Best movie ever!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Joe Mankiewicz's first film as a director is like all his subsequent ones a paragon of clarity and thoroughness, attaching much attention to every detail, while at the same time the actors are generously given free room to reign. Consequently in all his films, all actors appear outstanding, especially in his early ones. His next film was even darker than this one, maybe his deepest dive into the noir genre, "Somewhere in the Night" about the mystery of a lost identity and even more intriguing than this one - here Vincent Price completely dominates the drama by you in suspense as you never can know or even guess what he is up to. He appears as the perfect gentleman, and yet you must suspect that he has terrible secrets to hide, which don't become evident until the very end, as he masks them so well. Gene Tierney is equally good, and they match each other perfectly - just previously they had been together in Otto Preminger's priceless "Laura".The other actors are good as well, especially Walter Huston as the terrible but honest father, while you must observe the young Jessica Tandy entering the scene after Gene Tierney has been married. You can't recognize her, but her performance as a cripple is quite remarkable.Alfred Newman's music is equally perfect, never too intrusive but properly enhancing the Gothic atmosphere whenever it is stressed. Only Glenn Langan as the doctor is a bit simplistic, while the tenants are impressive in every scene. A special tribute to the always admirable Anne Revere as Gene Tierney's wise and hardy mother.

Walter Huston is billed over Vincent Price in Dragonwyck, but Mr. Price has much more screen time and prominence in this film. Neither, however, manages to distract our attention from the angelic presence of Gene Tierney or to upstage the saturnine wit of Spring Byington as a domestic.The story has been compromised by the production code, so we do not see the drug addiction of Price's character and what causes his deranged behavior. But the horror is still there, creeping just beneath the surface. Still, too many of the hideous, more dramatic aspects of the narrative are left to the viewers' imaginations, and in this case, we are expected to make quite a few assumptions about the characters and the true nature of their interactions. As a result, visiting a madman's home becomes what it should never have been: a somewhat dull movie.

This is one of my all time favorite movies! I know some people who don't think it's that great, but personally I love it. I read the book afterward, it's even better after you have watched the film because then you can imagine it with Vincent Price. If you're a fan of his, you need to see his performance in this movie. It's really the first time that he played the villain on screen, and he plays that villain so seductively that you fall in love with him even though you know he's the bad guy. Gene Tierney, who normally plays the smart, brassy female lead, in this film plays the naive young country girl. She's got spunk, but it's great to see a change of pace from her. She gives a phenomenal performance. So, again, this is a fantastic film, and I recommend it.

Dragonwyck (1946)A high drama, historical drama, and drama drama. And the drama part works, so that's most of the movie. It's a fairly stiff arrangement, however, including the purposely stiff Vincent Price, who plays a noble Dutch American (a patroon) with a fabulous estate on the Hudson. Director Mankiewicz is great at nuanced characterizations, including a zealous father played by Walter Huston. This may not be his best product, but it's rich with details and lush textures both visually and in the narrative, and it gets more intense as the small events come to conflict by the end.What sometimes hobbles the whole thing is the simplified tenant farmer revolt, whatever its roots. (I live near to where this is fictionally set, and there is no trace of this kind of culture at all here, just some place names, and I have a suspicion it was never this exaggerated, not in the 1800s, though perhaps in the 1600s, when the Dutch really ruled the area, then called New Netherland.) The pageantry, the great house, the storms, and the big dances, all of this is romantic Bronte territory, well done, and great atmosphere. The music by Alfred Newman and the photography by Arthur C. Miller, both great talents at their professional best, do their usual best, as well.So what works best, beyond the overall mood, is the presence of the two women: the visiting niece of course, the star, Gene Tierney, and equally, in a subtle way, Connie Marshall, the suffering wife of the patroon. Tierney has a kind of cool reserve that works here, letting the light work on her pretty head. Eventually, the handsome doctor's role takes on more complex importance (played by Glenn Langan), and Price has a fine end, which Price fans will greatly admire.