Hearing that her husband is dead, Sandra Marshall arrives at his prominent family's remote estate to claim her inheritance. She receives a cold reception, especially from the husband's uncle, research scientistMark Caldwell, who had not known about her. He even accuses her of being a schemer. But he allows her to stay in the mansion while details are worked out. Caldwell's teenage niece, Julie, welcomes Sandra. But what the girl says is troubling. She claims her uncle is holding her prisoner on the property, that strange things are going on in a sealed-off area of the mansion, and that the older family members and their servants may not be telling the truth about the recent death. Though Caldwell insists that Julie simply has an overactive imagination, Sandra begins to wonder what to believe and whom to trust. She wants to find out for herself.
The novel was published in January 1945. The New York Times said "the plot has pace; the manse is traditionally eerie, the heroine is charming. Situations and dialogue, however, are often clumsily handled." The Chicago Tribune called it "a spicy piece".
Development
In April 1945Warner Bros bought the film rights as a vehicle for Barbara Stanwyck. Catherine Turney was assigned to do the script and Dennis Morgan announced as co star. The film took a while to be made. In March 1946, Errol Flynn was announced as co star and Peter Godfrey as director. The movie was a "Thomson Production", i.e. made through Flynn's company at Warner Bros. Two of the supporting cast were from the New York stage, Geraldine Brooks and Richard Basehart, and had just been put under contract by Warner Bros.
Shooting
Filming started in May 1946 and took place to August 1946.
The Wall Street Journal said the film was "often as dull as it is frightening because its melodramatic story is full of cliches... without tommy gun or sword, Mr Flynn seems unhappily wooden." The Christian Science Monitor said it "grips the attention and holds it right through...the result is something well above average." "Its melodramatic antics are rather fun", said the Washington Post. The|work=Los Angeles Times called the film "murky" and "fairly opaque" although it felt audiences "are likely to be impressed by the performance of Flynn." The New York Times said "its final explanation of the mystery is ridiculous and banal." Filmink magazine wrote "a weaker/younger/more clearly neurotic actor" than Stanwyck "may have added to the tension...because Stanwyck can clearly handle herself – even poking around a locked lab at one in the morning you don’t feel too worried for her" adding that "Errol is very effective in an atypical role – slightly aloof, cold, sinister… I can’t help imagine that maybe he was channeling his father, or some other patriarchal family member."
Box Office
The film was moderately successful at the box office, Variety estimating its rentals in the US and Canada at $2 million. According to Warner Bros records, the film earned $1,842,000 domestically and $848,000 foreign.
