- Fritz Lang's House by the River is a so-so Gothic thriller with plenty of melodrama, some murder, a house, and a river. It stars Louis Hayward as Stephen, a boorish writer who accidentally kills his maid while trying to force himself upon her. As you may have surmised, Stephen's not really the hero of the piece. That role is filled by Stephen's brother, John (Lee Bowman), a decent fellow who unwisely and begrudgingly helps dump the body in the river before Stephen's wife Marjorie (Jane Wyatt) comes home. This is an even worse plan than you might think, though, because the river has the unfortunate tendency to bring things back in with the tides. At any rate, John is already troubled by this whole chain of events, but things worsen when he finds out his name is stitched on the bag they wrapped the body in. Stephen, meanwhile, is perfectly willing to let John take the blame for the murder while exploiting the publicity, but his eccentric behavior continues to be the source of his problems, putting it mildly.
- There are a few great scenes in House by the River, and most of them involve the river itself. In fact, the river is typically more interesting than any of the characters in or around it. When Stephen rows around looking for the half-submerged body, you get the distinct feeling that nature is taking an active role in the story. The current and weeds appear to do their best to impede Stephen, and this faceless malevolence becomes linked in his mind with a haunting glimpse of a leaping fish. Unfortunately, the rest of the story is decidedly less fascinating, although the aptly named Miss Bantam (Jody Gilbert) contributes memorably to the tale as John's gossipy maid who acts more like a spurned lover. Unfortunately, the film's final scene, in which you might say it's curtains for Stephen, is so ridiculous that it quickly propels this middling drama completely up the creek.
