The Red House (1947)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Red House (1947) – D. Daves

The Red House is loosely categorized as “film noir” (a very broad category, as we know) but it begins rather cheerfully with some high school kids (real ages: 19 to 24) flirting on the school bus (albeit with a voiceover noting that kids take longer to finish school because of farm chores that take them away from their studies).  Nath Storm (Lon McCallister) is one of those kids who takes up a job working for odd Pete Morgan (Edward G. Robinson) and his sister (Judith Anderson) at the insistence of their adopted daughter Meg (Allene Roberts), even though Nath is going steady with Tibby Rinton (Julie London), a “bad girl” who also flirts with older Teller (Rory Calhoun).  So far, a bit ordinary, unusual family structure aside.  But when Nath tells Pete about his plans to take a shortcut through the nearby woods to get home in the evening, Pete over-reacts (there are rumours that his wooden leg is a result of an incident in the woods).  Of course, Nath goes anyway and something whacks him on the back of the head.  This only makes him want to investigate further, especially after hearing about a haunted red house somewhere in the middle of the woods.  He and Meg and Tibby search for it to no avail.  Later Meg sneaks in there on her own and gets shot at.  All the while, Pete may be losing his grip on reality, Tibby hooks up with Teller, and Nath is falling for Meg (who is keen).  Director Delmer Daves builds up suspense around the red house and its secret, somehow making it seem almost Freudian, with the not-so-hidden sexual motivations of the teens and the creepy obsession of Pete for Meg hanging heavy over the proceedings. The teens want to find the red house but Pete won’t let them!  The tension builds and eventually we learn all, which fortunately doesn’t feel anti-climactic but more like an inevitable culmination as the pieces fall into place.  Uneven but weird enough to recommend.