Il castello di Dragonwyck

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.