Louis Hayward ("Stephen Byrne") over-eggs his part a bit here as a writer whose career has long since started to wain. When he accidentally throttles the maid whilst she resists his unwanted advances; he recruits his invalid brother "John" (Lee Bowman) to help him dispose of the body. The subsequent investigation into her disappearance leads to renewed interest from the public in his work and he relishes being back in the spotlight. As easily as he continues on regardless of his crime, his brother starts to struggle with the guilt of his involvement - all to protect Hayward's neglected - but pregnant wife (Jane Wyatt). When the body is discovered with the evidence pointing to the brother a trial ensues... Fritz Lang has managed to take this low budget effort and inject it with tension and a stabbing sense of the way in which ambition and selfishness can over-ride any other obligation to anything or anyone else. The magnificently eerie photography; George Antheil's climactic score and use of shadow - and the wind, as well as a very tight script makes this a compelling murder mystery with much more depth to the characters of the two men than we might expect from anything from Republic Pictures!
Review of House by the River
