The Spiral Staircase

Aside from Robert Siodmak’s impressively atmospheric direction, The Spiral Staircase has exceedingly little to offer in the way of positive attributes – with the majority of the film’s running time bogged down in the dull exploits of several uninteresting figures. Dorothy McGuire stars as Helen Capel, a mute nursemaid whose safety is compromised after a serial killer begins offing women with noticeable disabilities. Employed by a temperamental spinster (Ethel Barrymore’s Mrs. Warren), Helen is forced to spend one very long night within the confines of the old lady’s palatial estate among her quirky relatives and servants (one of whom is, naturally, the killer). Filmmaker Siodmak, working from Mel Dinelli’s script, has infused the majority of The Spiral Staircase with a deliberate and egregiously talky vibe, and there’s little doubt that the relentless emphasis on the various characters’ melodramatic shenanigans becomes tiresome almost immediately – with this especially true of a recurring subplot focused on the dysfunctional relationship between Mrs. Warren’s two sons. The Spiral Staircase‘s failure is a shame, ultimately, given the effectiveness of Nicholas Musuraca’s moody cinematography and certain suspense-oriented sequences, with the palpably overlong running time, in the final analysis, negating the picture’s positive attributes and cementing its place as an endeavor that would surely have worked a whole lot better as a short.

** out of ****