MovieChat Forums > The Shuttered Room (1968) Discussion > Distractions in this movie

Distractions in this movie

posted 15 years ago by rivergirl301
6 replies | jump to latest

Overall, this is a good movie, and I would recommend it. But, I found some things just really, really distracting.

--Why would you show up at an abandoned shack and expect to just move in?

--Why would you show up at an abandoned shack in a designer dress suit and then, presumably for comfort, change into a designer pants suit?

--Why would you make small talk with thugs who just seconds earlier tried to run you off the road?

--Why, after said thugs just tried to rape your wife, wouldn't you call the police or LEAVE the island? Didn't this couple have any self of self-preservation?

--The leading lady, Carol, can't remember her last name, has a very odd way of talking that almost makes her sound retarded.

--I don't know why they put American actors in a movie that was shot in England, where everyone else, all the English actors, had to try to have a New England accent. The result was a very odd, southern/New England/English accent that no one pulled off convincingly. Why not just have it be a movie set in England where only the lead couple had to learn a different accent, the Americans had to have an English accent? The lead thug, I never understood anything he said anyway. He screamed all his lines; bascially very psychotic.

[–] roses888 15 years ago

Why would such a beautiful young woman barely 21 marry a man old enough to be her father? He was way too old for her! They seemed like such a odd couple.

[–] rivergirl301 15 years ago

I just assumed she had beauty, he had money, so it was an even trade-off. They didn't really go much into how they met, etc.

[–] matthewwave-1 15 years ago

I think the whole point of how the couple shows up at the mill and how they respond to the locals is to throw into relief just how much these two don't have any idea what they are about to get themselves into.

I'll concede you the "why not get outta there/get the police after your wife was attacked" bit -- altho at that point it's been established that Young's character thinks himself a bit of a tough guy... and actually is a bit of a tough guy, really.

Hey, nothing's retarded-sounding about Carol Lynley in The Shuttered Room! Don't be bashin' my Carol Lynley now! She does have a very distinctive voice/vocal pattern, tho. I'd rather she have that than a bland, "normal" voice -- particularly with those incredible good looks of hers. That speaking voice of hers is one more tool -- along with her wonderful talent -- Lynley uses to sidestep the danger of being nothing but pretty window dressing on the screen.

Perhaps where you see "retarded" is where I'm seeing the striking fragility Lynley brings to the character -- subtler in the early stages of the film, almost shockingly blatant in the climax.

The film was shot in England but is set in NEW England.

Matthew

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MissMargoChanning (6630) 7 years ago

I didn't really understand why the sister was locked away like that. If there was something wrong with her why wasn't she put into a home or a hospital?
I suppose that it may have something to do with these backward people and some sense of shame for having had this girl, but why lock her in a dingy room and chain her up like an animal?

[–] Wuchak (8104) 5 years ago

1. They weren't going to move in, but rather stay for a few days to check out her childhood home. It would possibly become a summer home for them. Keep in mind that it was only 17 years earlier that the girl was sent away, which really wasn't that long ago.

2. She was apparently used to the big city lifestyle and wasn't a jeans & t-shirt type; not yet anyway. Also, notice what the two other young women were wearing on the island -- a skirt and a red dress. It was the usual fare for the ladies there & then.

3. The police office was probably on the other side of the island or perhaps even the mainland and Mike (Gig Young) didn't think those lowlife riffraff were worth the effort, particularly since he could clearly handle himself in a scrap.

4. Everyone has their peculiar air and way of speaking; think John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Brando and so on.

5. It was based on a book, which explains the setting for the story. I personally don't care about accents, but I agree that they should've set the story in England because the landscapes didn't resemble New England.

Regarding the additional questions from other posters:

- Older well-to-do men are known for seeking younger, beautiful women; and young women are naturally attracted to success & security, plus Mike had a strong and youthful vibe, not old.

- The islanders were painted as unsophisticated, religious and superstitious. The psycho girl was so wild & crazy she was difficult to handle and probably demon-possessed, which would make her stronger. Thus Aunt Agatha had her chained up in the barn, hidden away.