Writer Gouverneur Morris’s bizarre tale unfolds in a series of disquieting flashbacks and flash-forwards that serve to continually ratchet up suspense and foreboding. Producer Thomas Ince and director Irvin Willat showed daring and imagination in their adaptation of the sensational material. U-boat captain Lieutenant Brandt (played with leering savagery by Wallace Beery) commands a barbarous crew of submariners whose atrocities rouse a vengeful hero. A review in Motion Picture News hints at the film’s narrative force: “In its slashing boldness, its eloquent daring, its gigantic theme—above all, in its terrific punch—‘Behind the Door’ stands absolutely and unqualifiedly alone!”
The restoration of the recently found Behind the Door was an international project initiated by SFSFF in collaboration with the Library of Congress and Gosfilmofond of Russia.
Live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne
Introduction by Rob Byrne
Co-presented by MiDNiTES FOR MANiACS
ASL interpretation provided