The Spiral Staircase (1946)
(Robert Siodmak, US 1946, 83 min., 35mm)
Director Robert Siodmak, a master of dark dramas, released this film in the same year as The Killers and The Dark Mirror. Here, the subject is murder, as a serial killer targets women with disabilities in early twentieth-century New England. Helen McCord (Dorothy McGuire) is a maid without the ability to speak who works for the bedridden Mrs. Warren (Ethel Barrymore) and her son (Gordon Oliver) and stepson (George Brent). After a girl is found murdered, Mrs. Warren warns Helen that she is not safe in the house. The new doctor in town takes a liking to Helen and encourages her to seek a specialist’s help for her voice, leaving her a number to call if she needs him. When another murder happens in the house, Helen seeks to call the doctor, but doesn’t know who to trust.