Obsession (1949) (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Aug 12, 2024
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Edward DmytrykRelease Date(s)
1949 (June 18, 2024)Studio(s)
Independent Sovereign Films (Indicator/Powerhouse Films)- Film/Program Grade: A
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: A
Review
Obsession (original U.S. title: The Hidden Room, 1949) is a real surprise: a very intelligent, admirably unpredictable crime thriller notable for its singularly grim tone and two outstanding performances. Structurally similar to Hitchcock’s later Dial M for Murder (1954)—both were based on clever plays—it’s the superior film though Hitchcock’s is quite good also.
Wealthy London psychiatrist Clive Riordan (Robert Newton) returns home early one evening to catch his selfish, unfaithful wife, Storm (Sally Gray), with her latest lover, breezy American Bill Kronin (Phil Brown). Clive holding them at gunpoint, the lovers try talking their way out of the situation, but to no avail. Clive leaves with Bill, presumably to kill him, and days later the search for the missing, presumed dead American makes headlines across Britain.
Bill, however, is alive and well, kept chained in a hidden room Clive has prepared in the Blitz-bombed ruins adjacent to his home, Clive visiting him daily, providing him with food and drink. Each day he also brings a rubber hot water bottle filled with acid, which he methodically pours into a bathtub beyond the reach of Bill’s chain. Once the police have concluded their search, and Clive is certain he’s not suspected of Bill’s disappearance, Clive plans to kill him, cut up his body, and dissolve his corpse.
One day, however, Storm’s miniature poodle follows Clive to the secret room. Clive can’t take the chance that the dog might lead the police there, plus he hasn’t yet tested the bathtub of acid, so...
Canada-born Hollywood director Edward Dmytryk had worked in films since the late 1920s, then after years of lowly B-pictures hit the Big Time with several major works, including Murder, My Sweet (1944), Back to Bataan, Cornered (both 1945), and Crossfire (1947), but the former Communist Party was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and became one of the Hollywood Ten, cited for contempt and sentenced to prison. He fled to England, where he made Obsession and Give Us This Day (aka Christ in Concrete), the latter an excellent neo-realist film starring fellow blacklistee Sam Wanamaker. Returning to the U.S., he served four months in prison but appeared before HUAC and named names, some two dozen colleagues. This allowed him back into the film industry, where he made major studio films like The Caine Mutiny (1954), The Young Lions (1958) and others, his last feature directed in 1979. Both he and blacklisted screenwriter Abraham Polonsky later taught at the USC School of Cinema-Television, where I would occasionally bump into one or the other; Polonsky, who never named names, never forgave Dmytryk, loathing him to his dying day.
Dmytryk’s later films tended to be rather turgid (Alvarez Kelly, Anzio, etc.) but in the late 1940s his crime/noir films especially really crackled. The compositions and blocking of the actors are especially good, as are all of the performances. (When one or two actors are excellent, credit the actors; when all are good, credit usually goes to the director.)
The screenplay by Alec Coppel from his more or less simultaneously written novel and play, is highly intelligent. It’s one of those stories where the would-be “perfect crime” has been scrupulously, ingeniously planned, with every contingency carefully anticipated. Coppel’s script wisely does not show its hand; the audience has to guess what Clive’s next moves will be, and more often than not, Clive is several steps ahead of the audience. Clive’s murder plans are ingenious yet plausible, even sensible.
The film’s third act introduces police Superintendent Finsbury (Naunton Wayne from Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes). As marvelous a creation as Clive, he’s as intelligent and cunning as Clive but whereas Clive relishes explaining his murder plot to the captive Bill, Finsbury is self-effacing and circumspect, very much an English prototype for Peter Falk’s Columbo character. Both actors are superb. In later years, Dmytryk claimed the notoriously alcoholic Robert Newton was drunk on-set most of the time but this seems very unlikely; Newton’s performance is too concentrated and measured to believe that.
Almost as good is Phil Brown as the captive Bill, who hides his growing terror with gallows humor. Like Dmytryk, Brown started in Hollywood B-pictures (Weird Woman, Jungle Captive) before earning attention as Nick Adams in The Killers (1946). As one of the founders of The Actors’ Lab in Hollywood (with Jules Dassin, Lloyd Bridges, Jeff Corey and others), he too was caught up in the Blacklist and moved to England, where he lived until 1993. Brown continued appearing in films shot in Britain or the European continent, including Chaplin’s A King in New York, The Camp on Blood Island, Valdez Is Coming, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, and Superman, but achieved immortality as Uncle Owen in the original Star Wars (1977). Amusingly, as Bill, held prisoner for months he develops a beard in the cave-like hidden room, and in one shot, eating fried chicken, he looks just like his future character from George Lucas’s space opera.
A 4K restoration, the Indicator/Powerhouse Films Blu-ray release of Obsession is an impressive 1.37:1 standard black-and-white release, with notably inky blacks and excellent contrast. The LPCM mono audio is supported by optional English subtitles and the disc is Region-Free.
Supplements consist of a new audio commentary track by film historians Thirza Wakefield and Melanie Williams and a new visual essay/interview with writer Richard Dyer. Also included is a 1972 audio interview with director Dmytryk, a 1988 audio interview with sound engineer Gordon McCallum, and an image gallery. For this review, we received a check disc only. The booklet packaged with the final release includes a booklet featuring a new essay by Fintan McDonagh, archival material focusing on Dmytryk and actor Wayne, and quotes from contemporary reviews.
A really outstanding crime thriller in all respects, Obsession is a title you’ll not want to miss.
- Stuart Galbraith IV