The Spiral Staircase

Though it may have lost excitement with the years, The Spiral Staircase is still a charming thriller. Along with banging shutters, shadowy figures, unexplained noises, taps on the window, a wine cellar, and doors that open and close by themselves, there occur upwards of half a dozen murders.

The vast number of Victorian sub-intrigues and love affairs make a coherent summary of the plot impossible. The spiral staircase is in the old Warren House, run by Professor Warren (George Brent) and owned by old Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore) who is dying upstairs, attended by Helen the dumb maid (Dorothy McGuire). She cannot talk. When young Dr. Parry arrives to attend to old Mrs. Warren, he falls in love with Helen. Then the professor's step-brother, Stephen Warren, turns up, and young ladies commence dying, among them Stephen's own girl friend, Blanche (Rhonda Fleming).

While the bloodshed and love goes on downstairs old Mrs. Warren lies abed on the second floor, delivering in her omniscient way, prophecies "Hide under the bed or else get out while you can," she tells young Helen, "and take Dr. Parry with you. You love him." But it is difficult to leave the old Warren house except by dying.

Though most of the characters in the spectacle are simply victims of Dore Schary's imagination, several manage to rise above the genre. Far the best performance is Ethel Barrymore's. As old Mrs. Warren, she is as fantastical a grandmother as ever there was. Half-crazy she lies on her bed, her great cat-eyes wide muttering like Tieresias. But, in the end, since no one else can do it, she unearths a revolver from behind her bed, and, tough as Bronko Nagurski, she appears at the head of the stairs to pump most of her dozen shots into the murderer. Next to Ethel Barrymore, the most attractive character is Charlton the bulldog who lazes by the fire, goes out courting the neighbor's dog, and attacks the constable.

Though few of the other roles are so demanding, all of the actors murder and are murdered with a great good will. As Professor Warren, Mr. Brent is cunning and insidiously affable. In the role of the dumb girl Miss McGuire is really appealing. Most of the other people are one-sided and pleasantly so. Dead or drunk, each has a part.

The longer short, Picture Parade, makes one regret the Brattle's recent boycott of Magoo. It depicts scenic spots across America including caves in Oregon "so unusual they are under government protection." The cartoon concerns Pepe le Pew, an unsatisfied skunk.