The Hidden Room

Since I first saw Obsession 30 years ago it's remained one of my favourite post War British thrillers – although directed by and starring Americans it's nowhere near noir but a very British take on a calculated attempt at a perfect murder. The idea shown is almost as foolproof and institutionally British as dismembered body parts in suitcases checked into railway station lockers. Some cogent concise acting, scripting, production and black & white photography all go to make an engrossing 93 minutes UK TV running time.

Erudite doctor Robert Newton plays a husband who gets terminally jealous of his philandering wife Sally Gray and decides to bump off her current lover Phil Brown in an ingenious and supposedly undetectable manner. Bomb ravaged London comes into play here with the kidnapped lover temporarily installed in a derelict hidden room underneath a broken brick wasteland to await his gruesome but quick death at manic Newton's hands. And it is Newton's picture - although Naunton Wayne gives him a run for his money later on - his perfect diction matching his impassive body language (maybe exhausted after all the gurning he'd just done in Oliver Twist) and creating a perfectly clinical analysis of the mind of a hopeful murderer. Monty sure was a lucky dog to have escaped a bath though!

A great little film with plenty for you to think about and an atmosphere all of its own when the British made good British films with only the British in mind – even with Yank input!

A wonderful, tight drama that begins with a British gentleman (Robert Newton) turning up unexpectedly to surprise his wife (Sally Gray) and her American lover (Phil Brown). Angered by her string of infidelities, he's planned the perfect revenge, but I won't describe the plot further. I loved the intelligent, British dialogue put side by side with a truly dark crime. The performances are fine, and director Edward Dmytryk creates a nice noir feeling. The detective played by Naunton Wayne is a forerunner of Columbo, turning up to ask 'one more question' with a veneer of innocence, but flashing his understanding and unnerving the culprit. A hidden gem.

I have only just found this wonderful place to talk about films and I am thrilled to read that so many love The Hidden Room, as Obsession is called here, as much as I do.

Robert Newton has always been one of my favorite actors and it pleases me no end to discover his name on this thread.

When Newton made this film he was still interested in acting and it shows. There are subtle things that he does that are the hallmark of a great actor. His natural kindness comes through as well as his intelligence. You believe he really is this successful London psychiatrist with a wife who wanders.

The opening shot in the film establishes his character. There is tension in his casual posture at the card table. The viewer realizes that here is a man with his mind somewhere else. A troubled man, but one in perfect control of his surface emotions. Newton establishes in just a few shots a complex personality, a man capable of many actions.

Later there is a scene with the deaf butler that is both nerve-racking and sad.

My favorite scene is when he comes to visit his captive to bring him food. The way he instinctively walks just an inch beyond the reach of Bill. He is a tantalizing target for his victim, but just, just out of reach. To me a brilliant scene. A later, equally brilliant scene features the dog.

Another scene with many levels is the model train scene. Again as brilliant as anything Hitchcock ever presented to a viewer. As most of you know, Newton was in a very early Hitchcock film, Jamaica Inn. The Hidden Room is MUCH better.

Every chance I get, I show this film to friends, and without exception they say it is one of the best and most intense films they have ever seen. They wonder why it isn't better known. I have no answer to that. I am just grateful that I can visit that Hidden Room in the bombed-out building whenever I wish for some genuine chills.

A London psychiatrist (Robert Newton) catches his wife (Sally Gray) in an affair with an American (Phil Brown). Apparently this is not her first affair, and Newton, as the objective and self-controlled psychiatric professional, decides to settle things in a well-thought-out way by first kidnapping and then imprisoning the American in a hidden room not too far removed from the actual residence, with the ultimate goal of killing him without leaving any incriminating traces. The film could have been more dramatic by playing up the relationship between Newton and the beautiful Sally Gray. Gray seems to be telling the viewer that Newton never really loved her, although it also seems as if her youth and passion were too much for his middle-aged character to handle. In any event the plot, which is remarkably well done, inevitably leads to a police or Scotland Yard type investigation and eventual solving of the crime, rather than a dark story.

Obsession (AKA: The Hidden Room) is directed by Edward Dmytryk and adapted to screenplay by Alec Coppel from his own book and play. It stars Robert Newton, Phil Brown, Sally Gray and Naunton Wayne. Music is by Nino Rota and cinematography by C.M. Pennington-Richards.

Finally having had enough of his wife's affair with a young lover, Dr. Clive Riordan (Newton) plots a devilish scheme of kidnap and murder...

The motive that drives the plot of Obsession is simple in the extreme, this is out and out a revenge for infidelity, but the presentation by Dmytryk is superbly crafty in that Hitchcockian way. The doctor is a most elegant and calm man, he has the perfect murder in mind for his wife's lover (Brown) and he, being a purveyor of psychological smarts, is going to enjoy the luxury of methodically taunting his prey over a period of time.

With the man ingeniously incarcerated down in a bombed out abode, and subjected to daily visits from the doctor, Dr. Clive is then seen going about his normal routines. Exchanging brandy sips with cultural chatter in the gentleman's club, swatting away the attentions of his increasingly fraught wife (Gray), and of course dealing with the close attentions of Scotland Yard; here in the form of Naunton Wayne's astute Superintendent Finsbury. The "good" doctor even has plenty of time to indulge in his love of model train set construction.

The initial plot machinations are slowly paced by the recently blacklisted director, but it's a deliberate ploy since the whole complexion of the movie changes once the kidnap occurs and the police and the press become involved. The atmosphere becomes tense, and this even as captor and captive enjoy some straight backed - prim and proper - verbal exchanges. There's a meticulousness to the murder based thematics that strike a chord, the mention of Crippen and obvious nods to John George Haigh keep the film buzzing with real life serial killer atrocities.

There's a case to be made here that this is Dmytryk's best British film? Certainly his ability to build suspense without histrionics or blood letting is a masterclass in Brit thriller staging. While his directing of Newton and Wayne, both of whom are excellent, is also worthy of a pat on the back. Visually it's straight black and white photography, except for the odd time we are out on the wet cobbled streets and the gaslights ooze the ethereal. But although there's some debate about if it deserves film noir status, I personally feel it's the sort of crime/thriller mounted with enough skill to make it worth seeking out by the film noir loving crowd.

Some of the support turns are stiff, but mercifully not film harming, while you do have to accept that the locale of the crime is hardly water tight and most likely would have been found with ease. But minor itches be damned, this is cunning, crafty and a British chiller of some worth. 8/10