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the audience applauded

A Masterpiece!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I had submitted a review not long ago, but after reading some of the reviews here, wanted to comment on the leading actress, Edana Romney.I think she was a wonderful choice of actress for the film. She could register various emotions in a sophisticated manner; love, sadness, boredom, and even terror realistically. In British films, an actress can often register these feelings in a more subtle manner, as Edana had. I did think she reminded me of Margaret Lockwood and Patricia Morison. All these actresses were very adept at registering emotions in a slightly subdued manner.That said, I had picked this film from a Nostalgia Video catalog several years ago. It sounded very intriguing with the description and was the first film with Christopher Lee! Many of the cast members (Eric Portman, Edana Romney, Barbara Mullen, etc.) I had never seen before, so it was a unique experience. In the meantime, I have watched several films with the above actors and actresses and really enjoyed them.Corridor of Mirrors is a poignant story of a man living in the past. He meets a beautiful young woman in a nightclub who resembles Lucrezia Borgia. Edana plays the role with sophisticated flair and soon becomes interested in Paul Mangin (Eric Portman), an art and antique collector. When she visits his gorgeous home, she discovers amid the mirrors and many costumes of a bygone age, a touch of mystery about the past of the owner.Also, there is a mysterious housekeeper. Veronica, that Paul had rescued during WWII in Italy. Was her story true of her seduction (by Paul) and then his rejection of her? He had relegated her to the basement after becoming tired of her, she said.During the war he had become obsessed with a painting of Lucrezia Borgia, so he becomes enamored of this new young girl who resembled the girl in the painting. On one of her visits, Mifanway Conway is quite impressed by Paul's gorgeous home and the painting he reveals behind some heavy draperies.After that, she finds herself very attracted to this man of mystery. But she discovers early on that he hates the sound of a woman's laughter. She admires gorgeous Renaissance-type costumes on life-like mannequins behind the mirrored doors in Paul's home. It is a scene that is at once eerie, and very impressive, as she dances around to the tune of an old-fashioned music box, wearing a beautiful Renaissance costume Paul had designed.When Mifanway meets the housekeeper. Veronica, she tells a mysterious tale of Paul's seduction of her during the war and then bringing her home to his gorgeous mansion in London. At first, he had treated her like a queen, dressing her in fancy clothing. After he tired of her (having made a great show of dressing her in elegant costumes), he had demoted her to the basement of his home. She claims there had been a long procession of women, but she had always warned them in time.The girl is frightened and saddened and flees from the house, after telling Paul she will not be one of his women. He says she must have talked to Veronica, the housekeeper, who was not normal. He had brought her there to make a home for her. (He had felt sorry for her being victimized during the war). If her story were not true, why did Paul tolerate her in his home? Had she really told the other women negative things about her employer? He claims there were no other women there. Still, Mifanway feels that Paul is too attached to hundreds of years ago, and even has a horse and carriage in London in the 1940's.The story has lush scenery and great photography, and poignant acting, and some frightening and sad circumstances. Amid these situations, we have a murder mystery eventually.Mifanway attends Paul's fancy dress ball that evokes the Renaissance era. After the ball, Paul has had too much to drink and passes out. A nightclub singer has been murdered while he is unconscious. Edana's character leaves prior to this and decides to marry her barrister friend. This she had mentioned to Paul just before he passed out from drinking too much. Paul is the prime suspect and does not care about the conclusion of his trial.I will not create a spoiler, but Paul loses the will to live when the girl marries another man. He does not care about being accused of the murder of the other woman -- and his ultimate fate. He cannot recall what happened the night of the ball and is convicted of Caroline's murder. Mifanway visits Paul in jail and mentions that she will marry soon.A few years after Paul's execution, Mifanway is receiving threatening blackmail letters about her affair with Paul. This person is the real killer and threatens her marriage. The young woman who is happily married and has three little children, is in a quandary about the outcome. Fearing exposure to her barrister husband, who has a strict moral code, Mifanway considers paying the blackmailer.The story takes on an eerie touch when Mifanway is ordered to meet someone at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. She is to stand before Paul's likeness. An effigy has been made of Paul standing near the replica of John Wilkes Booth.This said, there are some interesting twists and turns at the end, culminating in a mysterious suicide. An intriguing film with interesting characters!

"Corridor Of Mirrors" is pretentious and derivative and seeks to emulate elements of 'Citizen Kane'and 'Beauty And The Beast'. The dialogue is stilted and the premise absurd. That said, I have to say that you have never - ever - seen sets like the ones in this picture. The art director should have had at least an Oscar nom for the magnificent interior of the mansion. The main staircase is colossal, and the hallway of mirrors is obscenely sumptuous. It makes you think the picture should have been made in color.Eric Portman plays a fellow who thinks he is Cesare Borgia reincarnated, and that Edana Romney is his lost love. He is fabulously wealthy and scoots about London in his own Hansom cab (this is 1938!). With a come-hither look in an upscale singles bar, she instantly comes under his spell and is captivated. Complications ensue, but the regal splendor of his mansion overwhelms everything else to the viewer. Eric Portman always came across to me as a cold fish, and is out of his depth as a romantic leading man. He gets no help from Miss Romney, who is unable to register the proper emotional responses at crucial times and shows herself to be a limited actress."Corridor Of Mirrors" is a good but not great movie. The subject matter is very unusual, though, and those set pieces will stay with you long after the movie is over. It was shown at the Columbus,O. Cinevent, 5/12.

Terence Young found a huge audience thanks to his James Bond movies ("Dr No" "From Russia with love" "Thunderball" ) ,which remain,along "Goldfinger" ,the best 007 ever made ,the only ones which will endure.One should add he tackled many genres : the historical drama ("Mayerling" ),sword and sandal ("Orazi e Curiazi")and thrillers the best of which is certainly "wait until dark" which features an excellent performance by Audrey Hepburn.And then there's "corridor of mirrors" .It compares favorably with "Beauty and the Beast" (Cocteau) ,"POrtrait of Jennie" (Dieterlé),Peter Ibbetson (Hathaway) and "dead of night" (various directors).It's Young's first effort and his best movie by such a wide margin one cannot imagine which one of his later production could be number two.It's impossible to summarize such a complex tale ,which borrows from fairy tales ("La Barbe-bleue") Wilde's "Portrait of Dorian Gray" Val Lewton's productions and the movies I mention above but brings it all back home.A man is living in the past cause past is certain and future might be dangerous.He seduces a woman and asks for a rendezvous in Madame Tussaud's museum.Taking place in the present and in the past,in a home in the English country,in the famous museum ,in a sumptuous palace with a fascinating corridor of mirrors ,symbol of illusions and of a time which ,no matter what he tries, is passing by the hero,a time which is not on his side ,even if he goes back as far as the Italian Renaissance -with scenes of carnival which may have inspired Fellini for "Casanova" -this is the lost gem of the English cinema.

I thoroughly enjoyed this rather gothic tale of a young woman's love affair with an obsessive connoisseur of beauty, who believes he's loved her before in a past life. The Venetian costume party is certainly a high point, visually, of the picture. The whole film is strangely reminiscent of Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, primarily because of eerily smooth camera movement and the elaborate castle setting. How can any romantic not enjoy a murderous love story that ends in Madame Tussaud's wax museum?