House By The River (1950)

When his wife (Jane Wyatt) is away, a writer (Louis Hayward, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE) attempts to make love to his household's pretty young maid (Dorothy Patrick). She protests violently and he accidentally kills her. He coerces his brother (Lee Bowman) into helping him cover up the killing by disposing her body in the river in front of his house. But it won't be long before the river yields up its secrets. This Gothic thriller is one of Fritz Lang's lesser known American films and while it's quite atmospheric, it's easy to see why its reputation isn't on a level of his other American films. The characters are underdeveloped to the point of merely being pieces in Lang's chess game to move the narrative along. Perhaps a stronger cast might have overcome the deficiencies in character development. Hayward overplays his hand and he may as well carry a sign around his neck saying "I did it!". The characters are uniformly unlikable and the only one I had any feelings for was poor Dorothy Patrick! There are several good scenes that stand out (Hayward trying to recover the body) and the film is enjoyable overall but it's so close to being very good as opposed to decent. Edward Cronjager's lensing is first rate though. George Antheil provides the effective score. With Ann Shoemaker, Will Wright, Kathleen Freeman and Jody Gilbert in an effective performance as Bowman's viper tongued housekeeper.