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This very traditional chamber murder mystery starring David Farrar and Geraldine Fitzgerald has been beautifully restored by Studiocanal and bears the original U.K. title The Late Edwina Black. When the sickly wife Edwina dies in bed the bitter housekeeper accuses the husband and another very attractive servant; all the Scotland Yard Inspector need do is stir the pot, and paranoid suspicions take over. Is Edwina’s spirit still present in the house? The housekeeper thinks she communicates through a wind chime by the window . . .

Obsessed

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1951 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 78 min. / Street Date February 28, 2023 / The Late Edwina Black / Available from / 29.99

Starring: David Farrar, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Roland Culver, Jean Cadell, Mary Merrall, Harcourt Williams, Charles Heslop, Ronald Adam.

Cinematography: Stephen Dade

Art Direction: George Provis

Costume Designer: Elizabeth Haffenden

Film Editor: Douglas Myers

Original Music: Allan Gray

Screenplay by Charles Frank, David Evans from the play by William Dinner, William Morum...

Each week, the fine folks at Fandor add a number of films to their Criterion Picks area, which will then be available to subscribers for the following twelve days. This week, the Criterion Picks focus on 8 mystery films.

Secrets, lies, clues and questionable motives: follow these films as they insist on (or resist) throwing light on the dark corners of human nature.

Don’t have a Fandor subscription? They offer a free trial membership.

Confidentially Yours, the French Crime film by François Truffaut

When a real estate agent is framed for the murders of his wife and her lover, it is up to his faithful secretary to solve the mystery.

The Element of Crime, the Danish Crime film by Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier’s stunning debut film is the story of Fisher, an exiled ex-cop who returns to his old beat to catch a serial killer with a taste for young girls.

The Hidden Room (aka Obsession)

Written by Alec Coppel

Directed by Edward Dmytryk

U.S.A., 1949

On a quiet London night British upper class housewife Storm Riodan (Sally Gray) and secret American ex-pat lover Bill Kronin (Phil Brown) return the former’s lavish flat for a night of passion. Unbeknownst to them Storm’s husband, the brilliant if extremely sensitive Dr. Clive Riodan (Robert Newton) lingers behind the curtains, listening to their every word. He eventually makes his presence known, catching both completely off guard in the process. So intense is the doctor’s jealousy that he threatens to murder dear Bill point blank with a firearm. When Storm retires to her quarters out of embarrassment, the doctor forces Bill to accompany him outside when the film cuts to…a scene few days later as Clive Riodan attends to a patient in his private office. His wife is convinced his...

The Engines Of Sacrifice by James Chambers

(Dark Regions Press)

In hidden places, they sleep and dream, and through their dreams they touch humanity — but their touch brings only the stains of horror, death, and madness…until the day the Old Ones return.

In the Engines of Sacrifice, acclaimed writer James Chamber delivers four nightmare novellas inspired by the Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft.

Investigation 37: In the late years of the Vietnam War, Lavender May runs away from home to search for freedom and peace in New York City, but instead, she finds only a world of magic, witchcraft, and lies.

The Ugly Birds: Only one thing could save Carmin Darabon’s comics magazine from going under: publishing the next chapter of the hit series “The Otherworlders.” But what dark secret drives its creator –Carmine’s ex-finance’ — to refuse to deliver it?

The Hidden Room: At the height of the Cold War,...

Wonderful as they are, Criterion Collection DVDs and Blu-rays ain't cheap. A single film can set you back thirty or forty bones. But now for eight bucks a month, you can have access to 150 Criterion titles via Hulu Plus, with more to be added each month. Here are some of the details from Hulu Svp Eugene Wei's blog post about the announcement:

"Criterion has digital streaming rights to over 800 of the films in their library...We're launching with over 150 Criterion movies today, and we'll be adding more titles each month. Among the launch list today are so many acknowledged classics: 'The 400 Blows,' 'L'Avventura,' 'The Battle of Algiers,' 'Breathless,' 'La Jetée,' 'Jules and Jim,' 'M,' 'Pickpocket,' 'Playtime,' 'Rashomon,' 'Seven Samurai,' 'La Strada,' and 'The Wages of Fear.'

"Just as exciting are the titles still to come.

"To see a man, to see a man about a dog, or to see a man about a horse is an English language colloquialism, usually used as a smiling apology for one's departure or absence - generally as a bland euphemism to conceal one's true purpose." —Wikipedia.

So, this is number three in a series of three pieces with a connection to the anti-communist blacklist in post-war America. While John Berry was blacklisted, and Leo McCarey was a friendly witness before Huac in 1947, the director of Obsession (1949), had a more complex relationship with the various struggling factions.

In 1950, Dmytryk appeared in a short film, The Hollywood Ten, puffing thoughtfully on a pipe, under the direction of John Berry. In the company of eight screenwriters and one producer, Dmytryk, who was riding high after the success of early film noir hits Murder My Sweet and Crossfire. All ten were being menaced...

Irish director Thaddeus O'Sullivan (Ordinary Decent Criminal, December Bride) is being lined up to direct the new psychological thriller, 'Obsession' adapted from Alec Coppel's novel 'A Man About A Dog' by screenwriter Rob Green (House). The film involves a Manhattan based doctor who plots revenge against his wife's lover. Coppel's novel has already been adapted from the screen by Edward Dmytryk in 1949's 'The Hidden Room'. The new version will be produced by Think Tank Films with shooting scheduled to commence later in the year in Detroit and New York.

Alec Coppel's novel "A Man About a Dog" is being adapted once again, this time by Think Tank Films . Thaddeus O'Sullivan will direct from a script by Rob Green ( The Bunker , House ). Described as a psychological thriller, the story centers around a jealous husband and the revenge scheme he exacts against his wife's lover. The title "A Man About a Dog" takes its cue from the narrative's canine who leads investigators to the husband. Richard Johns ( Shadow of the Vampire ) and Rupert Jermyn will produce. Coppel's source material was realized in 1949 by Edward Dmytryk and was known then as Obsession , or, The Hidden Room .