This film is based on a JB Priestley novel, and it shows. We are in the territory of the country house, the benighted travellers and the Dark Secret. If the storyline is weak and the acting hammy, James Whale directs with aplomb and the gothic effects of lighting and weather are impressive.
On a stormy night, Philip and Margaret Waverton (Raymond Massey and Gloria Stuart) are motoring through remote Welsh countryside with their friend Penderel (Melvyn Douglas). Landslides block the road before and behind, and the three cold, wet travellers are forced to seek refuge at the dark house on the hill.
The house is occupied by a centenarian invalid, his three disturbed offspring and their wild butler, Morgan, played by Boris Karloff. The group is joined by two other stranded travellers, Sir William Porterhouse (Charles Laughton) and Gladys (Lillian Bond).
"This house gives me the creeps," opines Margaret, and the tension builds as mirror distortions, howling winds and strange noises from behind locked doors lead inexorably to the appearance of Saul Femm, the family's Dark Secret.
Margaret Waverton is the sex interest. She undresses because her things are wet, and puts on a figure-hugging gown. She and Gladys squeal and seek the protection of the men, and occasionally flash their cleavages. Morgan, the dumb giant, takes a lustful interest in Margaret, and the faun-and-satyr scenes are well done.
Charles Laughton is great as 'Bill' Porterhouse, the self-made Lancashire tycoon. A stock target of Priestley's, this rapacious capitalist is the butt of some impassioned sermonising, put here into the mouth of Penderel. Porterhouse is 'weekending' with Gladys, the chorus girl, another of priestley's two-dimensional characters - the Fallen Woman. Gladys is not beyond salvation, however, and she and Penderel fall madly in love.
Penderel has dated horribly. This type of hero - the moustachio'd, tweedbound war hero with the flippant, cheerful manner - seems ludicrous to a modern viewer. Perhaps the greatest criticism of Penderel is that his jokes are relentlessly unfunny. Melvyn Douglas is a sort of British bargain-basement Clark Gable, without the sex appeal.
Raymond Massey is workmanlike as the bland 'nice guy' Philip. Ernest Thesiger gives his character, Horace Femm, a quirky appeal, but Eva Moore as Rebecca is too strident and unsubtle. Lillian Bond plays Gladys with a breezy charm and a natural insouciance. Brember Wills is unnerving as the unpredictable Saul.
Karloff's first appearance is dramatic, and he sustains the menace of Morgan very effectively throughout the film. The chiaroscuro lighting effects are excellent, for example when Horace and Philip are alone on the staircase. Margaret's shadowplay is cleverly done, especially its powerful climax.
Predictably for a creaking old British thriller, the film has some glaring flaws. Penderel and Gladys disappear to the barn for what must be several hours, but no-one seems to notice, not even Bill, Gladys's companion. When Morgan attacks Margaret in the main room, not one of the eight other people in the house is on hand to help the poor woman. The dialogue by means of which Penderel and Gladys declare their love is execrable sub-Noel Coward stuff. Why doesn't Saul finish off Penderel when he has him at his mercy on the hearth? And where does Horace disappear to when the action is going on? How come everyone is so matter-of-fact the following morning? And why are the travellers leaving, when the road is still blocked by the landslides?
Verdict - a fairly feeble apparatus, enlivened by some good performances and Whale's directorial professionalism.
