Fresh
Its 85 minutes stuffed with shadowy menace, odd magical-realisms (what is it with the jumping fish?), and effortless tension, House by the River is quintessential Lang.
Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
House by the River
WOMEN SPOKE OF HER with Scorn...MEN THOUGHT OF HER with Longing!
1950 · 1h 28m · APPROVED
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by
Fritz Lang
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House by the River
Overview
Wealthy writer Stephen Byrne tries to seduce the family maid, but when she resists, he kills her. Long jealous of his brother John, Stephen does his best to pin the blame for the murder on his sibling. Also affected by Stephen's arrogant dementia is his long-suffering wife Marjorie.
Director and cast
- Fritz Lang Director
- Louis Hayward as Stephen Byrne
- Jane Wyatt as Marjorie Byrne
- Lee Bowman as John Byrne
- Dorothy Patrick as Emily Gaunt
- Ann Shoemaker as Mrs. Ambrose - Stephen's houseeper
- Jody Gilbert as Flora Bantam - John's housekeeper
- Sarah Padden as Mrs. Beach - Stephen's elderly cook
- Peter Brocco as Harry - coroner chairing inquest
- Howland Chamberlain as D.A.-prosecutor at inquest
- Leslie Kimmell Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
62%
Tomatometer
Rotten
House by the River is a fair mystery which lacks sufficient plot twists and suspense.
Variety Staff, Variety
Rotten
It's a bleak, gloomy film, one in which the psychological undercurrents seem to be flooding over the banks, drowning any fleeting vestige of rationality in a perverse Teutonic romanticism.
Tom Charity, Time Out
Rotten
Full of Victorian adornments, shadowy lighting and morbid moods, it is a desperate attempt to raise goose-flesh with a standard horror-psychological plot.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
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