A Casa Vermelha

Until last night I hadn't seen this movie since being 9 years old in 1947. At that time it scared the hell out of me --- particular the ice house scene, etched forever in memory -- although THE RED HOUSE is not a horror movie. Looking at it again after 60 years it's still a winner.

However scary there's almost no violence, but instead it relies on the natural fright of living near a forbidden woods and the haunted RED HOUSE. The evil lies entirely in the mind of the old man (Edward G. Robinson) and the guilt from some long-ago crime. Lon McAlister plays the young man who enters the scene and other youngsters are played by Rory Calhoun and Julie London who later became stars.

It's easy to understand how the dark, forbidden woods affected me as a young child; but I doubt it would be so well received by today's kids. For one thing, they don't play outside much, let alone exploring in a dark woods or haunted house. Secondly, the woods was most likely torn down. My own woods --- circa 1947 -- had a stream, a swamp, a genuine haunted house, a pig's skeleton, and a road leading to nowhere. Today it's all gone; replaced by Holy Cross Hospital, part of the Washington Beltway, 40 new houses --- paradise swallowed up by progress. Nothing remains for today's kids.

The Red House is now in DVD. It's good; see it!

Edward G. Robinson doesn't want his adopted daughter to go near "The Red House" in this 1947 film which also stars Judith Anderson, Lon McAllister, Allene Roberts, Julie London and Rory Calhoun. Robinson is Pete, who lives with his sister Ellen (Anderson) on a self-sufficient farm. They have a daughter they both adopted, Meg, who is now a teenager with a crush on Nath (McAllister) so she arranges for him to work for Pete. Nath is interested instead in the gorgeous Tibby (London), a tramp in training who flirts with a randy local (Calhoun). When Nath decides to go home via the woods, Pete becomes very agitated and tries to dissuade him. Meg and Nath decide to find out what's in those woods and start investigating. What they uncover is life-changing.

Directed by Delmer Daves, "The Red House" is one scary noir with lots of night scenes that take place in the woods and a haunting ending. The story is also an allegory for growing up and going out into the world, which Meg and Nath are determined to do. Nath urges his mother to marry her long-time boyfriend and go north with him because it's time he was independent, and Meg wants to be treated like a young woman - not only by a young man, but by the people she sees as her parents. The more Pete tells her not to go into the woods, the more she rebels.

There are several unsettling things in this film - the secret Pete is keeping, for one, as well as very unhealthy obsession with Meg. That is handled subtly for the most part, but is still there. That may seem an ambitious subject for 1947, but it is also an obvious part of the plot of "In This Our Life," as an example. We learn as the film continues that Ellen had a chance at having her own home and happiness with the local doctor, but because Pete would not allow her to take Meg with her, she never married and stayed on the farm. The fact that she wasn't willing to leave Meg alone with Pete is quite telling. As Pete becomes more unbalanced at the thought of anyone trespassing in the woods, we can understand her motives. Another interesting feature of the film is the blatant sexuality of Tibby as opposed to the naiveté of Meg.

All the performances are good, but Robinson is a standout. He could be convincing as both a villain and a lovesick fool, a great man or a coward. Here he slowly fleshes out his character from that of a nice, gentle man to one who is becoming unhinged to complete disintegration in a truly frightening performance. Judith Anderson, so menacing in "Rebecca" underplays beautifully here and is perfectly convincing as Pete's sister. It's a sign of a great actress when she can be at home in Shakespeare and as a farmer's sister. London is stunning and does well as a gal trying to hedge her bets. Roberts and McAllister are appropriately young and have the necessary naive quality.

The best way I can describe "The Red House" is to call it unsettling. The undertones and the end of the film are disturbing, and one can see the beginnings of the psychology and dark feelings that surfaced in film after World War II.

Slow-building suspense and some good performances make "The Red House" a pretty good psychological thriller. An interesting story and a good cast headed by Edward G. Robinson are also helped by eerie musical effects that build up tension as the story proceeds.

The movie opens with some deceptively peaceful rustic scenes. Robinson is a farmer who lives with his sister and with Meg, a young woman whom they took in when her parents left her. The farmer hires a local youth (Lon McCallister) to help with chores on the farm. At dinner that evening, there is sudden tension when the conversation turns to the woods behind the farm. The farmer is agitated at the mere thought of anyone crossing through them. As the story proceeds, attention centers on a red house in the woods, which obviously holds some secrets that Robinson is anxious not to have made known. From there, things move slowly but effectively towards a tense climax.

The atmosphere is throughout filled with suspense and anxiety, not just regarding the secret of the red house, but also in the relationships among the characters. McCallister's character becomes close to Meg, but he already has a girl - who in turn is flirting with a mysterious man who lives in the woods. The farmer's relations with his sister and his ward are also filled with tension. Some interesting musical effects in Miklos Rozsa's score emphasize the often uncomfortable nature of it all.

While rather slow to come together, "The Red House" keeps the viewer's attention until the end. It's a good story, and worth watching.

First, I saw this as a child and recall being absolutely mesmerized and terrified by the creepy music associated with the house. Upon seeing it again some months back, I was immediately brought back to childhood and felt the same strangled dread. Sometimes memories of things from youth don't hold up but in this case, RED HOUSE remains a bizarre and scary movie into adulthood.

Robinson's performance is very atypical but effective. He was a far more versatile actor than most people realize. As definitive as his fatcat gangster kingpin roles were in LITTLE CAESAR, KEY LARGO and the like, he was equally believable as victims and suckers, as in movies like SCARLET STREET.

It is surprising that the studio was able to slip some very sexual material by the censors into this movie; Robinson is a deeply troubled and surprisingly sympathetic "deviant" here and things are handled with relative frankness.

This isn't a perfect movie (some motivational problems in particular) and i didn't plan to comment on it, but i strongly disagree with the comments of another reviewer who dismissed Robinson so I wanted to briefly opine with my dissenting opinion. One final note: besides the highly chilling music, this movie features a very haunting ending that will stay with you. This is pretty twisted stuff given the era, and despite some datedness, it's certainly worth a look for those who like their noir Gothic and haunted.

Delmer Daves's The Red House is a gem! But it's not a film for the kids - the film deals with somewhat perverse adult themes in a very psychologically, if not explicitly, realistic manner. The great Edward G. Robinson plays Pete Morgan, a reclusive older gentleman living with his sister (Judith Anderson) and an adopted teenage daughter, Meg (Allene Roberts). Most of the story revolves around Meg's developing romance with Nath (Lon McAllister) - a smart and decent young man who comes to work for Pete. Nath's girlfriend - kind of an erstwhile femme fatale - is played by the lovely Julie London, and it is no surprise to find that as Nath's attention turns to Meg, her attention turns to bad boy "Teller" (Rory Calhoun).

Underneath all the typically teenage romantic dynamics lies several terrible secrets and possibly, something supernatural. All of this will culminate in revealing the secret of a long-forgotten Red House in the woods behind Pete's house.

The acting is excellent. The younger members of the cast are remarkably attractive, an the cinematographer used this to great advantage. Calhoun and London occasionally falter into formulaic acting, but McAllister and Roberts are always exactly where they need to be, and Robinson turns in a typically brilliant performance. Roberts, amazingly, was 18 years old and acting in her first film when she turned in this fantastic, mature performance.

Daves paces the film very nicely. There are relatively few wasted seconds, and the build-up to the climax, and even the epilogue, are barely even noticeable as you are swept away by the increasingly convoluted and disturbing story-line. Lighting, a trademark of Daves and noir in general, is used perfectly in this very nicely shot dark contrast-oriented film. The key to the success of this film, however, is the misdirection of audience sympathies - which is all I will say about the script - to avoid a spoiler.

NOTE: Be willing to spend a few extra dollars to get a good print of this film. Some of the less expensive versions have very poor sound quality - almost unlistenable.

Highly recommended for Robinson fans and non-graphic horror fans. Recommended for noir fans. Not recommended for kids.