On 2010-02-11 Annie Van Auken, Planet Earth wrote: THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE (1945) open unexpectedly within a recreated nickelodeon. A small space with a couple of dozen patrons on straight back wooden chairs, a pianist off to the right of a little screen and a hand-cranking projectionist (who´s in the same room) all watch a melodramatic short called THE KISS.
But that brief scene just introduces us to a bygone era. Soon after, this delicious Hitchcockian thriller takes us inside the mansion of Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore) and her two sons. The old lady´s in failing health but she´s not too sick to worry for her young chambermaid, Helen (Dorothy McGuire). She´s a mute who just may be the next target of a serial killer stalking their New England town, a monster that likes to murder women with ´imperfections.´
Madame´s insistence that Dr. Parry (Kent Smith) take Helen with him is a clue perhaps to just who the strangler is.
It´s a well-mounted picture that has sets crammed with Victorian-era furnishings, creating a sort of claustrophobic home undoubtedly typical of the well-off of those days.
Miss McGuire is the stand-out of this exceptional cast, but right behind her are Elsa Lanchester´s humorously alcoholic cook and Rhonda Fleming as a live-in secretary who´s the love interest of both Warren sons: the Professor (George Brent, just past his ´leading man´ days) and Steve (Gordon Oliver).
A final word for Sara Allgood, who has the unenviable task of being the bearish old woman´s put-upon nurse. They clearly despise each other, and it´s only a matter of time before a neglected Nurse Barker resigns and leaves in a huff (NOT a Huffmobile!).
Robert Siodmak´s classic suspense yarn gets my highest endorsement!. And summed up by saying The silent scream. Currently The Spiral Staircase has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
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Nicholas Musuraca claimed 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!
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