Review of House by the River (1950) by Jeremiah Z — 13 Oct 2009
Fritz Lang set up some nice shots in this low budget Republic release (and a couple of very funny corny ones like the fish jumping recall) but apparently didn't bother to direct his actors very much as Louis Hayward acts as a one man wrecking crew, chewing every piece of scenery in sight.
His over the top performance is the type of thing they used to parody on SCTV. Jane Wyatt is okay as his wife, but Lee Bowman seems embarrassed playing Hayward's crippled (he walks with a limp) brother.
Billed as a "Gothic Mystery" its more gothic than mystery (in fact, there is NO mystery to the audience--only a few people in the film don't know who the murderer is).
This review of House by the River (1950) was written by Jeremiah Z on 13 Oct 2009.
House by the River has generally received positive reviews.
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