Secret Beyond the Door (1948)

US 99m, B&W
Director: Fritz Lang; Cast: Joan Bennett, Michael Redgrave, Anne Revere, Barbara O’Neil, Natalie Schafer

The Secret Beyond the Door is a fabulous looking film noir thriller with expressionist roots that lay deep in director Fritz Lang’s film career. The story, about a woman who suspects that her husband is planning to kill her is at times intriguing, and often suspenseful, particularly with regard to the husband’s “collection” of historical rooms where murders were committed. Although this wonderfully creepy plot device builds tremendous suspense, the preposterous pseudo-psychological Freudian explanation for the husband’s behavior is somewhat of a let down considering the film’s extraordinary cinematography (Klaus Ming February 2012).