SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR World Premiere of the restored film Film Noir/Thriller United States, 1948 In English 35mm/ 1.37:1/Black & White/Mono Sound/99 min Directed by: Fritz Lang Written by: Silvia Richards Based on a story by: Rufus King Cinematography: Stanley Cortez Editor: Arthur Hilton Music: Miklós Rózsa Produced by: Fritz Lang Production Company: Diana Productions With: Joan Bennett (Celia Lamphere), Michael Redgrave (Mark Lamphere), Ann Revere (Caroline Lamphere), Barbara O'Neil (Miss Robey), Natalie Schafer (Edith Potter) Fritz Lang revisits the French fairy tale of Bluebeard in this psychological thriller based on a story by Rufus King. Joan Bennett is Celia, a young heiress who marries a strange nobleman (Michael Redgrave) with a penchant for the macabre. As in the Bluebeard story, her husband keeps his dark secrets locked in a mysterious room, which she grows more and more curious to open while fearing he may be plotting to kill her. THE RESTORATION New polyester fine grain master positives and a new print of SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR were produced from the original nitrate picture negative, which was in good condition. Only a few replacement dupe sections had to be made from the nitrate fine grain master. Minor wear is still visible in some sequences, but wet-gate printing has eliminated most of the flaws present in the original negative. The result is a sharp print of excellent quality that showcases the black-and-white cinematography of Stanley Cortez to stunning effect. The sound was derived from the original nitrate track negative and the nitrate composite fine grain master. Restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, with funding provided by The Film Foundation and the Producer of COL•COA, Franco American Cultural Fund, a partnership of the Directors Guild of America, Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique, the Writers Guild of America, West, and the Motion Picture Association of America. FRITZ LANG Born in Vienna in 1890, Fritz Lang is one of the great masters of cinema. His German expressionist masterpiece Metropolis (1926) and his first talking film M (1931) have influenced generations of filmmakers. Particularly influential for Jean-Luc Godard and the cinéastes of the French Nouvelle Vague, Fritz Lang agreed to appear in Godard’s Contempt. Censured by Goebbels for The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1932), he left Germany and settled in the United States in the 1930s. Secret Beyond the Door is one of over 20 films directed by Lang in Hollywood between 1936 and 1956. Lang died in Beverly Hills in 1976.