I thoroughly enjoyed this rather gothic tale of a young woman's love affair with an obsessive connoisseur of beauty, who believes he's loved her before in a past life. The Venetian costume party is certainly a high point, visually, of the picture. The whole film is strangely reminiscent of Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, primarily because of eerily smooth camera movement and the elaborate castle setting. How can any romantic not enjoy a murderous love story that ends in Madame Tussaud's wax museum?
25 Reviews
Obsessive love that borders on madness, or Galatea of the Wax Museum
red-218 December 1998
Warning: Spoilers
French Poetic Realism Topples Into Madness
boblipton18 February 2020
In Terence Young's first movie, Edana Romney is a society girl whiling her time away while the young man she's going to marry is overseas. She falls in with Eric Portman, who seems terribly rich and terrible arty.... but is obsessed with a 300-year-old painting of a young woman and reincarnation. When he gets around to showing it to Miss Romney, it's the spit and image of her, and he thinks he's the reincarnation of the Borgia she left for another man.
The remainder is part 18th Century Gothic literature, part war-weary spiritualism, and part obsessive behavior that Hitchcock would revisit in VERTIGO. Young directs it as a movie about madness, but it could have easily been tilted in favor of spiritualism, especially given the ornate palace sets, a wild medieval party, and the shafts of light that cinematographer Andre Thomas lays among Serge Pimenoff's Cyclopean sets. It's French realism gone mad, and the film makers knowing it. It's terribly arty, and almost self-congratulatory in its excesses. While it takes itself too seriously for my taste, it will certainly appeal to many people.
The remainder is part 18th Century Gothic literature, part war-weary spiritualism, and part obsessive behavior that Hitchcock would revisit in VERTIGO. Young directs it as a movie about madness, but it could have easily been tilted in favor of spiritualism, especially given the ornate palace sets, a wild medieval party, and the shafts of light that cinematographer Andre Thomas lays among Serge Pimenoff's Cyclopean sets. It's French realism gone mad, and the film makers knowing it. It's terribly arty, and almost self-congratulatory in its excesses. While it takes itself too seriously for my taste, it will certainly appeal to many people.
Haunting, moody, but somehow a miss.
mark.waltz15 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
It takes patience to try to get fully in this "Svengali" style story with a few unique twists. Artistically, it is a triumph, stunning to watch for the care that went into it, but somehow as flat as the painting of heroine Edana Romney in her period clothes. There are moments when a joyous spirit overtakes this melodrama, but it is often dour and maudlin.
Romney may be a graceful beauty, but she lacks the charisma of other dark haired British beauties. Resembling Merle Oberon with a bit of Margaret Lockwood thrown in, she's equally flat in important emotional scenes that required under playing rather than the shouting she resorted to. However, the camera loves her, as evidenced in a sequence when brooding artist Eric Pittman whirls her around on a restaurant floor the moment he spits her. It takes forever for him to reveal to her why, although the audience pretty much knows.
I could see this as an opera with its mixture of melodrama, mystery and potential tragedy. It is certainly a masterpiece of technology, showing how far advanced the British were if you look at some of their best films from the 1940's. At times, this seemed very modern, and the sets seem to shine in 3-D to the point of infinity. Something tells me that this takes repeat viewings to truly be appreciated, although I would undoubtedly look on at Romney in the same way.
Romney may be a graceful beauty, but she lacks the charisma of other dark haired British beauties. Resembling Merle Oberon with a bit of Margaret Lockwood thrown in, she's equally flat in important emotional scenes that required under playing rather than the shouting she resorted to. However, the camera loves her, as evidenced in a sequence when brooding artist Eric Pittman whirls her around on a restaurant floor the moment he spits her. It takes forever for him to reveal to her why, although the audience pretty much knows.
I could see this as an opera with its mixture of melodrama, mystery and potential tragedy. It is certainly a masterpiece of technology, showing how far advanced the British were if you look at some of their best films from the 1940's. At times, this seemed very modern, and the sets seem to shine in 3-D to the point of infinity. Something tells me that this takes repeat viewings to truly be appreciated, although I would undoubtedly look on at Romney in the same way.
Stylistic and mysterious
Swift-1218 June 2000
A recommendable film if you'll overlook and forgive certain elements (the dialog and acting are rather stiff by today's standards). The twisting plot unfolds satisfactorily: in the introduction a woman travels to keep an ominous meeting and recalls a previous love affair. In flashback we learn of her lover's strange obsession to transform her into the image of another woman. He himself seems to belong to another time and place, lost in the past. Is he sane, is he safe to trust? Only after keeping her appointment, do we learn the true nature and motivations of the man.. and of others. This film predates "Vertigo" by a decade, but the similarities are eerie. Enjoy the lush sets and costumes. The score does much to set the tone of mystery and fantasy. And finally, Edana Romney is gorgeous (I think I once knew someone who looked JUST like her... )
Corridor of Mirrors
CinemaSerf5 January 2023
This is an eerily effective drama from Terence Young. It all centres around Eric Portman's characterisation of "Mangin". An enigmatic man who arranges to meet the young "Mifanwy" (Edana Romney) who bears a striking resemblance to a woman whose portrait hangs on a wall in his home; a woman he claims to have loved centuries earlier. Could this be possible? What makes this interesting - despite the really quite static acting performances - is the way the story develops. It's quirky. It's darkly menacing - but not in a frightening may, more a sinister and grisly theme that allows us to speculate about what did - or didn't - happen, walking a thin line between history, fantasy and sanity before an ending that left me feeling rather sorry for just about everyone. The photography lends loads to the almost claustrophobic imagery; it's almost as if it were lit by candlelight, with very few fully illuminated scenes. The drawback is the acting, though - neither Portman nor Romney quite delivered as well as I would have liked, and the dialogue is wordy which does drag it down a bit at times. That said, it's a creepy and enjoyable mystery that rarely sees the light of day now, and is certainly worth a watch. Mr. Young's directorial debut, too.
Great until the ending
jellopuke12 October 2021
This had a really interesting slow build with lots of atmosphere and gothic mystery. I was really digging it until the rushed ending that tries to tie everything together and ends up undermining the whole thing. It's seriously a terrible final 10 minutes of an otherwise top notch film. Bleh...
Great cinematography
sibleybridges27 September 2021
I saw that one of my favorite film critics Eddie Muller insisted that this be shown at one of his Noir City Film Festivals even though it wasn't a noir. He said it was too good looking and had been obscure for far too long to not show to film lovers. I have to agree that it looks fantastic.
A woman who is already cheating on her husband decides to flirt with another man who is a weird dandy hipster obsessed with horse buggies and mirrors and speaks in obtuse quips. To up his weirdness, he's convinced he's a reincarnation of a 15th century member of the Borgias family.
Apart from the standard 40s silly melodrama and the very strange flashback that is most of the movie, the cinematography was outstanding. Especially during the 15th century Venetian party where most of the interesting action occurs. The overall look felt very French and sure enough when I looked to see who had lensed it, it was a Frenchman named Andre Thomas who worked in pre WWII France and Germany before fleeing to England to work in the film industry.
Watched on YouTube.
A woman who is already cheating on her husband decides to flirt with another man who is a weird dandy hipster obsessed with horse buggies and mirrors and speaks in obtuse quips. To up his weirdness, he's convinced he's a reincarnation of a 15th century member of the Borgias family.
Apart from the standard 40s silly melodrama and the very strange flashback that is most of the movie, the cinematography was outstanding. Especially during the 15th century Venetian party where most of the interesting action occurs. The overall look felt very French and sure enough when I looked to see who had lensed it, it was a Frenchman named Andre Thomas who worked in pre WWII France and Germany before fleeing to England to work in the film industry.
Watched on YouTube.
It has gothic overrtones similar to Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre
jordondave-280855 June 2023
(1948) Corridor of Mirrors
PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA
Inspired by the author Christopher Massie which some of it's themes in terms of tone is similar to "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë and for other viewers "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë that has a mother, Mifanwy Conway (Edana Romney) of three. Leaving her current family behind by means of train as a result of a letter she receive so that she can see her former lover. By the time she arrives, the letter instructed her to meet him at the wax museum. And as soon as viewers see a wax figure of the man she was supposed to meet, we are then put back in time a few years back to see how it came about.
Inspired by the author Christopher Massie which some of it's themes in terms of tone is similar to "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Brontë and for other viewers "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë that has a mother, Mifanwy Conway (Edana Romney) of three. Leaving her current family behind by means of train as a result of a letter she receive so that she can see her former lover. By the time she arrives, the letter instructed her to meet him at the wax museum. And as soon as viewers see a wax figure of the man she was supposed to meet, we are then put back in time a few years back to see how it came about.
Even in my sleep he would be there watching me from the corridor of mirrors.
hitchcockthelegend1 November 2013
Corridor of Mirrors is directed by Terence Young and adapted to screenplay by Rudolph Cartier and Edna Romney from the novel written by Chris Massie. It stars Eric Portman, Edana Romney, Joan Maude, Barbara Mullen, Alan Wheatley, Hugh Sinclair and Bruce Belfrage. Music is by Georges Auric and cinematography by Andre Thomas.
A woman travels from Wales to Madame Tussauds in London for a rendezvous with her lover. The rest will be told in flashback
Laughter had a strange effect on him
Corridor of Mirrors is a hypnotic and nightmarish experience, not in that scared to death kind of way, but in a nightmare where nothing allows you to be comfortable, keeping you in a realm of purgatory, what is real – imagined – or otherwise? The crux of the story concerns a man, Paul Mangin (Portman), who lives in the past and is obsessed with Mifanwy Conway (Romney), who not only looks like the portrait of a lady that hangs in the Mangin palace, but on Mangin's insistence was his lover centuries in the past.
Would you care to continue the adventure?
What follows during the course of the story are subjects ranging from reincarnation, obsessive madness, fetish kinks, seduction, fantasist leanings and murder. To passionate romance, heartfelt regret and soul cleansing. The unusual story, unique maybe? Enjoys toying with audience expectations, even taking famous literary inspirations and fusing them into this Baroque world, with seasoning of the macabre for added spice. As the Mangin/Conway relationship develops, the tension becomes palpable, fear and trepidation vie for control over wistful yearnings. What will win out in the end?
What's behind the curtain?
The look, sound and feel on offer here is quite simply magnificent. This is Gothic noir nirvana. Young and Thomas shoot the film in what I think is an average of 99% shadows and low lights, it's the darkness in daylight effect as shards of light struggle to pierce the gloom through the Venetian blind slats. Candlelight, Scotch mist, moonbeams, canted angles and otherwise all play their atmospheric part, and then there is the backdrop and props
The Mangin palace is vast in its opulence, complete with the titular corridor of mirrors. Behind each mirror is something that links Mangin's obsession with the past, it is eeriness personified. Mannequins, wax work figures and dolls feature prominently, the Tussauds connection is the Chamber of Horrors, naturally. Spooky harp, spooky housekeeper (again, naturally), and Auric's musical score is a blend of the sinister with poetic whimsy. And the crowning sequence is a Venetian costume ball, a decadent soirée that looks magnificent, but craftily it asks just what is beneath the costume facade of it all?
It's a little too bonkers and creaky in plot development at times, but it knows this and embraces the short comings to keep with the unstable off-kilter vibe. Unfortunately it's a difficult film to track down in good quality home format form, but if you can find a reliable source and you love Gothic noir or Baroque fantasies, then this is for you. 8/10
A woman travels from Wales to Madame Tussauds in London for a rendezvous with her lover. The rest will be told in flashback
Laughter had a strange effect on him
Corridor of Mirrors is a hypnotic and nightmarish experience, not in that scared to death kind of way, but in a nightmare where nothing allows you to be comfortable, keeping you in a realm of purgatory, what is real – imagined – or otherwise? The crux of the story concerns a man, Paul Mangin (Portman), who lives in the past and is obsessed with Mifanwy Conway (Romney), who not only looks like the portrait of a lady that hangs in the Mangin palace, but on Mangin's insistence was his lover centuries in the past.
Would you care to continue the adventure?
What follows during the course of the story are subjects ranging from reincarnation, obsessive madness, fetish kinks, seduction, fantasist leanings and murder. To passionate romance, heartfelt regret and soul cleansing. The unusual story, unique maybe? Enjoys toying with audience expectations, even taking famous literary inspirations and fusing them into this Baroque world, with seasoning of the macabre for added spice. As the Mangin/Conway relationship develops, the tension becomes palpable, fear and trepidation vie for control over wistful yearnings. What will win out in the end?
What's behind the curtain?
The look, sound and feel on offer here is quite simply magnificent. This is Gothic noir nirvana. Young and Thomas shoot the film in what I think is an average of 99% shadows and low lights, it's the darkness in daylight effect as shards of light struggle to pierce the gloom through the Venetian blind slats. Candlelight, Scotch mist, moonbeams, canted angles and otherwise all play their atmospheric part, and then there is the backdrop and props
The Mangin palace is vast in its opulence, complete with the titular corridor of mirrors. Behind each mirror is something that links Mangin's obsession with the past, it is eeriness personified. Mannequins, wax work figures and dolls feature prominently, the Tussauds connection is the Chamber of Horrors, naturally. Spooky harp, spooky housekeeper (again, naturally), and Auric's musical score is a blend of the sinister with poetic whimsy. And the crowning sequence is a Venetian costume ball, a decadent soirée that looks magnificent, but craftily it asks just what is beneath the costume facade of it all?
It's a little too bonkers and creaky in plot development at times, but it knows this and embraces the short comings to keep with the unstable off-kilter vibe. Unfortunately it's a difficult film to track down in good quality home format form, but if you can find a reliable source and you love Gothic noir or Baroque fantasies, then this is for you. 8/10
Sedate storytelling
Leofwine_draca28 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS is a late 1940s drama with some supernatural touches surrounding the whole past-life experience set-up. Unfortunately it plays out as a stodgy and dated character drama lacking the kind of incident and memorable events that a story like this needs. The main actors chosen for the roles give disaffected turns and it's one of those movies that the viewer simply can't get engaged with at all. What it does boast is some atmospheric direction from Terence Young, bringing to life some fine locations and the like, and bit-parts from various future stars including Lois Maxwell and Christopher Lee.
A wonderful, interesting Gothic film
theorbys22 September 1999
This is expert, expert film making, rich in atmosphere and mood, and easily as good as the best gothics and psychological 'horror' films of the forties such as Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, Jane Eyre, Seventh Veil, or the Val Lewton works. I don't think there was a single scene that did not hold my attention. I could not begin to enumerate all the little touches and flourishes of lighting, camera angle, dialog, story ideas, etc. but I particularly enjoyed the seamless interweaving of references to Lewis Carroll's Alice (when Edana Romney follows the white cat (white rabbit surrogate) through the labyrhinthine corridors of the mansion, or to Othello/Romeo and Juliet at the Venetian ball, or again to Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. Some compare this film to to Cocteau (it's on the video box), with its ornate and detailed set, as well as its theme, but Corridor of Mirrors for all its fine acting, atmosphere, and mastery of technique is not genius. It is not poetically simple. But if you liked any of the films mentioned above, you will definitely enjoy watching dark, mysterious leading lady Edana Romney (who also co wrote the screenplay) search for the inner resources to free herself from the spell of an incredibly intense and psychologically compelling, but morbid, life.
A man out of time
Prismark102 November 2018
Terence Young made his directorial debut with Corridor of Mirrors, a strange Gothic romantic fantasy drama.
Mifanwy (Edana Romney) a married mother is travelling from Wales to London to meet her lover.
She goes to the Chamber of Horrors in Madame Tussaud's, her lover turns out to be one of the wax exhibits. We go to a flashback when Paul Mangin (Eric Portman) first meets young Mifanwy. Mangin is a man out of his time. Dressed in Edwardian clothes, goes about in a hansom cab and thinks he and Mifanwy were lovers in Renaissance Italy.
Mifanwy is Mangin's ideal fantasy woman, a seducer who has spent centuries looking for his perfect muse. There has been others but he is obsessed with Mifanwy who is the closest to his desires. We see the steps that lead to him being accused of murder.
There is an element of creakiness and archness in the acting that lets the film down. Portman is fine but Romney is the weak link. The production values are very good, the story is a little offbeat but it just does not come together well.
Mifanwy (Edana Romney) a married mother is travelling from Wales to London to meet her lover.
She goes to the Chamber of Horrors in Madame Tussaud's, her lover turns out to be one of the wax exhibits. We go to a flashback when Paul Mangin (Eric Portman) first meets young Mifanwy. Mangin is a man out of his time. Dressed in Edwardian clothes, goes about in a hansom cab and thinks he and Mifanwy were lovers in Renaissance Italy.
Mifanwy is Mangin's ideal fantasy woman, a seducer who has spent centuries looking for his perfect muse. There has been others but he is obsessed with Mifanwy who is the closest to his desires. We see the steps that lead to him being accused of murder.
There is an element of creakiness and archness in the acting that lets the film down. Portman is fine but Romney is the weak link. The production values are very good, the story is a little offbeat but it just does not come together well.
The director of DR. NO blends Hitchcock with Cocteau
melvelvit-18 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
A well-to-do wife and mother (Edana Romney) travels to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in London to rendezvous with an old flame (Eric Portman) executed ten years before as their strange, tragic romance unfolds in flashback.
The director of DR. NO blends Hitchcock with Cocteau in this psychological pseudo-"period" melodrama with Gothic overtones that is equal parts REBECCA and VERTIGO as filtered through BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Reincarnation (maybe), obsession, fetish, romance, madness and murder are interwoven in an opulently stylized, dream-like tale. The unusual plot involving a past affair with one of Mme. Tussaud's wax-work murderers is absorbing and holds the interest from the outset. There's a literal as well as symbolic "corridor of mirrors" and many small touches that make the story come alive. Eric Portman plays wealthy Paul Mangin, a man living in the past, who holds a strange fascination for an impressionable young girl and goes from frightening to vulnerable over the course of the film. Edana Romney (a British cross between Mexico's Maria Felix and Hollywood's Faith Domergue) plays Mifanwy Conway (love that name!) and brings this seemingly frivolous character to life as her situation becomes increasingly more disturbing. Their ill-fated union plays out in Mangin's Venetian-style mansion where time stands still and Mifanwy almost comes to believe they were once lovers in fifteenth-century Italy but when she starts using her head instead of her heart, tragedy follows. In a film with many visual images that will stay in the mind long after it's over, the high point comes during a Venetian costume ball and a satisfying denouement ties up every loose end save one -the lady's still a dead ringer for the Rensiassance temptress in a 400 year-old painting Mangin fell in love with during the war. The literary references scattered throughout include "Otello", "Wuthering Heights" and "Through The Looking Glass" while the lovers' first waltz foreshadows Vincente Minnelli's MADAME BOVARY made the following year. Christopher Lee and Lois Maxwell ("Miss Moneypenny" in director Young's James Bond films) have small roles.
Unusual and hypnotic.
The director of DR. NO blends Hitchcock with Cocteau in this psychological pseudo-"period" melodrama with Gothic overtones that is equal parts REBECCA and VERTIGO as filtered through BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Reincarnation (maybe), obsession, fetish, romance, madness and murder are interwoven in an opulently stylized, dream-like tale. The unusual plot involving a past affair with one of Mme. Tussaud's wax-work murderers is absorbing and holds the interest from the outset. There's a literal as well as symbolic "corridor of mirrors" and many small touches that make the story come alive. Eric Portman plays wealthy Paul Mangin, a man living in the past, who holds a strange fascination for an impressionable young girl and goes from frightening to vulnerable over the course of the film. Edana Romney (a British cross between Mexico's Maria Felix and Hollywood's Faith Domergue) plays Mifanwy Conway (love that name!) and brings this seemingly frivolous character to life as her situation becomes increasingly more disturbing. Their ill-fated union plays out in Mangin's Venetian-style mansion where time stands still and Mifanwy almost comes to believe they were once lovers in fifteenth-century Italy but when she starts using her head instead of her heart, tragedy follows. In a film with many visual images that will stay in the mind long after it's over, the high point comes during a Venetian costume ball and a satisfying denouement ties up every loose end save one -the lady's still a dead ringer for the Rensiassance temptress in a 400 year-old painting Mangin fell in love with during the war. The literary references scattered throughout include "Otello", "Wuthering Heights" and "Through The Looking Glass" while the lovers' first waltz foreshadows Vincente Minnelli's MADAME BOVARY made the following year. Christopher Lee and Lois Maxwell ("Miss Moneypenny" in director Young's James Bond films) have small roles.
Unusual and hypnotic.
Geeky Retro Guy Scores
GManfred28 May 2012
"Corridor Of Mirrors" is pretentious and derivative and seeks to emulate elements of 'Citizen Kane'and 'Beauty And The Beast'. The dialogue is stilted and the premise absurd. That said, I have to say that you have never - ever - seen sets like the ones in this picture. The art director should have had at least an Oscar nom for the magnificent interior of the mansion. The main staircase is colossal, and the hallway of mirrors is obscenely sumptuous. It makes you think the picture should have been made in color.
Eric Portman plays a fellow who thinks he is Cesare Borgia reincarnated, and that Edana Romney is his lost love. He is fabulously wealthy and scoots about London in his own Hansom cab (this is 1938!). With a come-hither look in an upscale singles bar, she instantly comes under his spell and is captivated. Complications ensue, but the regal splendor of his mansion overwhelms everything else to the viewer.
Eric Portman always came across to me as a cold fish, and is out of his depth as a romantic leading man. He gets no help from Miss Romney, who is unable to register the proper emotional responses at crucial times and shows herself to be a limited actress.
"Corridor Of Mirrors" is a good but not great movie. The subject matter is very unusual, though, and those set pieces will stay with you long after the movie is over. It was shown at the Columbus,O. Cinevent, 5/12.
Eric Portman plays a fellow who thinks he is Cesare Borgia reincarnated, and that Edana Romney is his lost love. He is fabulously wealthy and scoots about London in his own Hansom cab (this is 1938!). With a come-hither look in an upscale singles bar, she instantly comes under his spell and is captivated. Complications ensue, but the regal splendor of his mansion overwhelms everything else to the viewer.
Eric Portman always came across to me as a cold fish, and is out of his depth as a romantic leading man. He gets no help from Miss Romney, who is unable to register the proper emotional responses at crucial times and shows herself to be a limited actress.
"Corridor Of Mirrors" is a good but not great movie. The subject matter is very unusual, though, and those set pieces will stay with you long after the movie is over. It was shown at the Columbus,O. Cinevent, 5/12.
Poor choice of leading lady in Edana Romney
howardmorley18 November 2015
Despite IMDb.com giving a communal rating of 6.9 when I wrote this review, I can only award this film 4/10 mainly because of the poor choice of leading lady and daft screenplay.Edana Romney showed little animation in her part and Chris Massie wrote a ridiculous screenplay.In the initial scene we see her character lounging in bed with a household full of screaming children who are then conveniently not mentioned again.Is not a mother's first loyalty to her husband and children?The former seems unrealistically patient when his wife goes swaning off again from Yorkshire down to London with the pathetic excuse of "its too complicated to explain".No wonder Edana Romney never appeared in another significant film again but I see she lived to the ripe old age of 83 before dieing in California in 2002 (born 1919) so she was 29 when she made this film.She tried her hand at writing screenplays (including helping with this title) which were never commissioned and I can now see why.The movie is too dark throughout despite her character's maniacal laugh, and needed some light as well as the shade but above all some realism in the plot.
Only the past is certain
dbdumonteil4 November 2009
Terence Young found a huge audience thanks to his James Bond movies ("Dr No" "From Russia with love" "Thunderball" ) ,which remain,along "Goldfinger" ,the best 007 ever made ,the only ones which will endure.One should add he tackled many genres : the historical drama ("Mayerling" ),sword and sandal ("Orazi e Curiazi")and thrillers the best of which is certainly "wait until dark" which features an excellent performance by Audrey Hepburn.
And then there's "corridor of mirrors" .It compares favorably with "Beauty and the Beast" (Cocteau) ,"POrtrait of Jennie" (Dieterlé),Peter Ibbetson (Hathaway) and "dead of night" (various directors).It's Young's first effort and his best movie by such a wide margin one cannot imagine which one of his later production could be number two.
It's impossible to summarize such a complex tale ,which borrows from fairy tales ("La Barbe-bleue") Wilde's "Portrait of Dorian Gray" Val Lewton's productions and the movies I mention above but brings it all back home.
A man is living in the past cause past is certain and future might be dangerous.He seduces a woman and asks for a rendezvous in Madame Tussaud's museum.Taking place in the present and in the past,in a home in the English country,in the famous museum ,in a sumptuous palace with a fascinating corridor of mirrors ,symbol of illusions and of a time which ,no matter what he tries, is passing by the hero,a time which is not on his side ,even if he goes back as far as the Italian Renaissance -with scenes of carnival which may have inspired Fellini for "Casanova" -this is the lost gem of the English cinema.
And then there's "corridor of mirrors" .It compares favorably with "Beauty and the Beast" (Cocteau) ,"POrtrait of Jennie" (Dieterlé),Peter Ibbetson (Hathaway) and "dead of night" (various directors).It's Young's first effort and his best movie by such a wide margin one cannot imagine which one of his later production could be number two.
It's impossible to summarize such a complex tale ,which borrows from fairy tales ("La Barbe-bleue") Wilde's "Portrait of Dorian Gray" Val Lewton's productions and the movies I mention above but brings it all back home.
A man is living in the past cause past is certain and future might be dangerous.He seduces a woman and asks for a rendezvous in Madame Tussaud's museum.Taking place in the present and in the past,in a home in the English country,in the famous museum ,in a sumptuous palace with a fascinating corridor of mirrors ,symbol of illusions and of a time which ,no matter what he tries, is passing by the hero,a time which is not on his side ,even if he goes back as far as the Italian Renaissance -with scenes of carnival which may have inspired Fellini for "Casanova" -this is the lost gem of the English cinema.
Triumph of the filmmakers art left me cold
dbborroughs29 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Deep brooding melding of numerous ideas and themes including riffs from Hitchcock, Beauty and the Beast, Val Lewton, Lewis Carrol, and on and on. Its the very Gothic tale of a woman who meets a man who may have loved her in the past. A triumph of the filmmakers art the story left me cold. I suspect that watching the film well after midnight was a bad idea where its lush visual pleasures helped me to nod off. I know that the films insistence about being about something didn't help, I wanted a 1940's mystery, what I got was psychological drama. I'm going to have to watch this again down the road when its much earlier in the evening.(It is great to look at though)
Love Re-incarnated
AAdaSC13 October 2013
Edana Romney (Mifanwy) receives a telegram to meet up with an ex-lover Eric Portman (Paul Mangin) in London at the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. She arrives at the pre-arranged rendez-vous next to Marie Antoinette and as she waits, she daydreams
.and we are taken back in flashback to the days of her love affair with Portman. He is a wealthy artist with some definitely strange ideas. He lives in the past. Literally. And he believes Edana is part of his destiny. Theirs is a 400 year love affair which needs sorting out.
It's a good-looking film with a huge house at the centre of the proceedings. It's atmospheric and the costumes are great. There is definitely an unworldly feel as the film develops and the story will keep you guessing as to what is going on in the mind of strange Eric Portman. The acting is good all round, including the minor characters, with a mention to singer Joan Maude (Caroline) who plays a crucial role. The dialogue is funny at times with Romney's father, Bruce Belfrage (Sir David), coming out with the classic " hardest hard-on ". Listen out for it near the beginning of the film when Romney returns home to find Belfrage watching a film. It's hilarious.
So, it's time to organize a Venetian ball just watch out if you are a female with long dark hair. You never know what type of nutter is in the area.
It's a good-looking film with a huge house at the centre of the proceedings. It's atmospheric and the costumes are great. There is definitely an unworldly feel as the film develops and the story will keep you guessing as to what is going on in the mind of strange Eric Portman. The acting is good all round, including the minor characters, with a mention to singer Joan Maude (Caroline) who plays a crucial role. The dialogue is funny at times with Romney's father, Bruce Belfrage (Sir David), coming out with the classic " hardest hard-on ". Listen out for it near the beginning of the film when Romney returns home to find Belfrage watching a film. It's hilarious.
So, it's time to organize a Venetian ball just watch out if you are a female with long dark hair. You never know what type of nutter is in the area.
Excellent photography
malcolmgsw18 January 2021
A magic labyrinth of mystery, intrigue, tragedy, splendour and death
clanciai1 November 2018
This is a miracle of a film using all the means of magic that were available at the time - it is actually comparable with Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" as there are palpable undeniable parallels. Orson Welles said himself that he started off with one good film and then worked himself down. Terence Young was not a British Orson Welles, rather a dwarf in comparison, but he was an outstanding script writer ("Dangerous Moonlight"), and when he was allowed to direct his first film he reached a level which he was never to reach again. What are all the entertainment tricks of "Doctor No" and "From Russia with Love", what is the romanticism of "Mayerling", what is the intelligence of "Triple Cross" in comparison with the amazing murder intrigue here and the overwhelmingly brilliant use of mirrors, dresses, surroundings, taking in all Venice, in this supremely romantic story of unrequited love, sharpened by madness, metaphysics, transcendental sentimentality, and an intrigue ending up in constantly overlapping surprises. For once Eric Portman has an interestingly sympathtic role to play, a bit of Hamlet and Byron darkness and doom indeed, but on the whole better than expected. Edana Romney is not as bad as some watchers have concluded, she makes you think of both Hedy Lamarr and Vivien Leigh, the latter would have been slightly better, but Edana Romney does not overdo it, although she is given ample breadth indeed. This is definitely a film to return to - many times.
Slow but at least it's pretty to look at.
planktonrules8 April 2024
"Corridors of Mirrors" is a British film that looks absolutely gorgeous...with lovely sets and great cinematography. It also has a story that could be interesting...but it isn't.
Mafanwy is in love with a rich man who lives in a gorgeous mansion. The problem is that she doesn't know that Paul is a bit strange to say the least. He believes her to be the reincarnation of a woman who lived during the Renaissance...a woman who was strangled by her lover. And, now that he's her lover, it makes you wonder what's next for this pretty lady!
The film is just glacially slow. As a result, I found my attention flagging about halfway through the film and after a while I simply wanted it to end. Sad...as it could have been very good and was Christopher Lee's premier (as a supporting character).
Mafanwy is in love with a rich man who lives in a gorgeous mansion. The problem is that she doesn't know that Paul is a bit strange to say the least. He believes her to be the reincarnation of a woman who lived during the Renaissance...a woman who was strangled by her lover. And, now that he's her lover, it makes you wonder what's next for this pretty lady!
The film is just glacially slow. As a result, I found my attention flagging about halfway through the film and after a while I simply wanted it to end. Sad...as it could have been very good and was Christopher Lee's premier (as a supporting character).
Corridor of Mirrors - A suspenseful and stylish film!
mcannady117 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I had submitted a review not long ago, but after reading some of the reviews here, wanted to comment on the leading actress, Edana Romney.
I think she was a wonderful choice of actress for the film. She could register various emotions in a sophisticated manner; love, sadness, boredom, and even terror realistically. In British films, an actress can often register these feelings in a more subtle manner, as Edana had. I did think she reminded me of Margaret Lockwood and Patricia Morison. All these actresses were very adept at registering emotions in a slightly subdued manner.
That said, I had picked this film from a Nostalgia Video catalog several years ago. It sounded very intriguing with the description and was the first film with Christopher Lee! Many of the cast members (Eric Portman, Edana Romney, Barbara Mullen, etc.) I had never seen before, so it was a unique experience. In the meantime, I have watched several films with the above actors and actresses and really enjoyed them.
Corridor of Mirrors is a poignant story of a man living in the past. He meets a beautiful young woman in a nightclub who resembles Lucrezia Borgia. Edana plays the role with sophisticated flair and soon becomes interested in Paul Mangin (Eric Portman), an art and antique collector. When she visits his gorgeous home, she discovers amid the mirrors and many costumes of a bygone age, a touch of mystery about the past of the owner.
Also, there is a mysterious housekeeper. Veronica, that Paul had rescued during WWII in Italy. Was her story true of her seduction (by Paul) and then his rejection of her? He had relegated her to the basement after becoming tired of her, she said.
During the war he had become obsessed with a painting of Lucrezia Borgia, so he becomes enamored of this new young girl who resembled the girl in the painting. On one of her visits, Mifanway Conway is quite impressed by Paul's gorgeous home and the painting he reveals behind some heavy draperies.
After that, she finds herself very attracted to this man of mystery. But she discovers early on that he hates the sound of a woman's laughter. She admires gorgeous Renaissance-type costumes on life-like mannequins behind the mirrored doors in Paul's home. It is a scene that is at once eerie, and very impressive, as she dances around to the tune of an old-fashioned music box, wearing a beautiful Renaissance costume Paul had designed.
When Mifanway meets the housekeeper. Veronica, she tells a mysterious tale of Paul's seduction of her during the war and then bringing her home to his gorgeous mansion in London. At first, he had treated her like a queen, dressing her in fancy clothing. After he tired of her (having made a great show of dressing her in elegant costumes), he had demoted her to the basement of his home. She claims there had been a long procession of women, but she had always warned them in time.
The girl is frightened and saddened and flees from the house, after telling Paul she will not be one of his women. He says she must have talked to Veronica, the housekeeper, who was not normal. He had brought her there to make a home for her. (He had felt sorry for her being victimized during the war). If her story were not true, why did Paul tolerate her in his home? Had she really told the other women negative things about her employer? He claims there were no other women there. Still, Mifanway feels that Paul is too attached to hundreds of years ago, and even has a horse and carriage in London in the 1940's.
The story has lush scenery and great photography, and poignant acting, and some frightening and sad circumstances. Amid these situations, we have a murder mystery eventually.
Mifanway attends Paul's fancy dress ball that evokes the Renaissance era. After the ball, Paul has had too much to drink and passes out. A nightclub singer has been murdered while he is unconscious. Edana's character leaves prior to this and decides to marry her barrister friend. This she had mentioned to Paul just before he passed out from drinking too much. Paul is the prime suspect and does not care about the conclusion of his trial.
I will not create a spoiler, but Paul loses the will to live when the girl marries another man. He does not care about being accused of the murder of the other woman -- and his ultimate fate. He cannot recall what happened the night of the ball and is convicted of Caroline's murder. Mifanway visits Paul in jail and mentions that she will marry soon.
A few years after Paul's execution, Mifanway is receiving threatening blackmail letters about her affair with Paul. This person is the real killer and threatens her marriage. The young woman who is happily married and has three little children, is in a quandary about the outcome. Fearing exposure to her barrister husband, who has a strict moral code, Mifanway considers paying the blackmailer.
The story takes on an eerie touch when Mifanway is ordered to meet someone at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. She is to stand before Paul's likeness. An effigy has been made of Paul standing near the replica of John Wilkes Booth.
This said, there are some interesting twists and turns at the end, culminating in a mysterious suicide.
An intriguing film with interesting characters!
I think she was a wonderful choice of actress for the film. She could register various emotions in a sophisticated manner; love, sadness, boredom, and even terror realistically. In British films, an actress can often register these feelings in a more subtle manner, as Edana had. I did think she reminded me of Margaret Lockwood and Patricia Morison. All these actresses were very adept at registering emotions in a slightly subdued manner.
That said, I had picked this film from a Nostalgia Video catalog several years ago. It sounded very intriguing with the description and was the first film with Christopher Lee! Many of the cast members (Eric Portman, Edana Romney, Barbara Mullen, etc.) I had never seen before, so it was a unique experience. In the meantime, I have watched several films with the above actors and actresses and really enjoyed them.
Corridor of Mirrors is a poignant story of a man living in the past. He meets a beautiful young woman in a nightclub who resembles Lucrezia Borgia. Edana plays the role with sophisticated flair and soon becomes interested in Paul Mangin (Eric Portman), an art and antique collector. When she visits his gorgeous home, she discovers amid the mirrors and many costumes of a bygone age, a touch of mystery about the past of the owner.
Also, there is a mysterious housekeeper. Veronica, that Paul had rescued during WWII in Italy. Was her story true of her seduction (by Paul) and then his rejection of her? He had relegated her to the basement after becoming tired of her, she said.
During the war he had become obsessed with a painting of Lucrezia Borgia, so he becomes enamored of this new young girl who resembled the girl in the painting. On one of her visits, Mifanway Conway is quite impressed by Paul's gorgeous home and the painting he reveals behind some heavy draperies.
After that, she finds herself very attracted to this man of mystery. But she discovers early on that he hates the sound of a woman's laughter. She admires gorgeous Renaissance-type costumes on life-like mannequins behind the mirrored doors in Paul's home. It is a scene that is at once eerie, and very impressive, as she dances around to the tune of an old-fashioned music box, wearing a beautiful Renaissance costume Paul had designed.
When Mifanway meets the housekeeper. Veronica, she tells a mysterious tale of Paul's seduction of her during the war and then bringing her home to his gorgeous mansion in London. At first, he had treated her like a queen, dressing her in fancy clothing. After he tired of her (having made a great show of dressing her in elegant costumes), he had demoted her to the basement of his home. She claims there had been a long procession of women, but she had always warned them in time.
The girl is frightened and saddened and flees from the house, after telling Paul she will not be one of his women. He says she must have talked to Veronica, the housekeeper, who was not normal. He had brought her there to make a home for her. (He had felt sorry for her being victimized during the war). If her story were not true, why did Paul tolerate her in his home? Had she really told the other women negative things about her employer? He claims there were no other women there. Still, Mifanway feels that Paul is too attached to hundreds of years ago, and even has a horse and carriage in London in the 1940's.
The story has lush scenery and great photography, and poignant acting, and some frightening and sad circumstances. Amid these situations, we have a murder mystery eventually.
Mifanway attends Paul's fancy dress ball that evokes the Renaissance era. After the ball, Paul has had too much to drink and passes out. A nightclub singer has been murdered while he is unconscious. Edana's character leaves prior to this and decides to marry her barrister friend. This she had mentioned to Paul just before he passed out from drinking too much. Paul is the prime suspect and does not care about the conclusion of his trial.
I will not create a spoiler, but Paul loses the will to live when the girl marries another man. He does not care about being accused of the murder of the other woman -- and his ultimate fate. He cannot recall what happened the night of the ball and is convicted of Caroline's murder. Mifanway visits Paul in jail and mentions that she will marry soon.
A few years after Paul's execution, Mifanway is receiving threatening blackmail letters about her affair with Paul. This person is the real killer and threatens her marriage. The young woman who is happily married and has three little children, is in a quandary about the outcome. Fearing exposure to her barrister husband, who has a strict moral code, Mifanway considers paying the blackmailer.
The story takes on an eerie touch when Mifanway is ordered to meet someone at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. She is to stand before Paul's likeness. An effigy has been made of Paul standing near the replica of John Wilkes Booth.
This said, there are some interesting twists and turns at the end, culminating in a mysterious suicide.
An intriguing film with interesting characters!
Dreamy
gbill-7487729 November 2023
"Nobody wants to belong to the past. Except me. But perhaps you'll be there with me sometimes."
I loved everything about the two leads (Edana Romney and Eric Portman), their looks so perfect for the period, the way they gazed at each other, and their range throughout a haunting story. Romney plays Mifanwy (or as the natives of a foreign country had called her long ago, "Devil Girl"), and Portman plays a cultured man who takes a liking to her the moment he lays eyes on her in a night club. He inhabits a lavishly furnished house, one full of mystery, and has impeccable taste in the trappings of the past. As the two become lovers, she says of his obsession "Even in my sleep, he would be there, in the corridor of mirrors. Watching me, dressing up for him."
Eventually we're confronted with two possibilities, that he's somehow known her from a past life centuries ago in Italy, which he tells her about, or that he's a manipulative player who strings women along, which a strange woman she comes across in the house claims (Barbara Mullen). It's a fine premise, and Terence Young pulls all the right strings by telling it in an extended flashback, with a liberal dose of dreamy lights, music, and costumes. I'm not quite as sure about the ending, which was a bit drawn out and ended with things a little too conveniently tidied up, but overall, I really enjoyed this.
I loved everything about the two leads (Edana Romney and Eric Portman), their looks so perfect for the period, the way they gazed at each other, and their range throughout a haunting story. Romney plays Mifanwy (or as the natives of a foreign country had called her long ago, "Devil Girl"), and Portman plays a cultured man who takes a liking to her the moment he lays eyes on her in a night club. He inhabits a lavishly furnished house, one full of mystery, and has impeccable taste in the trappings of the past. As the two become lovers, she says of his obsession "Even in my sleep, he would be there, in the corridor of mirrors. Watching me, dressing up for him."
Eventually we're confronted with two possibilities, that he's somehow known her from a past life centuries ago in Italy, which he tells her about, or that he's a manipulative player who strings women along, which a strange woman she comes across in the house claims (Barbara Mullen). It's a fine premise, and Terence Young pulls all the right strings by telling it in an extended flashback, with a liberal dose of dreamy lights, music, and costumes. I'm not quite as sure about the ending, which was a bit drawn out and ended with things a little too conveniently tidied up, but overall, I really enjoyed this.
Imagine a noirish mash-up of Bluebeard and Vertigo
MissSimonetta11 June 2022
Terence Young is best remembered as the director of three early James Bond movies, but his work outside that franchise is more uneven. He worked best with thrillers and adventure yarns, turning out competent but un-flashy work. By the 1970s, he unfortunately devolved into hackdom and Eurotrash, but there are gems to be found in his 50s and 60s filmography.
CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS is his debut directorial feature and ironically, the least characteristic film he ever made. Young shunned baroque filmmaking styles, which makes the Cocteau-esque visuals here all the more shocking, so much so that I have to wonder just how much of a hand Young had in the process (I've heard the producers of the film were more of the "auteurs" in this case and I'm tempted to believe that). The production is dizzying, noirish and mystical in its presentation of fatally attracted lovers who become obsessed with images of themselves as 15th century lovers reincarnated in 1930s Britain.
The acting has been criticized by other reviewers here, but I didn't mind any of it. I will admit there's a certain coldness to the characters that prevents me from fully connecting to this VERTIGO-esque tale, but I don't know if that's on the actors or the writers. Still, it's a unique movie, one that has haunted me days after seeing it for the first time. I'm glad it's been given a decent home release.
CORRIDOR OF MIRRORS is his debut directorial feature and ironically, the least characteristic film he ever made. Young shunned baroque filmmaking styles, which makes the Cocteau-esque visuals here all the more shocking, so much so that I have to wonder just how much of a hand Young had in the process (I've heard the producers of the film were more of the "auteurs" in this case and I'm tempted to believe that). The production is dizzying, noirish and mystical in its presentation of fatally attracted lovers who become obsessed with images of themselves as 15th century lovers reincarnated in 1930s Britain.
The acting has been criticized by other reviewers here, but I didn't mind any of it. I will admit there's a certain coldness to the characters that prevents me from fully connecting to this VERTIGO-esque tale, but I don't know if that's on the actors or the writers. Still, it's a unique movie, one that has haunted me days after seeing it for the first time. I'm glad it's been given a decent home release.
Stylish reincarnation role-play
jarrodmcdonald-112 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This stylish drama has a unique look and feel to it. The lead actress, Edana Romney, didn't star in other films. As actress and cowriter of the picture's screenplay, she put her all into this effort. She is ably assisted by director Terence Young and costars Eric Portman, Barbara Mullen and Hugh Sinclair. They help carry the story over some of its more uneven spots. But altogether, this is a fine production that meshes elements of noir, horror and mystery.
Portman portrays a wealthy aesthete. You could term him a conceptual artist who brings his ideas about the past to life in the present. Actually, all artists do that on some level. However, Portman goes to the romantic extreme by desiring to recapture a centuries old love affair with a new subject and source of inspiration in the form of Miss Romney.
At first she falls for him like any hotblooded female would, cast under his hypnotic spell and swept up by his imaginative ideas. But after receiving a warning from one of Portman's houseguests (Mullen), Romney begins to question this unusual relationship. Soon her enchantment has turned to fear that the man she's involved with may be quite mad. If she doesn't escape his influence, she may become a victim.
There's an interesting subplot where Romney leaves Portman and his bizarre reincarnation role-play. She goes off to holiday in Wales with one of her father's friends, a handsome explorer (Sinclair) who is keen on her. She will choose to marry Sinclair and have children with him, though she has to get Portman out of her system for good.
At the conclusion of her holiday, Romney returns to London where Portman is throwing a lavish masquerade ball. There are some amazing costumes in this sequence, but the highlight is a magical gondola ride after dark. The evening climaxes with an elongated waltz that takes place in front of the titular mirrors inside a corridor so huge it is practically its own room.
Just as Romney is about to leave again, a murder occurs. Portman confesses, there is a quick trial and he is hanged. After his execution, we learn Romney has been going to visit his likeness in a wax museum. At the museum she is being stalked by the real murderer, which means Portman's character was not a killer.
Stunning visuals, shrewd acting and a good deal of suspense combined with loads of atmosphere and originality make this a must-see motion picture. It's a real winner.
Portman portrays a wealthy aesthete. You could term him a conceptual artist who brings his ideas about the past to life in the present. Actually, all artists do that on some level. However, Portman goes to the romantic extreme by desiring to recapture a centuries old love affair with a new subject and source of inspiration in the form of Miss Romney.
At first she falls for him like any hotblooded female would, cast under his hypnotic spell and swept up by his imaginative ideas. But after receiving a warning from one of Portman's houseguests (Mullen), Romney begins to question this unusual relationship. Soon her enchantment has turned to fear that the man she's involved with may be quite mad. If she doesn't escape his influence, she may become a victim.
There's an interesting subplot where Romney leaves Portman and his bizarre reincarnation role-play. She goes off to holiday in Wales with one of her father's friends, a handsome explorer (Sinclair) who is keen on her. She will choose to marry Sinclair and have children with him, though she has to get Portman out of her system for good.
At the conclusion of her holiday, Romney returns to London where Portman is throwing a lavish masquerade ball. There are some amazing costumes in this sequence, but the highlight is a magical gondola ride after dark. The evening climaxes with an elongated waltz that takes place in front of the titular mirrors inside a corridor so huge it is practically its own room.
Just as Romney is about to leave again, a murder occurs. Portman confesses, there is a quick trial and he is hanged. After his execution, we learn Romney has been going to visit his likeness in a wax museum. At the museum she is being stalked by the real murderer, which means Portman's character was not a killer.
Stunning visuals, shrewd acting and a good deal of suspense combined with loads of atmosphere and originality make this a must-see motion picture. It's a real winner.
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