Robert Siodmak’s The Spiral Staircase is an ingeniously constructed suspense thriller which resulted in Ethel Barrymore’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The work is a patient, taut, well written old, dark house tale surrounding a serial killer years before such an antagonist would become standard horror fare. As a consequence, the film’s influence–thematically, cinematically, as well as ideologically–would later be evidenced in the works of such greats as Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, Dario Argento, and Michael Powell.
Helen Capel (Dorothy McGuire) is a mute domestic worker overseeing the welfare of the bed-ridden Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore) in the latter’s isolated New England mansion, which houses her son and stepson, Steven (Gordon Oliver) and Albert (George Brent), as well as Albert’s secretary, Blanche (Rhonda Fleming), the alcoholic cook and estate keeper, Mrs. and Mr. Oates respectively (Elsa Lanchester and Rhys Williams). When the Constable (James Bell) arrives at the mansion announcing that a rash of murders have recently occurred focusing upon women with disabilities, Mrs. Warren urges Doctor Parry (Kent Smith) to take Helen away as a precaution. Before he can act upon the matriarch’s wishes, another murder occurs, this time inside the mansion.
Siodmak’s ingenious work of noir intensity and vision is often dubbed “Hitchcockian” and rightfully so (the screenplay is an adaptation of Ethel Lina White’s Some Must Watch, who wrote The Lady Vanishes). As with the American master’s Rear Window, the opening of the film silently outlines the themes and concepts of the entire film. The time (1910’s) and setting are established as the premise of voyeurism is revealed via a picture show before the camera pans upstairs to an invalid undressing while an undisclosed individual watches intently, à la Psycho.
In regards to the suspense, Siodmak does an outstanding job issuing plausible alibis for everyone within the mansion. Albert, being a stepson, has motive due to a lack of genuine affection from Steven’s mother atop the fact that Steven is now courting Blanche, who is Albert’s ex-fiancée (thus giving Steven a defensive motive). Considering such motives seem extraneous to the killer’s m.o., when Blanche is found dead, the implication that either the killer’s repertoire has expanded or that two murderers are now at large become exacerbating possibilities. Other suspects include Mr. Oates, who is first seen as the “definite” possibility in the manner in which he ambles into the house, unshaven and haggard. His wife’s demur comes across as suspicious due to its overly nonchalant nature, skirting warily between flippancy and inauthenticity. Doctor Parry’s over eagerness to take Helen from the house, on the premise that a specialist in Boston might help her find her voice, comes across as overly chary. Even Mrs. Warren, however implausible (thus making her a prize underdog) is seen attempting to hide a gun beside her bed at one point during the film. Obviously, and once again with a wink and nod to Hitchcock, a flock of red herring flutter about chaotically as the film progresses.
Though sparse, the work encompasses many expressionistic techniques as the first victim (Myrna Dell) succumbs to her death while the camera focuses upon her hands, which are suspended midair, as the killer maims his writhing prey. Later, as Helen walks along the staircase, she pauses, glaring into the mirror as her skewed reflection blurs her mouth. Lastly, we are treated to a nightmare sequence where Helen envisions her wedding in which she is unable to say her vows due to her ailment.
The work does suffer from a bout of didacticism however. Popular for the time, the Freudian depiction of a psychosomatic illness due to trauma resulting in Helen’s becoming mute, the presentation of two sons battling against one another in the wake of their father’s disappointment, and the revelation of the killer’s motives being a classic case of Freudian neurosis, wears on the viewer by the close of the film. In this regard, The Spiral Staircase serves as an interesting companion piece to Hitchcock’s Spellbound, filmed a year before Siodmak’s work, and Psycho, which would come almost a decade-and-a-half later.
Perhaps more important is the film’s influence on the history of cinema. The killer’s POV would later reappear en masse in such masters’ work as Terence Young’s Wait Until Dark, which encompasses the ideas, themes, pacing, and atmosphere of Siodmak’s work to the point of refutable homage; Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom; David Lynch’s Blue Velvet; Bob Clark’s Black Christmas; James Wan’s Saw, which mimics Clark’s masterpiece; and, as previously stated, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Two director’s whose films were heavily influenced by Siodmak’s ideas, not only cinematically, but also thematically, are Dario Argento, i.e. Deep Red, and John Carpenter, i.e. Halloween. As a consequence of the culmination of the latter’s influence on the genre, The Spiral Staircase stands as an arguable godfather to the slasher era, especially in regards to the giallo genre, which would formally appear over thirty years later.
Trivia tidbit: Intended to be the groundwork for Ingrid Bergman’s next big showing, famed producer David Selznick handed the material over to RKO Studios in order to close King Vidor’s Duel in the Sun, which was grossly over budget. As a consequence, the actress was contractually unable to star in the film.
-Egregious Gurnow
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