Dragonwyck

With shades of Hitchcock's Rebecca, Dragonwyck is a lushly Gothic melodrama; abound with themes of social class; centring on the struggle between the rich and the poor in nineteenth century America. The most striking thing about Dragonwyck is the beauty of the piece. The sets are brilliantly Gothic, while director Joseph L. Mankiewicz keeps the atmosphere thick and foreboding, which in turn ensures that the film succeeds in capturing the best of it's locations. The film reunites the two strongest cast members from Otto Preminger's masterpiece 'Laura' - Gene Tierney and the master of the macabre, Vincent Price. These two are both great thespians, but it is Vincent Price that shines the most. Many people pass this great man off as merely a camp horror movie actor, but with his performance here; along with the vast majority of his later ones - Price proves that he is far more than that. His voice and mannerisms make up a lot of his performances, but it's the subtleties that he hints at beyond his immediate performance that really make him great. Just like he did with The Fall of the House of Usher; Price plays one thing, while all the time hinting at a darker side to his character.

The plot follows a young farm girl (Tierney) who goes to stay with her mother's cousin, Nicholas Van Ryan (Price), in his castle upon his request. It isn't long after her arrival that she hears strange things from the servants, and it's not long after that she realises all isn't quite right with Dragonwyck. The plot is rather thinly spread, but the film always manages to stay interesting because of the fact that it doesn't let you know anything until you really need to know. Things are hinted at throughout the film, but the audience never really knows anything for sure. Even by the time the film reaches it's climax, there are several things that have been left open. Vincent Price's performance here stands out from the rest of his oeuvre because he manages to be charming at the same time as being dark and brooding. After having seen the likes of The Abominable Dr Phibes, it's hard to imagine the man being charming; but here it's hard to imagine why Gene Tierney wouldn't fall for him. Dragonwyck has a few problems, but on the whole this is a quality forties melodrama and comes with high recommendations, especially to the Vincent Price fan.

"Dragonwyck" has the atmosphere of a Hawthorne's tale. Typical is the contrast between the clean, blessed New England farm where Miranda (Gene Tierney) lives with her parents, and the bleak, doomed ancient manor where she goes and later marries the aristocratic Van Ryn (Vincent Price). Gene Tierney's angelic beauty and wholesome look perfectly fit to a romantic heroine in Hawthorne's style: she recalls the Phoebe Pyncheon of "The house of seven gables" (the novel; I haven't seen the movie). Miranda shows another typical aspect of Hawthorne's heroines: differently from the classical romantic maiden, Miranda is not apt to be a meek innocent victim of the force of evil, but she is ready to face it and to fight for her life. Note Tierney's skill in entering into the personality of the characters she plays. She was a pattern of sex-appeal in movies such as "Laura" and "Leave Her to Heaven": here her Miranda is an example of maidenly modesty. From her arrival to the castle the scenes become increasingly darker. The black-and-white photography is outstanding. Vincent Price gives his usual superb performance in the role of the mysterious Van Ryn, whose extreme haughtiness and family pride drive him to madness. Of course, nowadays we follow the story of "Dragonwyck" with a certain amount of irony, yet, perhaps for this very reason, the movie is a treat. I wish current movies were like it (and also that present actresses had a beauty comparable to Gene's, but this is plainly unimaginable).

In 1844, the Wells family lives in a small farm of their own in Greenwich, Connecticut and the sons and daughters have a rigid discipline and religious education from the patriarch Ephraim Wells (Walter Huston). When his wife Abigail Wells (Anne Revere) receives a letter from her wealthy distant cousin Nicholas "Nick" Van Ryn (Vincent Price) inviting one of her daughters to live with his wife Johanna Van Ryn (Vivienne Osborne) and him nursing their daughter Katrine Van Ryn (Connie Marshall), the naive Miranda Wells (Gene Tierney) gets excited with the perspective of traveling. Her mother convinces Ephraim to let her go and Miranda travels with her father to New York. They meet Nick and they learn that he is a patroon of farmers at the Hudson Valley. Then Miranda travels to the Dragonwyck mansion where she is introduced to the voracious Johanna and the sweet Katrine and to the housekeeper Magda (Spring Byington). Miranda also meets Dr. Jeff Turner (Glenn Langan), who is a sort of leader of the farmers that work for Nicholas, in a party and befriends him. Soon she notes that Katrine is neglected by her parents. When Johanna gets mysteriously ill and dies, Miranda returns home. But the atheistic Nick visits her family to propose to marry her. Now Miranda's dream comes true and she gets married with him and moves to Dragonwyck. Will they live happily ever after?

"Dragonwyck" is the debut of Joseph L. Mankiewicz as director. The screenplay also by Mankiewicz is based on a successful novel by Anya Seton with modification in the ending. The cinematography By Arthur C. Miller and the music score by Alfred Newman call the attention of the viewer since the very beginning. The Gothic romance with supernatural touches shows the confrontation between an atheistic arrogant man and his naive religious wife. The performance of Vincent Price is top-notch and the gorgeous Gene Tierney performs a naive character but with strong principles. Walter Huston, despite a secondary role, is also amazing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Solar de Dragonwyck" ("The Manor of Dragonwyck")

Gene Tierney, Vincent Price and Walter Huston and Joseph L Mankiewicz were reasons enough to maintain interest in seeing Dragonwyck. While I had no problem with any of them, I did have a fair lot of issues with the film. The film is overlong and is rather ponderously paced. It further suffers from some clumsy scripting, a consequence of trying to cram too many different genres, and a story that has some suspense but suffers from the fact that it doesn't go anywhere for a bit of the time and the ending underwhelmed also. However, the production values are simply gorgeous, and the score is resolutely haunting. Mankiewicz's direction is solid. Gene Tierney looks beautiful and is adorable and touching. Walter Huston, Anne Revere and Jessica Tandy give terrific support. The best asset is the performance of Vincent Price, one that is devilishly handsome, sometimes frightening and always commanding. All in all, Price makes a deeply flawed movie worth watching. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I really liked this movie, even if it owed a lot to "Rebecca." In some ways it is an odd mix of Gothic horror, Americana and "women's picture." However, it held together, thanks to the performances of Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, and (especially) Vincent Price. Price practically turns the film into a Poe movie before the fact. He can be both romantically charming and sinister, which is a combination that is hard to beat.

I loved the scenes with Price's first wife, who is obsessed with food. In fact, I found the movie curiously disjointed. In the first half of the film, Spring Byngton plays a rather daft "Mrs. Danvers" type, and then she vanishes from the movie without any mention made of it (Not even "We had to fire that old bid d y.") Likewise the haunted daughter from the patroon's first marriage. She had a couple of powerful scenes, and then she was gone without a word. (Not even "Gee, too bad she died of scarlet fever.")

I never would have guessed that Mankiewicz was the director of this film. (Well, perhaps in the scene in which the aristocratic women were making sport of Tierney's commonness.) Very powerful Gothic atmosphere in the key scenes. A very enjoyable film, especially for Vincent Price fans.