Welcome to Dragonwyck, the American, Hudson River Valley version of "Rebecca's" Mandalay where secrets go way beyond the walls of that driveway with long, tenacious fingers. A suicide centuries before of one of the wives put a curse on the wealthy family now lead by the cool, calm and collected Vincent Price, gentle on the outside but quite sinister on the inside. When it comes to his farmers, he has no intention of giving them the land that their families have been farming for generations, even though their tributes to his ancestors have certainly paid off the land. He believes through entitlement alone, he's obligated to keep it, and with his unattraction to his wife (Vivienne Osborne), he's obviously determined to find a new wife who can produce him a son and heir, and that's where impetuous beauty Gene Tierney comes in.
The story focuses on Tierney's exotically named Miranda Wells, a farmer's daughter from Connecticut, a 9:00 girl on a 5:00 farm, determined to find something better than the dirty hands of the farmboys nearby. Parents Walter Huston and Anne Revere are decent, God-fearing Christians who are perplexed by distant relative Price's letter asking for one of their daughters to come to Dragonwyck to be companion to his young daughter (Connie Marshall). Tierney persuades the strict Huston to allow her to go, and gets more than she bargained for. Words of caution from housekeeper Spring Byington aren't enough to warn her against falling in love with Price, and even if its his title and position that she's really interested in, she allows herself to fall under his spell. This continues even after she overhears the farmers confront him at the annual Fourth of July celebration.
Lavishly produced and tightly directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, "Dragonwyck" takes the usual Gothic thriller of the European setting and moves it to two of the original American colonies. It's obvious just from the way that Tierney is made up and dressed that she is not meant to be a country girl and that even if it wasn't Dragonwyck, some millionaire's mansion would certainly have her as a resident. As for Price, this is basically the same type of melodrama that he would do much later over at American International in a series of Gothic Edgar Allan Poe tales, and at more than a decade younger in this part than those, he is appropriately cold even when complimenting his bed-ridden wife. The only time he comes alive is when he sees the feisty Tierney telling off some local social snobs and his delight in squiring her around the dance floor even though she's just witnessed him being attacked while demanding tributes from the farmers.
Byington's housekeeper is mysterious, but not dire like "Rebecca's" Mrs. Danvers, mixing kindness into her forbidding warnings. Osborne has been made up to look like a living corpse, obviously very unhappy in her marriage and consumed with an unknowing sense of doom. She's also rather cold to daughter Marshall as if knowing that she's not going to be around to see her grow into a young woman. The painting of the wife who committed suicide generations before almost resembles her as if to insinuate that the family curse is about to explode in Price's face. It is obvious that Tierney is the key to which the curse will be unlocked. There are also excellent performances by Huston and Revere, and Henry Morgan is also memorable in a bit as the farmer who vindictively attacks Price, although his motives are certainly understandable. Glenn Langan is the one weak element as the overly noble doctor who pleads the farmer's cases towards Price and is manipulated by Price into treating the ailing Osborne which leads to tragic occurrences.
A gripping epic of evil hidden underneath the nobilities' belief that they hold dominion over the poor people around them is a deeply felt drama that grabs you from the moment Tierney grabs the telescope to witness Dragonwyck off in the background, just like Joan Fontaine's first spotting of Mandalay in "Rebecca". There may be some slight unbelievable situations, but for the most part, it really is an intriguing look at sinister intentions disguised by seemingly noble behavior and the destruction to the soul this ultimately causes. It really is Price's show, and he fortunately avoids the over melodramatic line recital that would turn his American International Gothic horror films into unintentional camp.
The story focuses on Tierney's exotically named Miranda Wells, a farmer's daughter from Connecticut, a 9:00 girl on a 5:00 farm, determined to find something better than the dirty hands of the farmboys nearby. Parents Walter Huston and Anne Revere are decent, God-fearing Christians who are perplexed by distant relative Price's letter asking for one of their daughters to come to Dragonwyck to be companion to his young daughter (Connie Marshall). Tierney persuades the strict Huston to allow her to go, and gets more than she bargained for. Words of caution from housekeeper Spring Byington aren't enough to warn her against falling in love with Price, and even if its his title and position that she's really interested in, she allows herself to fall under his spell. This continues even after she overhears the farmers confront him at the annual Fourth of July celebration.
Lavishly produced and tightly directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, "Dragonwyck" takes the usual Gothic thriller of the European setting and moves it to two of the original American colonies. It's obvious just from the way that Tierney is made up and dressed that she is not meant to be a country girl and that even if it wasn't Dragonwyck, some millionaire's mansion would certainly have her as a resident. As for Price, this is basically the same type of melodrama that he would do much later over at American International in a series of Gothic Edgar Allan Poe tales, and at more than a decade younger in this part than those, he is appropriately cold even when complimenting his bed-ridden wife. The only time he comes alive is when he sees the feisty Tierney telling off some local social snobs and his delight in squiring her around the dance floor even though she's just witnessed him being attacked while demanding tributes from the farmers.
Byington's housekeeper is mysterious, but not dire like "Rebecca's" Mrs. Danvers, mixing kindness into her forbidding warnings. Osborne has been made up to look like a living corpse, obviously very unhappy in her marriage and consumed with an unknowing sense of doom. She's also rather cold to daughter Marshall as if knowing that she's not going to be around to see her grow into a young woman. The painting of the wife who committed suicide generations before almost resembles her as if to insinuate that the family curse is about to explode in Price's face. It is obvious that Tierney is the key to which the curse will be unlocked. There are also excellent performances by Huston and Revere, and Henry Morgan is also memorable in a bit as the farmer who vindictively attacks Price, although his motives are certainly understandable. Glenn Langan is the one weak element as the overly noble doctor who pleads the farmer's cases towards Price and is manipulated by Price into treating the ailing Osborne which leads to tragic occurrences.
A gripping epic of evil hidden underneath the nobilities' belief that they hold dominion over the poor people around them is a deeply felt drama that grabs you from the moment Tierney grabs the telescope to witness Dragonwyck off in the background, just like Joan Fontaine's first spotting of Mandalay in "Rebecca". There may be some slight unbelievable situations, but for the most part, it really is an intriguing look at sinister intentions disguised by seemingly noble behavior and the destruction to the soul this ultimately causes. It really is Price's show, and he fortunately avoids the over melodramatic line recital that would turn his American International Gothic horror films into unintentional camp.