THE STANFORD THEATRE
The Spiral Staircase poster

The Spiral Staircase

1946 ★ 83 min
Starring: Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, Ethel Barrymore
Director: Robert Siodmak
Writer: Mel Dinelli
Producer: Dore Schary

The Spiral Staircase is a 1946 American psychological horror film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, and Ethel Barrymore. Set over the course of one evening, the film follows a mute young woman in an early-20th century Vermont town who is stalked and terrorized in a rural mansion by a serial killer targeting women with disabilities.

Trivia

  • Nominated for: Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
  • Based on Some Must Watch (1933 novel by Ethel Lina White).
  • Adapted from the Ethel Lina White novel Some Must Watch (1933), The Spiral Staircase was screenwriter Mel Dinelli's first screenplay.
  • RKO Pictures had acquired the rights to produce the film from independent producer David O. Selznick, who himself purchased the rights to White's novel; Selznick had originally conceived a film adaptation with Ingrid Bergman in the lead role.
  • Selznick sold the rights to the project (along with several others he owned) to RKO in order to help finance the Western Duel in the Sun (1946).

Filming Locations

  • The film was shot between August and November 1945 on the RKO Studio lot in Los Angeles, California, on a production budget of approximately $750,000.
  • Cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca was hired to shoot the film, who had previously shot several low-budget films for Val Lewton at RKO, such as Cat People (1942), The Seventh Victim (1943), and The Curse of the Cat People (1944).

Previous Showings

5 Runs • 4 Festivals

2,471 tickets sold

Original Billings: 1 run (March 20, 1946)

Original Run: March 20, 1946 (Wednesday - Saturday)

All runs on record (5):

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