The Maze (1953)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

For years every time I saw it on t.v.I would get distracted that I did not under stand the story and plot.The only thing that ever bother me was finding out who was the owner of the castle in the highlands was and how it was taken seriously.Now I understand the whole movie.It'a about the build up in the story that leads to this as a result is not really funny at all.The 3d for the first time really brought me to under stand the plot better.How Carlson character has to take off to his uncles castle after his uncle's death and how Veronica Hurst and Kathrine Emory ,who plays her Aunt,a is determining to find out what has happen to him,by taking a risk in going to the castle,to see whats going on,at the protest of her aunt.The Gothic atmosphere of the whole haunted castle and it's property is very effective on 3d ,especially the fog that seems to come out of the screen.The bat scenes as Veronica is spying into the haunted house.As she was able to slip outside of her locked room were not very effective.When you throw an object at the camera the third dimensional affects are weakens as it gets closer.The sound?it's great.In it's restored affects the three channel sound makes the orchestra ,of the back ground music ,fuller,more effective,reinforcing the atmospheric quality of the film.Where Kitty's friend ,including a doctor that she invites over,to find out what's wrong with her fiances.You got some well know n character,like Hillary Brook,who was in the comedy Abbot and Costello meet Captain Kidd,that same year.Then you got the actress who played the doctors wife,D.r. played by John Dodsworth,played by the one who was in the old Dark house,Lillian Bond, a lot older.Then theirs the strange butler,played by Michael Pate,strange cause the older make up was too theatrical and unrealistic.The comment side of this films,stated that Richard Carlson was wild ,he was married ,but fooled around with other women,although in the interview of Veronica ,now in her eighties ,she stated tha he treated her friendly and under standing .Pate had a problem during the war and had just finish a 5 minute surgery to fix the problem,before getting in the picture.Although the ending may look ridiculous to some,a joke to others.,it's really not.I have to say the book might be better and one should be encourage to see if it's in the library to check it out for reading.This would enhance the interest in the movie.although some theaters off it in non Anamorphic wide screen,it was not shot that way.It' present in its one by three, seven by one ratio.With it's haunting atmosphere,minus the bat scene.The characters,oops! forgot one.Robins Hughes character Richard give an impression that he is trying to impersonate Richard Hadyn.Any how, well worth the entertainment.Well worth the wait.04/22/18

Everything starts off fine in this intriguing, but slow moving moody thriller where a Scottish nobleman (Richard Carlson) abandons fiancee (Veronica Hurst) to take care of business at his ancestor's family home. Out of concern when she doesn't hear from him, Hurst and aunt Katherine Emery head there, are given an unwarm welcome, but stay on anyway where a horrific sight has Emery in shock. Being locked in at night and warned to stay away from the castle's humongous maze, Hurst gets a letter to friends of hers and Carlson's who show up to help her discover what the secret of the castle is, leading to an absurd revelation that had me in stitches and grateful that I wasn't drinking anything at the time.Made at the height of the 3-D phase, this seemed to have everything going for it, featuring a moody atmosphere, a brooding Heathcliff like hero and a heroine at risk for the old agenda of curiosity killing the cat. It combines elements of pretty much every gothic melodrama ever written or filmed, with the entrance to a second wing adding moody mystery a la "Jane Eyre" and "Rebecca", yet never landing at any suspense when Hurst makes her way there. A scene in a hidden passage behind the curtain in Hurst's room made me roll my eyes when she walked in and didn't immediately run when seeing a giant bat heading towards her. In the last reveal when the secret of the castle is revealed, I began to feel like I was watching a live "Scooby Doo" episode with how absurd the plot took place. To make matters worse, Emery's elegant aunt provides an epilogue that will have you shaking your head in disbelief. Perhaps it had audiences enthralled in 3-D, but overall, it's basically flat and lifeless.

You know, this is not a terrible movie. It's atmospheric and mysterious and the female lead plays her part well...she reminds me of Grace Kelly. Richard Carlson is always good. The conclusion is creative and imaginative, and unlike some viewers who reported on this movie, I actually liked the ending. Interesting notion. They could only do so much with the special effects back then, but I can look past that. One thing this movie has going for it that too few movies do these days is good-heartedness. There aren't any truly "bad guys." Everybody is acting primarily out of a desire to do good and to look out for the interests of others rather than themselves, and I was left with a feeling of goodwill rather than the typical sense of foreboding and doom that so often is the central theme of movies like this one right to the end. A waste of time? No, I wouldn't say so. I'd say it's worth a watch.

I've docked two stars from this film for what must surely be one of the silliest endings in horror movies - and that's saying something! This is up there with the climax of Night Monster for sheer cheek, but for around an hour this is an absorbing and atmospheric Gothic drama.Richard Carlson, always a welcome presence, plays the heir to a Scottish laird called away from his pre-nuptial holidays in the South of France by some strange emergency at his ancestral home - a rambling castle he hasn't visited in years. Promising to return to his fiancé as soon as he can, he then does a disappearing act, before writing a mysterious note telling his beau she's the next Jennifer Anniston! Naturally she doesn't take kindly to this, and with Aunt in tow (you can tell this was made in the pre-rock and roll era - the leads would be groovy teenagers if this had been made in 1958) she undertakes the trip to the castle, where the sinister servants and her one-time love are acting all mysterious....The Maze of the title is a part of the castle grounds, and seems to hold the key to the mystery. What are those strange slopping sounds heard in the night? Why must everyone be locked up in their rooms at a certain time each evening? The answer, when it comes, proves to be hilarious. MAJOR SPOILER HERE. Er, it turns out to be a 200 year-old frog, who happens to be one Sir Roger! A deformed ancestor who has an extended life, is very shy and retiring and yet cultured. (come off it, guys he's a frog!) The minute he's discovered Sir Rodg takes a great froggy leap through a window to his doom. You might say he croaked! Cue Carlson's laugh-out loud explanation for the mysterious events...All I can say is they must have some sizable insect life in the Scottish Highlands to keep Kermit, er, Sir Roger, well-fed. Okay, I fess up. It's a bloke in a frog suit....There's one great Lovecraftian shot of the frog fumbling about in the darkness which is genuinely creepy, though. And if you can get past The Muppet Show explanation you might like it.