PIC of the Week – The Spiral Staircase
Article series by Ray Schillaci
There’s a glut of independent horror releases for this holiday weekend, but nothing matches the sheer terror of Kino Lorber Studio Classics release of the 1946 chiller The Spiral Staircase. For its day, this film was near taboo with a nail-biting suspense tale involving a young mute woman in an early 20th century Vermont town being stalked by a serial killer that targets disabled women. There have been films along this vein that have been very effective – Wait Until Dark, Mute Witness, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? – but none match the power and mix of gothic and film noir feeling that this fine film offers.
A pedigree of talent is behind this classic starting with director Robert Siodmak well known for mixing German expressionism with the popular American style film noir, in its day. The same year he wowed audiences with the Hemingway tale The Killers, starring Burt Lancaster, and later went onto one of his most popular films about a serial killer in Germany during WWII, The Devil Strikes at Night. He also directed what I consider one of the most popular pirate movies of all time, the gloriously entertaining The Crimson Pirate. Siodmak provides an almost leisurely style with Spiral Staircase that mounts the suspense to a near shocker.
Mega producer David O. Selznick, known for a number of classic hits including the original King Kong, Hitchcock’s Rebecca, and Gone With The Wind was the first to recognize the power of the story and swooped up the rights immediately only later to sell it RKO. Adding to the mood of the entire production is the big plus of having cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca, responsible for the creepy, shadowy, darkness of Val Lewton’s Cat People, The Seventh Victim, and The Curse of the Cat People. Siodmak also provided a very believable first rate cast.
Dorothy McGuire, who hit the film scene running playing leads in both comedy and drama, is gripping in only her fourth film as the mute young woman hired to be a live-in companion for a bedridden woman in a big estate. Something very ethereal about this marvelous actress and her talent is exceptional in this film. Her leading man was a favorite during that era, George Brent, who had already starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis, and delivers just as riveting a performance. On top of all this we get a famed member of the illustrious Barrymore family, Ethel Barrymore (Drew Barrymore’s grand aunt), as the bedridden wealthy eccentric and she earned an Academy Award nomination.
Kino Lorber Studio Classics gives us a newly restored print in HD from a 4K scan of a restored fine-grain master. Make no mistake, that does not mean that the film is grain free. But, what there is merely adds to the effectiveness of this horror/thriller. The look of this film has never looked this good. Although delivering a DTS -HD Master Audio with only a 1.0 track, the sound quality may not have the bells and whistles we are all accustomed to with newer titles, this film does not lose anything in quality. Both dialogue and sound effects are crisp and clear with no loss of either.
Extras include:
¥ Audio commentary by Imogen Sara Smith, film historian and noir expert
¥ 30 minute vintage radio adaptation
¥ Theatrical trailers including The Spiral Staircase
Best Price – $23.41 Amazon
