Pluskylang Great Film overall

Executscan Expected more

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

evening1 I enjoyed this thriller about a psychopathic writer who accidentally kills his sexy maid and then tries to pin it on his crippled brother.Louis Hayward overacts a bit as Stephen, the failed scribe who rejects his attractive and classy wife, Marjorie (Jane Wyatt), in favor of his tease of a housekeeper.I enjoyed the performance of Lee Bowman as Stephen's brother John, who, out of family loyalty, allows himself to be dangerously manipulated. He too harbors a forbidden love -- for his brother's wife -- but has the integrity not to act on it. Descending into alcoholism, he'd rather flee than make love with his sister-in-law.In a film that is much less ambitious than a classic such as "M," Fritz Lang creates scenes of satisfying creepiness on a river that is central to the plot. In addition, a courtroom scene is quite entertaining.My only quibble with this movie is its facile ending. It all ties up just a little too neatly. I expected more from this famed director.

bkoganbing The most interesting aspect of House By The River is the fact that it was produced at Republic Pictures, the home of Roy Rogers and several other B movie cowboys and the values those pictures put forth. Hardly the place for a moody and atmospheric thriller that examines a man's moral degeneracy directed by Fritz Lang who always likes to explore the dark. One thing that does mark this as a Republic film is the usual Herbert J. Yates economy.But for a director like Lang who was used to exploring shadowy worlds, economy on the set isn't a hindrance, though back in Germany this man directed the opulent Metropolis. House By The River delivers the most for its meager budget.Louis Hayward who was a poor man's Tyrone Power and like Power could play straight heroes and hero/heels gets his Nightmare Alley type role as the rich and idle writer who just can't move the writer's block. He takes a real fancy to maid Dorothy Patrick and when she repulses his advances, Hayward kills her. He gets older and club footed brother Lee Bowman to dump the body in the river. But as dead bodies will do, they bloat and have a nasty habit of floating to the top.Lang and Hayward create a really frightening picture of moral degeneracy that would have resonated well with post World War II audiences who had just defeated a nation gripped in the philosophy that it was a race of super people. Jane Wyatt gets her innings in playing Hayward's wife who Bowman also loved and who starts thinking that maybe she married the wrong brother.I have to single out Jody Gilbert from the cast who plays Bowman's housekeeper and who Bowman takes his frustrations out on after he's helped Hayward. She's not the sharpest knife in the drawer and misreads all of Bowman's signals and later does him damage at a coroner's inquest. I'm not sure how much money House By The River brought in to Republic Pictures, but it is a minor masterpiece for this studio.

blanche-2 Louis Hayward, Jane Wyatt, and Lee Bowman star in "House by the River," a 1950 film directed by Fritz Lang. According to the interview on the DVD, this film for some reason was "lost" and later located.The film is a Gothic drama. Hayward plays Stephen Byrne, a snake and an unsuccessful writer. One day, while his wife (Wyatt) is out of the house, Stephen makes a pretty aggressive pass at the family maid, Emily (Dorothy Patrick). When she starts screaming, Stephen winds up killing her. Panicked, he begs his crippled brother John (Lee Bowman) to help him get rid of the body. John is sick of baling out his brother, but does so because Stephen lies to him, stating that his wife is at the doctor's because she's pregnant. John reluctantly helps. Emily's disappearance causes a lot of publicity, which helps the sale of Stephen's books and inspires him to write one about her death as his marriage deteriorates. Meanwhile, suspicion falls in the wrong quarters.This is an excellent film by Lang, with some of the action taking place in the dark, narrow house and on the river, which has become a tremendous threat to both Stephen and John. At times it's downright creepy.This film was made by Republic, and this isn't what one would call an A list cast or budget, yet under Lang's direction, it's an A film. All three of the stars would enjoy solid careers in television, as would many of the supporting players.Louis Hayward's career was a strange thing. Handsome, smooth, with a caressing voice, he made a wonderful Simon Templar in "The Saint in New York" and appeared in several top films, including "The Count of Monte Cristo," "And Then There Were None," and "Anthony Adverse." It seemed like all systems go. But mega-stardom was not to be; the majority of his films were weak entries. He became wealthy acting and producing on television. Hayward is excellent here, embodying the cold opportunistic and amoral Stephen. Lee Bowman is very good as John, doing some of his best work. And Jane Wyatt, who would become known to baby boomers as Margaret Anderson on "Father Knows Best" is lovely as Stephen's unhappy wife.A must see if you like Lang.

jzappa In spite of being a part of Fritz Lang's fascinating shift from Nietzschean supermen to everyman protagonists suddenly pitted in a situation of life and death, House By the River is a mere exercise for him. He makes little use of the limited abilities of the cast, the setting, the story and even lets the film fly with a particularly shabby ending. The film remains enjoyable for the most part as a thriller about an unhinged central character, a guilt- consumed accomplice, a terrible crime, and the symbolic shift of fate caused by the nearby river. The story sets in motion right away, taking advantage of the development of the characters before we know much about them, Lang viewing each complicit, suspicious and unwary character with an omniscient eye. His impartiality is what I most admire about this almost-but-not-quite effort, because the decisions the characters make, the mistakes, the virtues, everything is vulnerable to the forces of nature which surround them.Each nuance, from the opening shots of the neighboring river and the wind in the trees, has a conscientious reverberation. Our anti-hero declares to change, but the characters of environment, the wind and the water, are the decisive intermediaries of whether he will succeed or not in breaking or committing to that promise. This is a great device, but the film is particularly weak in so many departments, mainly in comparison to Lang's previous and subsequent films noir which hit the nail on the head, like M, Scarlet Street, Hangmen Also Die, The Big Heat and Human Desire, all top-notch achievements that show his effortless capability for much stronger acting and symbolic resolutions. With House By the River, he seems to want to return to his more Gothic roots, perhaps even to the extent of his Expressionist silent films, and the cinematography is generally fine save for the finale, when expression is needed most. Louis Hayward, who plays the dubious protagonist, stands out, but only in comparison to his surrounding ensemble.