One of the greatest directors in our cinematic history, and a pioneer of German expressionism films was none other than Fritz Lang. He was well-known for directing pictures that were well ahead of their time (M, Metropolis). After leaving Germany for the United States, he embarked on a career directing Westerns, Noirs and other dark crime thrillers. During his career in North America, he directed a few films for Republic Pictures, one of which is a Film Noir crime drama entitled House by the River.
In this thriller, an insane writer Stephen Byrne (Louis Hayward, The Man in the Iron Mask, And Then There Were None) strangles and murders his maid Emily (Dorothy Patrick) after she fends off his sexual advances. When she starts screaming because he won’t let go of her, he chokes her out, killing her. He asks for help from his brother John (Lee Bowman, Easy Living, Buck Privates) in hiding the body. He reluctantly helps him and together, they put the body in sack and dump it in a river. The sack eventually floats back up and Emily is discovered inside of it. As Stephen continues to fall deeper into madness, he both watches his brother become the number one suspect during an inquest, while also mistreating his wife Marjorie (Jane Wyatt, Pitfall, Boomerang) who admits she’s in love with John. Stephen writes a book about the crime, admitting his guilt, which Marjorie reads, and becomes a potential murder victim.
House by the River is a superb film, with a cast that hands in excellent performances. Director Lang once again maintains a dark aura around the film, with the occasional scene without music that adds to the suspense. The excellent cinematography for this picture is by Edward Cronjager. This movie did remind me of House of the Seven Gables, another classic murder film from 1940.
House by the River debuts on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber, who have done a splendid job here. The video presentation of the film is in its original full frame aspect ratio of 1.37:1, in 1080p and given a brand new 2K master simply looks remarkable. The black and white image is clear, polished with lots of detail. Outdoor and indoor scenery has a great deal of depth and texture. Black levels are perfectly fine, along with the image having a balanced grey scale. Film grain is present and no use of DNR has been applied.
The audio for this release, as with most Kino Lorber releases is English DTS-HD master audio 2.0. The lossless audio track is crisp and clear without drop-offs or hissing. The dialog, and other sounds come in flawless. The music by George Antheil is where the audio becomes a bit more aggressive. English subtitles are offered for this release.
Kino has supplied some supplemental materials for House by the River. We get an audio commentary by Film Historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. In her commentary she discusses the sexual assaults in the film, foreshadowing sexual harassment. She goes on to provide insight to the production of the film and a great amount of information on Fritz Lang himself. This is a very insightful commentary.
In addition to the commentary another supplement is an interview with Producer and Historian Pierre Rissient. He discusses the importance and Fritz Lang’s House by the River and how it stands today among his other masterpieces.
Closing out the extras are trailers for other Kino Lorber releases that are in the same genre or by the same director. The Woman in the Window, Boomerang, The Spiral Staircase, The Queen of Spades , and The Paradine Case are the films showcased in this plethora of trailers.
House by the River is a well-done film, now given a first-class Blu-ray release. Now the film can be enjoyed with superior audio and video quality! Recommended!
House by the River
Director- Fritz Lang
Cast- Louis Hayward, Lee Bowman
Country of Origin- USA
Date- 02/03/2020
Distributor – Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman