| Corridor of Mirrors | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Original British trade ad | |
| Directed by | Terence Young |
| Written by | Rudolph Cartier Edana Romney |
| Based on | Corridor of Mirrors by Chris Massie |
| Produced by | Rudolph Cartier |
| Starring | Eric Portman Barbara Mullen Hugh Sinclair Edana Romney |
| Cinematography | André Thomas |
| Edited by | Douglas Myers |
| Music by | Georges Auric |
Production company | Apollo Film |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors |
Release date |
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Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Corridor of Mirrors is a 1948 Britishdramahorror film directed byTerence Young and starringEric Portman,Edana Romney andBarbara Mullen.[1] It was based on a novel of the same title by Chris Massie[2] and marked the film debut of both Terence Young andChristopher Lee.[3][4] Stylistically it is aGothicmystery.[5] It was shot at theStudios Radio Cinema inParis. The film's sets were designed by theart directorsTerence Verity andSerge Piménoff. Anindependent production by Apollo Film, it was released byRank'sGeneral Film Distributors.
InLondon, the wealthy and reclusiveartist Paul Mangin is fixated on the past and lives in a luxurious house entirely devoted to evoking the atmosphere of earlier centuries. One night in anightclub he encounters the beautiful Mifanwy Conway. He becomes transfixed by her, convinced that they had once been lovers inRenaissance Italy, before she betrayed him. She is attracted to his cultivated lifestyle, but becomes alarmed by his obsessive manner and by the ominous warnings of his mysterious housekeeper, Veronica. Mangin cautions her that Veronica is insane, but Mifanwy is unconvinced. She tries to break free from his control by visiting theWelsh countryside with the recently returnedexplorer Owen Rhys, who wants to marry her.
Mifanwy's escape is cut short when she receives an invitation to acostume ball organised in her honour by Mangin, who has opened his house to the curiousLondon society. That night, dressed asCesare Borgia, Mangin is arrested forstrangling his discarded former lover Caroline Hart. Convicted at trial, he ishanged formurder.
Several years later, Mifanwy receives a series of threatening letters and a telegram asking for a meeting atMadame Tussauds, where she sees thewaxwork of the now infamous Mangin, surrounded by other notorious murderers. She is met by Mangin's former butler Mortimer, who sent the telegram. He informs her that Veronica is behind the letters and that her insanity has worsened over time; he plans to put her in an asylum. Veronica enters the wax museum and speaks to Mangin's waxwork, revealing that she killed Caroline out of jealousy, having mistaken her for Mifanwy in the darkness. She then senses that Mifanwy is in the museum and begins threatening her. Mifanwy retorts that Veronica has turned Mangin, the man she supposedly loved, into "an effigy of horror and wax." Dazed, Veronica runs into the street and is hit by a lorry. Mifanwy returns to Wales and the happy young family she has with Owen. He tells her that Veronica confessed to Caroline's murder before her death, and Mangin has been vindicated.
In his 4/5 star review in theRadio Times, David Parkinson wrote: "the more eccentric the action gets (and the more manicGeorges Auric's score seems), the more compelling it becomes. In her sole starring venture,Romney (who also co-scripted) isn't quite up to the task. ButPortman is magnificently unhinged andTerence Verity's art direction is outstanding."[6]