THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE

We’re in Vermont in 1906 where three young women have recently been murdered, all of whom having some sort of physical disability or affliction.  We’re a long time before the term ‘serial killer’ was coined but fair dues to the local Constable who realises that young Helen, who is mute, is in serious danger.  

She is a live-in companion to an elderly and bedridden lady, Mrs Warren, who lives in a large creepy mansion. That night there’s a thunderstorm raging outside so the stage is well set for a scary thriller.

The Constable warns Helen’s employer Professor Warren (the stepson of old Mrs Warren) that she should be especially vigilant.

The Professor duly passes on the warning, but he makes little effort to ensure that she is not left on her own.

Hmmm, does this mean that the Professor, who is a bit of a cold fish, is the killer?

He’s certainly a suspect, as his his younger stepbrother Steven, although maybe Steven is too busy making advances to the secretary Blanche to be doing any serial killing on the side.

There’s also young Dr Parry whose interest in Helen is not just a professional one.  He has been called away to treat an urgent case, but maybe he’s made that up and he’s secretly in the house?

All very intriguing but for a while not much happens.

The housekeeper Mrs Oates gets drunk on brandy while her husband is despatched on an urgent mission that will take him away for several hours.

Old Mrs Warren, who may or may not be losing her marbles somewhat, is very keen for Helen to leave the house despite the lateness of the hour and the thunderstorm.  And then she seems to be remembering witnessing long ago the murder of a young woman in the very grounds of the house, but perhaps she’s just confused?

Eventually we get to the climax of the story which is exciting while it lasts.  Blanche is murdered in the basement, then Helen thinks Steven is the murderer and locks him in the wine cellar, only for the Professor to reveal that he is the killer, determined to remove imperfections from the world.

Things look bad for Helen (she can’t call out for help, after all) but thankfully we’re in America where everyone has a gun handy and surprisingly old Mrs Warren manages to get herself out of bed long enough to shoot dead her stepson.

There then follows some rushed exposition from the old lady before she collapses.  After a couple of rewinds, I was able to establish that her stepson has killed (to her knowledge anyway) no less than seven (!) women, including the current three but presumably excluding Blanche whose murder Mrs Warren wouldn’t yet be aware of.  

It seems that the first murder occurred some ten years ago and that the Professor only committed his crimes when Steven was back home from his frequent travels (he’s a bit of a playboy) which led Mrs Warren to think that her son Steven was the murderer, which I guess explains why she never went to the authorities (don’t you just love old people and their strong moral principles?)

I’m not sure that the plot stands up to close scrutiny.  For example, I didn’t care much for the killing of Blanche which doesn’t fit the pattern (she doesn’t have any disability) and therefore seems contrived (we’re supposed to believe that the Professor is jealous of her relationship with Steven).  

On the other hand I quite liked that the  Professor’s warped motivation for his killings stems from his father’s obsession with strength and manliness. 

To round things off nicely the film ends very happily for Helen.  She lost her ability to speak due to a childhood trauma, but now the shock of the Professor being shot dead before her very eyes has the result of restoring her voice, so that she will now be able to say “yes” when Dr Parry proposes marriage.

There’s plenty of atmosphere thanks to director Robert Siodmak’s visual flair and to the early use of a theremin in the score. 

Dorothy McGuire does a decent job of playing Helen, and Ethel Barrymore as Mrs Warren picked up an Oscar nomination which I think was generous but since she was Hollywood royalty it was to be expected.