Amicable a decade after divorcing, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor no doubt saw the writing on wall when Horror Schlockmeister William Castle stunt casted them in one of his underfunded fright fests. Stanwyck, still in fine shape at 57, took the hint and switched to tv after this, Taylor, looking much older than his 53 years, had already sunk to tv, Disney & Embassy films, soldiered on even with the touch of death on his once handsome face. No horror pic, though Castle works hard pretending so (as does PSYCHO scripter Robert Bloch), but a ‘gaslighting’ setup with Stanwyck living & screaming thru a series of nightmares induced by a trio of false friends out to grab everything she inherited after her creepy husband died in a house fire. Castle tosses in plenty of mumbo-jumbo from beginning to end: dream sequences, pseudo-scientific explanations, extended half-reel prologue, schlock cuts and things that go bump in the night. It’s quite a comedown for these vet stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, since unlike some of their peers who knew how to tear into these things with relish; as actors, Stanwyck too honest/Taylor too limited, neither with a camp bone in their body. (Stanwyck could play this stuff straight, see SORRY, WRONG NUMBER/’48 while Taylor unable to play the surprise baddie, see CONSPIRATOR/’49. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2010/08/conspirator-1949.html
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Attention to the music by Vic Mizzy on a harpsichord kick with tv’s THE ADDAMS FAMILY also out this year. Attention to Stanwyck who, for the only time in her career, is caught anticipating a reaction. (Or did Castle mistime the edit?) And finally to all the looped dialogue on such a simple shoot with tv production values. Something wrong with the sound equipment? (And be sure to click on our poster to expand it so you can read all the exciting bullet points!)
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