Edward G. Robinson doesn't want his adopted daughter to go near "The Red House" in this 1947 film which also stars Judith Anderson, Lon McAllister, Allene Roberts, Julie London and Rory Calhoun. Robinson is Pete, who lives with his sister Ellen (Anderson) on a self-sufficient farm. They have a daughter they both adopted, Meg, who is now a teenager with a crush on Nath (McAllister) so she arranges for him to work for Pete. Nath is interested instead in the gorgeous Tibby (London),a tramp in training who flirts with a randy local (Calhoun). When Nath decides to go home via the woods, Pete becomes very agitated and tries to dissuade him. Meg and Nath decide to find out what's in those woods and start investigating. What they uncover is life-changing.

Directed by Delmer Daves, "The Red House" is one scary noir with lots of night scenes that take place in the woods and a haunting ending. The story is also an allegory for growing up and going out into the world, which Meg and Nath are determined to do. Nath urges his mother to marry her long-time boyfriend and go north with him because it's time he was independent, and Meg wants to be treated like a young woman - not only by a young man, but by the people she sees as her parents. The more Pete tells her not to go into the woods, the more she rebels.

There are several unsettling things in this film - the secret Pete is keeping, for one, as well as very unhealthy obsession with Meg. That is handled subtly for the most part, but is still there. That may seem an ambitious subject for 1947, but it is also an obvious part of the plot of "In This Our Life," as an example. We learn as the film continues that Ellen had a chance at having her own home and happiness with the local doctor, but because Pete would not allow her to take Meg with her, she never married and stayed on the farm. The fact that she wasn't willing to leave Meg alone with Pete is quite telling. As Pete becomes more unbalanced at the thought of anyone trespassing in the woods, we can understand her motives. Another interesting feature of the film is the blatant sexuality of Tibby as opposed to the naiveté of Meg.

All the performances are good, but Robinson is a standout. He could be convincing as both a villain and a lovesick fool, a great man or a coward. Here he slowly fleshes out his character from that of a nice, gentle man to one who is becoming unhinged to complete disintegration in a truly frightening performance. Judith Anderson, so menacing in "Rebecca" underplays beautifully here and is perfectly convincing as Pete's sister. It's a sign of a great actress when she can be at home in Shakespeare and as a farmer's sister. London is stunning and does well as a gal trying to hedge her bets. Roberts and McAllister are appropriately young and have the necessary naive quality.

The best way I can describe "The Red House" is to call it unsettling. The undertones and the end of the film are disturbing, and one can see the beginnings of the psychology and dark feelings that surfaced in film after World War II.

This is one of the toughest Edward G. Robinson films to review, as it is so different and strange when compared to his other films. Instead of the familiar gangster film, Robinson plays a farmer in this mystery. It doesn't seem like a mystery movie initially, but you soon start to sense SOMETHING just isn't right on this lovely and isolated farm. It all begins to be revealed when a high school student comes to work part-time on the farm. He's a classmate of Robinson's adopted daughter and things seem to be working out fine until this young man wants to take a shortcut across the property. Inexplicably, Robinson STRONGLY warns him not to--saying the woods are very dangerous at night. And because of his vehemence, his daughter becomes fascinated with unraveling the whole mystery behind the woods. Instead of trying to further explain the rest of the film, let's just suffice to say that there are lots of twists and turns and even death awaiting! The total package is very good--too good to just have this film sit on shelves like it has over the years. And while not all the plot elements are completely satisfactory (Robinson at times just seemed a little too goofy and crazed and the final resolution was not the best answer to a mystery I have ever seen on film),the movie is worth seeing--particularly for fans of Robinson and films from Hollywood's Golden Age.

I'm not sure why this film was entitled The Red House. Not being shot in color the title will mean absolutely nothing to the viewer, especially the viewer of today who won't be dealing with a recent best selling book to compare it with.

The house of whatever color is located by a mill and it contains a terrible secret from the past of Edward G. Robinson. Robinson and his sister have raised young Allene Roberts on their farm since she was an infant and have been like parents to her. They have one standing rule at their place. Under no circumstances is she or anyone else to go to a certain stretch of woods and to enforce that rule Robinson has hired Rory Calhoun to keep trespassers off.

Of course you tell teenagers like Roberts, Lon McCallister, and Julie London not to do something or go somewhere and you know very well what's going to happen in movies and in real life. Their curiosity unravels both a terrible secret from the past and it also unravels Robinson himself who we see degenerate from a loving father figure to a terrible figure of fright and horror.

Robinson of course is his usual outstanding, but it was refreshing to see Judith Anderson for once not playing a baddie. No Mrs. Danvers here or a blackmailing wet nurse like The Ten Commandments. She's a kind loving sister who gave up her own chance at happiness and a marriage to live with Robinson and raise Roberts.

Allene Roberts and Lon McCallister are a pair of nice young people, but they don't stand up against Rory Calhoun and Julie London. Calhoun's part is mysterious and ill defined, but he has plenty of animal magnetism exploding all over the screen and this was his first big break. As for London, I'm still scratching my head why McCallister chooses Roberts when he's got Julie London giving him the come hither glance.

The Red House is a fine thriller a bit dated, but still entertaining. By the way it also has a fine Mikos Rosza score as well.