Last night I watched The Locked Door from 1929 - Barbara Stanwyck's talkie debut. The acting by the rest of cast is a bit hammy to begin with, but the beautiful Barbara elegantly commands every scene and effervescently steals the camera every time she appears. The story is very slow to draw itself out, starting with some merriment, but slowly and mercilessly coils itself into high tension and drama by the second act. The plot is very simple but highly believable, and all the motives for a great murder are laid out on the table. As fate would have it, the boys in blue find out soon after, and their keenly sensitive detective minds turn a string of lies into an incisive murder hunt.
The thing that got me, apart from Barbara's grace, depth and charm, is the way she deals with all the emotions which play out across her face and features; highlighting gestures and silent feelings never written down in the script. Indeed, after the murder the screen goes silent for a whole 10mins as the murderer silently haunts the area, cleaning up, all while the lady watches him secretly from above.
I have to say this early talkie got a lot of negative press on IMDb and movie perfectionists were quick to point out it's flaws. Yet it slowly coiled itself around my brain until I was transfixed right up to the very sobering ending. :
The thing that got me, apart from Barbara's grace, depth and charm, is the way she deals with all the emotions which play out across her face and features; highlighting gestures and silent feelings never written down in the script. Indeed, after the murder the screen goes silent for a whole 10mins as the murderer silently haunts the area, cleaning up, all while the lady watches him secretly from above.
I have to say this early talkie got a lot of negative press on IMDb and movie perfectionists were quick to point out it's flaws. Yet it slowly coiled itself around my brain until I was transfixed right up to the very sobering ending. :