-movie qualities in the plot, and the last line is one of the most memorable in film history. Silent movie buffs will especially enjoy the opening scene, which takes place at a turn-of-the-century movie parlor. --Mark Savary
Customer Reviews:
The Spiral Staircase.......2007-06-25
Robert Siodmak's eerie gothic thriller will set your teeth chattering, thanks to a subtly forbidding atmosphere, and top-flight performances from Barrymore, Brent, and especially McGuire, who's the picture of vulnerability as the delicate, silent Helen. A first-rate chiller, with a nifty surprise climax.
The Spiral Staircase.......2007-03-25
Outstanding movie!!! If you love a good thriller this is your movie.
A real thriller!.......2007-02-21
I love this movie, and it is the type of film that was made a long time ago that is just "creepy" enough to be fun rather than nauseating. The
suspence level is great and the performances (especially Ethel Barrymore's) are first-rate. It's really very enjoyable.
One emerged from the film feeling as exhausted by terror as McGuire had been..........2007-01-15
The extra vulnerability of the handicapped has been a magnet to attract some fine directors of suspense...
The fulcrum of Robert Siodmak's 'The Spiral Staircase' was the fact that the beautiful and expressive Dorothy McGuire was dumb - deprived of her speech by shock... Her terror when death stalked had to be wordless, and it was all the more potent... She could not communicate, she could not plead or call for help...
It was New England in 1906, and she was employed by the bedridden mistress (Ethel Barrymore) of an old mansion (decorated in Victorian style). On the girl's day off, a disabled girl was found murdered in the little town. It was the third such murder... In each case the victim had been physically handicapped - and, as we learned later, the murderer killed because he could not tolerate imperfection...
There was a chilling start to the suspense as Dorothy McGuire walked home through a stormy night, rattling a twig against railings... In a lightning flash we saw - but she did not - the silhouette of a man watching her... On into the house and, as she paused on a landing, we saw the feet of the man on another landing... waiting. And then, in a close-up of his eye, we saw her face reflected - an imperfect face...
On this level the tension was maintained in visual terms, through the murder of another girl in the house and the mute's discovery of the body, and her belief that she knows the murderer... She tricks him into a room and locks him in... but, as she is to find, she has locked up the wrong man...
Ethel Barrymore received the film's only Academy Award nomination, as Best Supporting Actress... McGuire would have to wait another year to be nominated as Best Actress, for her great role in Elia Kazan's emotional 'Gentleman's Agreement', 1947.
Gothic Style Drama and Suspense.......2006-10-10
This fondly remembered film uses a gothic atmosphere and a terrific performance from Dorothy McGuire to capture and keep the viewer's attention. The suspense builds slowly and it is the kind of film best watched on a rainy night with a big bowl of popcorn.
Nicholas Musuraca's photography captures the menace of the wind and rain in this truly old-fashioned tale of suspense and romance. Dorothy McGuire shines as the mute Helen under Robert Siodmak's uncluttered direction. Roy Webb, famous for many great scores at RKO, adds another fine one to his list in this Dore Schary production from Selznick. This is a film of atmosphere and performance rather than nail-biting tension. As with many of Ethel Lina White's novels brought to film, the movie is actually better than the book.
The film opens as the mute Helen appropriately watches a silent film while a killer on the loose preys once more on a young woman with an imperfection. Helen is very aware of her own limitations but the young town doctor is in love with her and believes she can be helped to speak once again. When it becomes evident that the killer is connected somehow to the old mansion where Helen takes care of the ill Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore), she is soon in great danger because of her affliction.
From there it is only a matter of figuring out just who Helen should be wary of. An old spiral staircase and a single rainy night will reveal much. The two very different sons of Mrs. Warren offer latent hostility and intrigue while Dr. Parry tries to protect and warn her, as does the sick Mrs. Warren. Rhonda Fleming offers a sexy contrast to McGuires's wholesome mute girl as the secretary romancing the wayward brother Steven. A fine cast that includes Kent Smith as the doctor, George Brent as the responsible son, and Elsa Lanchester round out the players in this gothic style drama.
A shy kiss between Helen and Dr. Parry in a doorway sets the tone for the film, which is very old-fashioned suspense and romance. McGuire has some wonderful moments throughout the film. One such is when she is daydreaming of her marriage to Dr. Parry which becomes a nightmare beacause she cannot utter "I do" at the alter. The pace is slow and deliberate but works because of a wonderful ending, especially the final shot.
Those expecting grandiose tension and suspense will probably be disappointed upon seeing this film for the first time. Those who can ignore all the hype of its reputation, however, will find much to love in its gothic atmosphere and old-fashioned romance. A great film for a rainy night!
DVD:
- To Catch a Thief (Special Collector's Edition)
- Too Late for Tears
- Trois 2: Pandora's Box (Ws Sub)
- True Women
- Uncovered
- When the Bough Breaks
- Wicked Ways
- With Honors
- Zero Focus
- Zodiac (Widescreen Edition)
DVD
DVD