The Red House
The Red House
NR | 16 March 1947 (USA)
The Red House Trailers

An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandoned farmhouse, located deep in the woods.

Reviews
Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.
Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.
TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%
Uriah43 "Meg" (Allene Roberts) is a teenage girl who lives on the edge of a dark and dreadful forest with a man named "Pete Morgan" (Edward G. Robinson) and his sister "Ellen Morgan" (Judith Anderson) who adopted her when she was 2 years old. As long as she can remember she was told not to venture into the forest. Then one day Pete hires a teenage boy named "Nath Storm" (Lon McCallister) to help with the chores on the farm which pleases Meg to no end even though Nath has a girlfriend named "Tibby" (Julie London) who keeps him focused solely on her. Unfortunately, one stormy night Nath decides to take a short-cut through the woods which greatly displeases Pete and begins a series of bad feelings between the two of them. The friction soon becomes even worse when Meg decides to disobey Pete's instructions and venture into the woods with Nath in search of a mysterious "Red House" which she is told is particularly horrendous. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an entertaining movie which was actually enhanced by the fact that it was filmed in black-and-white as it added a certain macabre feel to everything. It also helped that the sub-plots blended well together to form a cohesive story-line. That being said, I have rated the film accordingly. Above average.
writers_reign This is Eddie Robinson as Eddie Carbone, almost a full decade of Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge we find Robinson drawn incestuously to his adopted daughter and unnaturally jealous when she shows a healthy interest in a boy of her own age. There are no further parallels, Lon McCallister is a school friend and not an illegal immigrant but nevertheless writer/director Delmer Daves serves up a heady brew with an interesting cast including Judith Anderson, Julie London Ona Munson and Rory Calhoun. It's a dark meller and though set in the wide open spaces there's definitely a touch of noir about it as we wait for the secret of the red house to be revealed. Well worth a look.
a.lampert Delmer Daves' film noir balances between thriller and horror. Some reviewers here have said copies are not always very good but I've just watched it on Youtube and the print is really good so it may be better than DVD copies. At times I found this genuinely creepy due to a stunning performance by Edward G. Robinson. It revolves around a family of a crippled man (Robinson) his sister (Judith Anderson) and their adopted daughter (Allene Roberts). Robinson hires young Nath (Lon McCallister) to help around the farm with the heavy work. He has a girlfriend (Julie London) and jealousy soon rears it's head when Nath and the daughter become friends. Julie London's character meets bad boy Rory Calhoun (in the earliest role I've seen him) and having been given rights to hunt on farm land by Robinson, he soon develops into a troublesome guy. One thing leads to another and this gripping film, which never loses pace, escalates into a shattering climax. For most of my long life I've thought that Edward G. Robinson was one of the greatest screen actors we've ever seen and this performance, given at the top of his game, just cements that view. I doubt we'll ever see an actor more compelling than he was.I loved this film.
Panamint "This is the way it could always be Jeanie"... then you hear the mysterious theramin music cue up. There are some excellent moments in this film. But such moments are widely separated by ...well.... lots of country roads, fields, trees, rocks.Certified acting heavyweights Edward G. Robinson and Judith Anderson are in fine form and masterful as usual. The four younger actors Lon Mcallister, Rory Calhoun, Allene Roberts and steamy country vixen Julie London also provide fine acting performances. The acting is the main reason for you to view this.Wind in the woods punctuated by overly loud music is neither exciting enough nor scary, nor is the frequent plot device of folks running around looking concerned and threatening each other with guns. The bucolic countryside is almost too passive as a setting for the goings-on here. The whole thing is just too long and stretched out with all the woods and countryside and general lack of editing.However, Robinson's character is interesting and he plays it to perfection. The ending of this movie involving Robinson's fate provides the most unique piece of concept and film-making skill in the picture, but the scene is very brief.So, you might say "The Red House" succeeds in spite of itself. Overall it is a recommend for me, especially for Robinson completists.
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