Dragonwyck (1946)

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Welcome to Dragonwyck, the American, Hudson River Valley version of "Rebecca's" Mandalay where secrets go way beyond the walls of that driveway with long, tenacious fingers. A suicide centuries before of one of the wives put a curse on the wealthy family now lead by the cool, calm and collected Vincent Price, gentle on the outside but quite sinister on the inside. When it comes to his farmers, he has no intention of giving them the land that their families have been farming for generations, even though their tributes to his ancestors have certainly paid off the land. He believes through entitlement alone, he's obligated to keep it, and with his unattraction to his wife (Vivienne Osborne), he's obviously determined to find a new wife who can produce him a son and heir, and that's where impetuous beauty Gene Tierney comes in.The story focuses on Tierney's exotically named Miranda Wells, a farmer's daughter from Connecticut, a 9:00 girl on a 5:00 farm, determined to find something better than the dirty hands of the farmboys nearby. Parents Walter Huston and Anne Revere are decent, God-fearing Christians who are perplexed by distant relative Price's letter asking for one of their daughters to come to Dragonwyck to be companion to his young daughter (Connie Marshall). Tierney persuades the strict Huston to allow her to go, and gets more than she bargained for. Words of caution from housekeeper Spring Byington aren't enough to warn her against falling in love with Price, and even if its his title and position that she's really interested in, she allows herself to fall under his spell. This continues even after she overhears the farmers confront him at the annual Fourth of July celebration.Lavishly produced and tightly directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, "Dragonwyck" takes the usual Gothic thriller of the European setting and moves it to two of the original American colonies. It's obvious just from the way that Tierney is made up and dressed that she is not meant to be a country girl and that even if it wasn't Dragonwyck, some millionaire's mansion would certainly have her as a resident. As for Price, this is basically the same type of melodrama that he would do much later over at American International in a series of Gothic Edgar Allan Poe tales, and at more than a decade younger in this part than those, he is appropriately cold even when complimenting his bed-ridden wife. The only time he comes alive is when he sees the feisty Tierney telling off some local social snobs and his delight in squiring her around the dance floor even though she's just witnessed him being attacked while demanding tributes from the farmers.Byington's housekeeper is mysterious, but not dire like "Rebecca's" Mrs. Danvers, mixing kindness into her forbidding warnings. Osborne has been made up to look like a living corpse, obviously very unhappy in her marriage and consumed with an unknowing sense of doom. She's also rather cold to daughter Marshall as if knowing that she's not going to be around to see her grow into a young woman. The painting of the wife who committed suicide generations before almost resembles her as if to insinuate that the family curse is about to explode in Price's face. It is obvious that Tierney is the key to which the curse will be unlocked. There are also excellent performances by Huston and Revere, and Henry Morgan is also memorable in a bit as the farmer who vindictively attacks Price, although his motives are certainly understandable. Glenn Langan is the one weak element as the overly noble doctor who pleads the farmer's cases towards Price and is manipulated by Price into treating the ailing Osborne which leads to tragic occurrences.A gripping epic of evil hidden underneath the nobilities' belief that they hold dominion over the poor people around them is a deeply felt drama that grabs you from the moment Tierney grabs the telescope to witness Dragonwyck off in the background, just like Joan Fontaine's first spotting of Mandalay in "Rebecca". There may be some slight unbelievable situations, but for the most part, it really is an intriguing look at sinister intentions disguised by seemingly noble behavior and the destruction to the soul this ultimately causes. It really is Price's show, and he fortunately avoids the over melodramatic line recital that would turn his American International Gothic horror films into unintentional camp.

I've always enjoyed performances by Vincent Price, Gene Tierney and Walter Houston. The movie seemed to be moving along quite well, creating some mystery and lots of suspense. The daughter of the patroon (Vincent Price) seemed to have a few hidden issues, thinking her parents not loving her and in turn, she not able to love them. The new governess, upon her arrival starts to notice strange behavior for ALL the residents of Dragonwyck, consequently being warned by the servant of the house (Spring Byington). Upon the arrival of Jessica Tandy, the crippled lady-in-waiting for the new governess and bride of the patroon, we find out his distaste for deficiencies in humans. In this case a crippled female. This is immediately noticed by Gene Tierney. As she tries in-vain to deal with her husband, she becomes pregnant with his son. The son is born with heart problems, eventually dying soon after birth. The father, Vincent Price, Takes to himself for while. But, as I was enjoying this particular film, I couldn't help but notice the unexplained absence of the patroon's daughter Katrine (Connie Marshall) and that of the role played by Spring Byington. Why is there no seemingly good explanation for these absences? Still, all-in-all, it was entertaining.

Stunning Gene Tierney, daughter of a down-to-earth Connecticut farmer who is a God-fearing son of the soil, is invited to stay for an extended visit with a terribly rich distant relative whom no one in the family has never met. He turns out to be Vincent Price, practicing for his later Edgar Allan Poe movies, his features emblazoned with "marks of weariness, marks of woe". He's a patroon in the Catskills and has a hundred sharecroppers working his vast estate. He's married to a mindless wife who soon dies mysteriously. This makes him available as a husband and, his being filthy rich and having a dozen servants and chilled out-of-season canolli and whatnot, Tierney falls in love with him. They marry. It develops -- well, all sorts of things develop -- and Price expires and Tierney goes back to the humble farm she's always called home.I found it all pretty dull going. The chief problem is not with the acting or the direction. That's professional enough for most of the cast. Price is tall, sinister, with a ramrod for a spine and the face of a horse. And the magnificent cinematography is by Arthur Miller who, along with Joe August, Gregg Toland, and one or two others, was an absolute genius with black and white.No, the problem is that Anya Seaton, who wrote the original novel, seems to have gorged herself on every other novel ever written about a young woman from a stern background who finds herself living in an old, dark mansion that guards some sort of secret. It's almost a pastiche, a shotgun approach. There are especially strong hints of "Rebecca" and "Jane Eyre" although none of them lead anywhere. There is, just for instance, a dark tower in which Price spends much of his time alone. No one is allowed in the chamber. And when Tierney finally discovers the secret, it's not an insane wife but something far more ordinary and tawdry, and it has no place in the narrative. The writers missed one cliché though. Tierney rides off alone in her carriage, leaving Dragonwyck and a mooning young doctor behind. The mansion is intact, whereas it should have been nothing more than a charred ruin.It's clumsily written too. Characters come and go, and events take place, with no explanation. When Tierney first arrives at Dragonwyck, the only person who seems entirely candid with her is Spring Byington as the somewhat dotty old maid. She disappears like King Lear's fool half-way through. Jessica Tandy, in an early role as an Irish maid, is "a loathsome cripple" who plays an important part in the story and yet is not there for her friend Tierney's departure. Somewhere along the line the resentful sharecroppers are given some kind of lease to buy by the governor of New York, but any important consequence was lost in the editing. Price and Dragonwyck may be poorer for the collapse of the patroon system but neither of them show it. A few cobwebs would have helped, or a rotting cake and dusty drapes. Where is Miss Haversham when you need her?The young doctor is Glen Langan, who has the mellifluous voice of an announcer on an FM radio station that plays nothing but Debussy, and the features of a mannequin in an upscale department store window. Doctors tend to be of two types in movies like this. They are either young, poor, modest country doctors, or they're mad scientists. Langan occupies the first set, except that, contrary to expectations, he may fall for Tierney (who wouldn't?) but she has no interest in him as a lover.Others might enjoy it more than I did. I liked "Rebecca" and the various versions of "Jane Eyre" but this was a long, slow slog. Good luck.

A letter arrives at the farm owned by Mr Wells (Walter Huston). It is from Mrs Wells's (Anne Revere) cousin Nicholas (Vincent Price) asking for one of her daughters to go and live at his stately home, Dragonwyck, and act as a governess to his daughter Katrine (Connie Marshall). Miranda (Gene Tierney) volunteers herself with an enthusiasm to see better things in life and Mr Wells agrees that she can go. However, Nicholas has an ulterior motive.....Vincent Price, Walter Huston, Anne Revere and Spring Byington (who plays the housekeeper) turn in the best acting performances. Gene Tierney's character is "nice", nothing very exciting, but then she is meant to be a simple innocent. "Dr Turner" as played by Glenn Langan is also "nice" but he seems to have more of a presence than Tierney. Those blinded by her "beauty" should look a little closer - it's her teeth. Goofy.I found the following confusions and disappointments: 1 - how come Spring Byington and Connie Marshall disappeared completely from the film after the first half? The arrival of Jessica Tandy as the crippled maid, "Peggy", was not an adequate substitute for the mischievous role that Byington had carved out; 2 - one moment Nicholas and Miranda were cousins, then they weren't...???!!...; 3 - I felt slightly let-down with the climax to the mystery of what happens in the tower where Nicholas spends a lot of his time alone......"I'm a drug addict"...??!!.....oh my God, not that!....I think that Vincent Price steals the show with his portrayal of Nicholas as an outwardly charming gentleman contrasting effectively with his true arrogance and sense of hubris. He is the "Patroon" that everyone must bow down to. He has some excellent dialogue as does Walter Huston. I also liked the ending to the film, when the farmers take off their hats for Nicholas's dying scene. He should be humbled but he still has nothing but contempt for everyone. What a great baddie. At this point, I was hoping that we would once again hear the haunting singing that had been cursed upon him to hear. It's an effective piece of music and I think that more should have been made of it. It's a film that's worth another look.