It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The first must-see film of the year.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I enjoyed this thriller about a psychopathic writer who accidentally kills his sexy maid and then tries to pin it on his crippled brother.Louis Hayward overacts a bit as Stephen, the failed scribe who rejects his attractive and classy wife, Marjorie (Jane Wyatt), in favor of his tease of a housekeeper.I enjoyed the performance of Lee Bowman as Stephen's brother John, who, out of family loyalty, allows himself to be dangerously manipulated. He too harbors a forbidden love -- for his brother's wife -- but has the integrity not to act on it. Descending into alcoholism, he'd rather flee than make love with his sister-in-law.In a film that is much less ambitious than a classic such as "M," Fritz Lang creates scenes of satisfying creepiness on a river that is central to the plot. In addition, a courtroom scene is quite entertaining.My only quibble with this movie is its facile ending. It all ties up just a little too neatly. I expected more from this famed director.

A deranged writer (Louis Hayward) murders a maid (Dorothy Patrick) after she resists his advances. The writer engages his brother (Lee Bowman) to help in hiding the body...Richard Brody wrote, "Every detail of the film, from its opening shots of the nearby river and the wind in the trees, has moral resonance. Stephen promises to change, but from the moment that he listens lasciviously to Emily's bathwater sluicing down a drainpipe his bad end is already foretold —- and the elements of nature, the wind and the water, are the ultimate agents of his doom." How can I argue with such a poetic interpretation of this film? Whether intended by Lang to be so symbolic or not, Brody nails it and gives the film a new lease on life. While this may not be Fritz Lang's best work, or even his best noir, it is a fine piece of cinema with all sorts of moral ambiguity that deserves recognition.I watched the film on Netflix. It was not completely restored and the picture was full-screen. Perhaps a better version exists out there or could be made?

Author Stephen Byrne surprises his maid Emily as she comes from the bath.He tries to do a dishonorable deed to her, but he ends up killing her.His limping brother John arrives just after the deed is done, and he ends up helping Stephen in hiding the body.They dump the body in a nearby river.Soon Stephen's wife Marjorie comes back and realizes something is wrong with her husband.House by the River (1950) is directed by the Austrian-American great Fritz Lang.It's based on A.P. Herbert's 1921 novel.There's a great line of actors there.Louis Hayward plays Stephen Byrne.Jane Wyatt is his wife Marjorie.Lee Bowman plays John Byrne.The role of Emily Gaunt is played by Dorothy Patrick.Ann Shoemaker is Mrs. Ambrose.Jody Gilbert is Flora Bantam.Kathleen Freeman is seen as Effie Ferguson- Party Guest.Also Our Gang's Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer is seen there playing Walter Herbert.I watched this movie on Sunday two days ago with my mother, and we both liked it.The movie doesn't lack of great scenes.Like the killing scene is really memorable.And the ending is very impressive.And I really liked the way Marjorie sympathized with the better brother.

...is one of the creepiest lines I have heard from a movie. That single name, uttered snidely in the dark by Louis Hayward will make your skin crawl.I've seen House by the River at least 6 times. I don't know why I like it so much. It's a wonderfully well-done film but it creeps the heck out of me every time I watch it. Louis Hayward in the performance of his life plays a psychopathic wastrel of a writer in the late 1800's who tries to rape the housemaid while his wife is away, but accidentally strangles her. He cons his brother into helping him get rid of the body. He gets inspiration from this for a book, and his book is a success. But when certain people get in the way of his success, he turns the whole thing around in the most diabolical way possible.Out of all Fritz Lang's sound films, yes, even M, House by the River is my favorite. The Gothic atmosphere is so intense... the photography, the music, and acting all fit together perfectly. It might not be Lang's best American film but I think it's one of his most unique.