Corridor of Mirrors (1948)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Terence Young

Writers:

Rudolph Cartier (writer)
Christopher Massie (novel)

Release Date:

24 July 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A man falls in love with a beautiful young woman and begins to suspect that he may have also loved her in a previous life. |

Plot Keywords:

Courtroom | Jealous Woman | Spoiled Daughter | Reincarnation | Father Daughter Relationship

Cast

Eric Portman	...	Paul Mangin
Edana Romney	...	Mifanwy Conway
Barbara Mullen	...	Veronica
Hugh Sinclair	...	Owen Rhys
Bruce Belfrage	...	Sir David Conway
Alan Wheatley	...	Edgar Orsen
Joan Maude	...	Caroline Hart
Leslie Weston	...	Mortimer
Hugh Latimer	...	Bing
John Penrose	...	Brandy
Christopher Lee	...	Charles
Lois Maxwell	...	Lois
Mavis Villiers	...	Babs
Thora Hird	...	Visitor in Tussauds

Runtime:

105 min | USA:96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Studios Radio Cinema, Paris, France

Trivia:

Feature film debut of Christopher Lee.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Terence Young: Bond Vivant (1999) (V)

A wonderful, interesting Gothic film

This is expert, expert film making, rich in atmosphere and mood, and easily as good as the best gothics and psychological 'horror' films of the forties such as Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, Jane Eyre, Seventh Veil, or the Val Lewton works. I don't think there was a single scene that did not hold my attention. I could not begin to enumerate all the little touches and flourishes of lighting, camera angle, dialog, story ideas, etc. but I particularly enjoyed the seamless interweaving of references to Lewis Carroll's Alice (when Edana Romney follows the white cat (white rabbit surrogate) through the labyrhinthine corridors of the mansion, or to Othello/Romeo and Juliet at the Venetian ball, or again to Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. Some compare this film to to Cocteau (it's on the video box), with its ornate and detailed set, as well as its theme, but Corridor of Mirrors for all its fine acting, atmosphere, and mastery of technique is not genius. It is not poetically simple. But if you liked any of the films mentioned above, you will definitely enjoy watching dark, mysterious leading lady Edana Romney (who also co wrote the screenplay) search for the inner resources to free herself from the spell of an incredibly intense and psychologically compelling, but morbid, life.