I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The first must-see film of the year.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

'Secret Beyond the Door' is far from Fritz Lang's greatest (American)films, but that should be enough for real film-noir fans. The film supposed to be Lang's version of (much much better) 'Rebecca' - a psychological film-noir. There are some similarities between the two film, but 'Secret Beyond the Door' might seem too melodramatic and camp to capture the exact eerie feel like Hitchcock does with 'Rebecca'. These two films have been compared so much, I think I don't need to fall into deeper with my analyses between them two.'Secret Beyond the Door' still manages to be captivating and entertaining enough. Joan Bennett's trance like narration about closed door in herself, gives the film kind off dream like vibe. As one of the main character is running a magazine about architecture, then it is even more enjoyable to look how Lang have used architecture and how important role it plays in the film.Melodramatic, but murky psycho thriller.

Joan Bennett is always good and reliable and worth seeing, and so is Michael Redgrave, no matter how weird characters he makes, and this is one of the weirdest. As a pychological thriller it's not quite credible, Joan Bennett showing some astonishing carelessness in now and then going into panic, and Michael Redgrave unable to control himself almost as a somnambulist. The supporting characters are almost more interesting, and the boy seems to be the only clever one. What actually makes this film is the effects, above all Miklos Rosza's always tremendous music, but also Fritz Lang's knack of conjuring some magic, here especially Joan Bennett losing herself in dark corridors - it happens demonstrably frequently in this film. All these effects tend to tower up to some exaggerated theatricalness, while as a psychological thriller it would have been more efficient with less. But it's great cinematic magic, all the way to the end.

All the ingredients are there for an engaging story of a brooding widower with a distant young son who marries a lost young woman and brings her home to his house of mystery. In the hands of the usually brilliant Fritz Lang, however, comes a story so unbelievable and pretentious that the results are so melodramatically ridiculousness that sometimes you really don't believe what is transpiring on screen.Like the film version of "Rebecca", this starts with the heroine (Joan Bennett) narrating the beginning of the tale, going into the saga of how she went through losing her older brother and gained a fortune, and ended up falling in love with a brooding man (Michael Redgrave) whom she met on vacation. He forgets to tell her that he is a widower and a father, and that his house is planted with infamous rooms recreated from actual crime scenes. Anne Revere gives a nuanced portrayal of his loving but somewhat overbearing sister (who basically takes care of the young son), while Barbara O'Neil goes down Mrs. Danvers territory as the scarred secretary that was on the verge of being fired before rescuing the son from a fire.Natalie Schafer is amusing as Bennett's best friend ("I'm not as poisonous as I look", she tells Redgrave upon their first meeting) who is part of a tour Redgrave takes some party guests on to view the remakes of the rooms Redgrave collects. She is the first person to point out the mysterious locked door which Redgrave refuses to open, making Bennett mighty suspicious. But curiosity killed the cat and threatens to do in the second wife, leading to a melodramatic conclusion that seems totally ripped off from "Rebecca".Even Joan Bennett admitted this film was a fiasco, her over-acting here sometimes out of tune with her usually excellent performances. Redgrave as the brooding hero actually tones down his performance, giving what mystery there is there some interest. It's just too bad that the results are so ridiculously silly, since the film is beautifully photographed and almost Gothic in nature. While the acting certainly could have been better, the fault for what results lies in the hand of director Lang who seemed to be going for a sense of romance, mystery and film noir which never gels.

This could have been so much better than it is. Starting well with powerful imagery and strong narration, this looks as if it will be a great noirish tale of horror, complete with touches of Freud and surrealism. But no, sad to say that every time this film steps up and begins to soar to some nightmare level, the dumb dialogue drags it back down into fluffy melodrama.Joan Bennett is fine (thirty years before her governess role in Susperia!) but Michael Redgrave is not, far too flat and dour to play a charismatic (killer?). Bennett, apart from those few visual flourishes and moments of splendour, is probably the best reason to see this. Despite the lines she is given she does her very best and always looks quite splendid especially in those particularly sheer tops she is given to wear in the first half.