Review of “The Maze” (1953)

This black-and-white horror flick was a recommendation from my friend Tracy. She has yet to steer me wrong.

Plot:

Kitty Murray (Veronica Hurst) and Gerald MacTeam (Richard Carlson) are enjoying a vacation in the south of France. They expect to be married in two weeks. With them are Kitty’s Aunt Edith (Katherine Emery) and the about-to-be best man, Richard Roblar (Robin Hughes).

While Richard and Kitty are dancing, Aunt Edith asks Gerald if his uncle, Sir Samuel, would like to attend the wedding. Gerald doubts it. His uncle has locked himself away in that old Scottish castle for who knows how long. He tells Aunt Edith about his upbringing at Castle Craven. The castle has no modern improvements, like electricity or central heating. And his uncle locked him in at night. There is a maze on the grounds, but it’s forbidden. He barely knows his uncle.

The next day, an express letter comes from Castle Craven for Gerald. He’s needed right away and leaves immediately, promising to return as soon as he can.

Kitty doesn’t hear from him. Her attempts to reach him go unanswered. She then reads a death notice in a newspaper that Gerald’s Uncle Samuel has passed away.

Six weeks later, a letter arrives, addressed not to Kitty but to Aunt Edith, releasing Kitty from the engagement.

Kitty does what any level-headed young woman in that situation would do. She makes her way to Scotland with her aunt in tow.

When she arrives, she finds Gerald appears to have aged ten years. He’s not happy to see her and tells her she must leave. Kitty is hurt but undaunted. She’s going to find out what’s going on.

Thoughts:

The opening scenes of the flick establish its gothic cred: the maze with the “Keep Out” sign on the padlocked wooden door, one servant (Michael Pate) calling out from a window in the tower room to fellow servant (Stanley Fraser) to inform him of the death of their boss. As they are talking in the tower room, an odd shuffling sound comes. Is it a family ghost? Or something else?

Aunt Edith narrates most of the film. Oddly enough, she appears to be standing in the tower room, where Sir Samuel met his maker, regardless of where in the story she takes up her narration.

Another odd, disorienting thing is the font of the opening credits. The letters are shadowed, intended to give the appearance of depth, but they’re next to illegible to my old eyes. Color would not have helped. The movie was shot in 3-D, with prominent foregrounds and often distant backgrounds.

It would have been cool to see the maze in 3-D, especially from afar, when candlelight is moving through it.

One nice visual is the performance of three dancers (Bess Flowers, Kenner G. Kemp, and Harold Miller, all uncredited) at a nightclub our heroes attend before Gerald gets called away. The two guys throw the woman around like a sack of potatoes. It’s bizarre.

The castle is suitably gloomy, with the windows in Kitty’s room bricked up. What possible reason could there be for that? At night, she listens behind her locked door as an odd shuffling sound comes down the hall. Creepy.

The special effects are poor and transparent, but seeing the strings never bothers me.

However, I couldn’t buy the explanation. It was just too goofy. But what got me was what happened after the explanation. Maybe Castle Craven has indoor plumbing now.

Nevertheless, I liked this atmospheric little flick. Thanks for the recommendation, Tracy!

The movie can be watched here:


Title: The Maze (1953)

Directed by
William Cameron Menzies

Writing Credits
Daniel B. Ullman…(written for the screen by) (as Dan Ullman)
Maurice Sandoz…(novel)

Cast (in credits order)
Richard Carlson…Gerald MacTeam
Veronica Hurst…Kitty Murray
Katherine Emery…Edith Murray
Michael Pate…William
John Dodsworth…Dr. Bert Dilling

Released: 1953
Length: 1 hour, 20 minutes