''The Locket'' is a 1946 American
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting.
In terms of context and co ...
with
noirish undertones directed by
John Brahm
John Brahm (August 17, 1893 – October 12, 1982) was a German film and television director. His films include '' The Undying Monster'' (1942), '' The Lodger'' (1944), ''Hangover Square'' (1945), ''The Locket'' (1946), ''The Brasher Doubloon'' (1 ...
, starring
Laraine Day
Laraine Day (born La Raine Johnson, October 13, 1920 – November 10, 2007) was an American actress, radio and television commentator, and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract star. As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film sta ...
,
Brian Aherne
William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States.
His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...
,
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...
, and
Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond (born Raymond Guion; August 13, 1908 – May 3, 1998) was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a singer, composer, screenwriter, director, producer, and decorat ...
, and released by
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
. The film is based on a screenplay by Sheridan Gibney, adapted from "What Nancy Wanted" by Norma Barzman, wife of later-blacklisted writer
Ben Barzman
Ben Barzman (October 12, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was a Canadian journalist, screenwriter, and novelist, blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and best known for his screenplays for the films ''Back to Bataan'' (1945), '' El Cid'' (1961), and ''T ...
. It is noted for its complex and confusing use of layered
flashbacks within flashbacks to give psychological depth to the narrative.
Plot
A respectable looking man appears unannounced and uninvited at an upper crusty wedding at a
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
residence in Manhattan. He asks for the groom, John Willis (Raymond), to be summoned. The sobriety of his appearance, speech, and manner yield acquiescence. After a cordial greeting, Harry Blair, a psychiatrist, recounts in a series of nested flashbacks a tale of Willis’ fiancé and his ex-wife Nancy (Day) being not only a
kleptomaniac
Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main ch ...
, inveterate liar, and murderess but unpunished for any of her crimes.
Apparently all her misdeeds trace to being falsely accused of stealing as a child. Blair recounts that Nancy first dates then splits up with an artist, Norman Clyde (Mitchum), who contacts Blair on the eve of the execution of the man convicted for a murder she committed and he helped conceal. Unaware of any of this until told by Clyde shortly into his hasty marriage to Nancy, Blair is skeptical and recommends Clyde seek counseling for his delusions. Instead Clyde plunges himself out a window of Blair’s upper story office.
Blair seeks to put the doubts Clyde sowed behind him, but discovers on his own grounds for questioning Nancy. When, five years in, he finally is faced with the truth of her serial thefts and compulsive deceits she has him fraudulently committed to a mental institution. Some unspecified time after divorcing him she becomes engaged to Willis.
It is left totally opaque whether she recognizes he's the son of the woman who had accused her of thievery, and that her childhood
bete noir is set to become her mother-in-law.
In spite of Blair‘s passion recounting the unseemly details of the previous decade, an increasingly unsteady Willis remains determined to see the wedding through. The bridesmaids attend to Nancy as the ceremony nears.
Dressed in her gown and veil, Nancy is gifted a family keepsake passed down over three generations of Willis women - the same heart-shaped golden locket that had once been her downfall, now affectionately clasped around her neck by the very same woman who had tormented her. Overwhelmed, she is beset by hallucinations of her sordid past and collapses physically and mentally during the wedding march. In the turgid aftermath she is to be committed to a mental institution, with her ex-husband counseling her fiance and his mother to show her both patience and compassion.
Cast
*
Laraine Day
Laraine Day (born La Raine Johnson, October 13, 1920 – November 10, 2007) was an American actress, radio and television commentator, and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract star. As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film sta ...
as Nancy Monks Blair Patton
*
Brian Aherne
William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States.
His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...
as Dr. Harry Blair
*
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...
as Norman Clyde
*
Gene Raymond
Gene Raymond (born Raymond Guion; August 13, 1908 – May 3, 1998) was an American film, television, and stage actor of the 1930s and 1940s. In addition to acting, Raymond was also a singer, composer, screenwriter, director, producer, and decorat ...
as John Willis
*
Sharyn Moffett
Patricia Sharyn Moffett (September 12, 1936 – December 23, 2021) was an American child actress who appeared in films during the 1940s.
Life and career
Moffett was born in Alameda, California on September 12, 1936, to a show business family. He ...
as Nancy, age 10
*
Ricardo Cortez
Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career.
Early years
Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob K ...
as Drew Bonner
*
Katherine Emery
Katherine Drewry Emery (October 11, 1906 – February 7, 1980) was an American stage and film actress.
Early years
Emery was born in Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated from Sweet Briar College in 1928 and then went home to Montclair, New ...
as Mrs. Willis
*
Helene Thimig
Helene Ottilie Thimig (5 June 1889 – 7 November 1974) was an Austrian stage and film actress.
Personal life
Helene Thimig was the daughter of actor Hugo Thimig and the sister of actors Hermann and Hans Thimig.
Thimig was married to the ...
as Mrs. Monks
*
Reginald Denny as Mr. Wendell
*
Nella Walker
Nella Walker (March 6, 1886 – March 22, 1971) was an American actress and vaudeville performer of the 1920s through the 1950s.
Biography
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Walker, she was born and raised in Chicago. In 1910, she marrie ...
as Mrs. Wendell
*
Henry Stephenson
Henry Stephenson (born Harry Stephenson Garraway; 16 April 1871 – 24 April 1956) was a British actor. He portrayed friendly and wise gentlemen in many films of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his roles were Sir Joseph Banks in ''Mutiny on the Bou ...
as Lord Wyndham
*
Lillian Fontaine as Lady Wyndham
*
Myrna Dell
Myrna Dell (born Marilyn Adele Dunlap; March 5, 1924 – February 11, 2011) was an American actress, model, and writer who appeared in numerous motion pictures and television programs over four decades. A Hollywood glamour girl in the early p ...
as Thelma
*
Wyndham Standing
Charles Wyndham Standing''Silent Film Necrology'', 2nd Edition by Eugene Michael Vazzana, c. 2001 page 497 (23 August 1880 – 1 February 1963) was an English film actor.
Early years
Standing was born in London, England and died in Los An ...
as Butler (uncredited)
Background
*
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer.
Early life
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...
originally bought the Norma Barzman screenplay to produce and direct the film with his wife
Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British-American actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe ...
in the lead role, but later sold the rights to
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
, which then assigned Gibney to rewrite the screenplay. The original Barzman screenplay is in the Cronyn-Tandy papers at the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
.
* The interiors used for the house of Mrs. Willis appear to be the same as those used for the house of Alex Sebastian (
Claude Rains) in
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's ''
Notorious'', released by RKO in September 1946.
Reception
Critical response
When the film was released the staff at ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' magazine praised the film, writing, "Story carries the flashback technique to greater lengths than generally employed. The writing by Sheridan Gibney displays an understanding of the subject matter and proves a solid basis for the able performances achieved by John Brahm’s direction. Latter gears his scenes for full interest and carefully carries forward the doubt – and audience hope – that Nancy is not the villainess."
In 1992 film historians Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward praised the unusual
melodrama
A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...
in the RKO visual style. "It is distinctive in its flashbacks within flashbacks, with the story often being told by a third or fourth person removed. This device is handled effectively in preparation for the climactic flashback, which reveals the truth."
Contemporary film critic Dennis Schwartz gave the film a mixed review in 2006, writing, "A psychological drama about a woman with a dark secret from her childhood that is carried over to her adult life. It's a post-war baroque melodrama, creaky as wooden steps in a mildewed house ... It was too wooden a presentation to generate anything but a few sparks ... It's a somber story, with a lot of heavy-handed things going on. The complexities of the heroine's character were well presented. The analyst's comments about her stealing to get even with Mrs. Willis seemed to be a reasonable explanation, if taken at face value ... ''The Locket'' only had some glitter but not enough substance. Though, as muddled as it was, it still kept me alert wanting to know what gives. The problem is I never satisfactorily found out what gives."
References
Bibliography
*George Toles, "The Gift of Amnesia in John Brahm's ''The Locket''" in the Film and the Romantic special issue, Jeffrey Crouse (ed.), ''Film International'', Vol. 7, No. 6, December 2009, pp. 32–55.
External links
*
*
*
''The Locket''informational site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)
analysis by author
Wheeler Winston Dixon
Wheeler Winston Dixon (born March 12, 1950) is an American filmmaker and scholar. He is an expert on film history, theory and criticism.Bill Goodykoontz, December 23, 2012, USA TodayDefining Tarantino Accessed Aug. 25, 2013, Quote = "...long, invo ...
at Film Noir of the Week
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Locket, The
1946 films
1946 drama films
American black-and-white films
Film noir
Films scored by Roy Webb
Films directed by John Brahm
Films set in 1938
Films set in London
American drama films
1940s English-language films
1940s American films