The Spiral Staircase

A small town in Vermont in the early twentieth century. A serial killer is targeting women with disabilities, and over the course of a single night a mute young woman working as a servant in a mansion is stalked through the house. The film is not interested in who the killer is. It is interested in the fact that a woman without a voice cannot call for help. The suspense comes straight out of that gap: there is a telephone, there are people, there is no scream. The form is built on Robert Siodmak leaning the camera into the victim's perception. In one shot we look through the killer's eyes and the young woman's face appears with no mouth at all. What manufactures the fear is not blood but that look. The source is Ethel Lina White's 1933 novel Some Must Watch. Dore Schary produced, and RKO came to the rights by way of David O. Selznick. Dorothy McGuire plays the mute woman, with George Brent and Ethel Barrymore as other residents of the house. Barrymore was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Who it is for: viewers who love classic suspense, gothic house atmosphere and noir lighting. Who it is not for: anyone relying on the twist. There are few suspects, and a modern audience will probably guess the killer early.