House of Secrets

Imagine finding out you had a rich uncle who died and left you a huge estate. It's like winning the lottery without ever even entering. Now imagine going to your new place and being chased off the land by dogs and men with guns.

That's what happens to Barry in The House of Secrets. He can't even get inside his own property to have a look around without being harassed. He's a determined type of guy who will not be kept from his inheritance.

When he finds out a hidden treasure is at stake he's even more determined to get in there. The problem is everyone from dangerous street thugs to Scotland Yard inspectors seem to be complicit in keeping him away from what's his.

When Barry FINALLY decides to take matters before the authorities he's laughed at and accused of being a drunk. He turns to a detective friend of his to look into it, but even this guy is threatened by the law. It seems like everyone is determined to keep Barry away from the place, and nobody will give him a straight answer as to why.

At first all the intrigue and frustration is fun. What's the big mystery here? After a short while it becomes apparent that the writers are trying too hard to create their scenario of intrigue. They go overboard with dangling the carrots: “yes, I'll tell you that something odd is going on here, but I'm not going to tell you what it is.” In the end it seems to me that some of the characters would have benefited from being more straight-forward with Barry as the rightful owner of the place, but of course that would run contrary to hiding the information from the viewer.

I guess the best way to say it is that it's moderately interesting, but the intrigue is too convoluted. The acting helps some as most of it is not bad especially since I was expecting more of the typical poverty row level performances.

MORALITY:

Typical of black and white movies there is no sex, nudity, or strong language. The violence, too is almost nil and not at all graphic in any way.

SPIRITUALITY:

When is it appropriate to be shady? If you're trying to achieve something good is it OK to mistreat someone even to the point of taking what is theirs? Honesty would work out a lot better for all those involved.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

While the plot does get tedious the film as a whole is rather entertaining especially if you like suspense films from the 30's. Check it out, but don't expect too much from it.

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