#Old hand mirror movie
After a couple of small roles in MGM films, this was the first substantial featured role in a movie for Davis, who later became First Lady of the United States Nancy Reagan.At the time of making this film, eight-year-old Gigi Perreau had already appeared in 20 films.Canford returns and Susan tells her that Dell is "Cupid", after which Dell confesses to Pike. She cries out "Cupid, Cupid" and screams. Susan begs them not to leave, but as they drive off, Susan turns around and sees Dell's shadow on the wall of the house. As they are leaving, Dell turns on the outside lights so they can see their way to the car. To Canford, this means that there must have been a third person in the room.Ĭanford and David's lawyer and best friend, Pike Ludwell, drive Susan to Dell's house in Connecticut. When Susan enters the room during the recreation, she is totally focused not on the adults playing her parents, but on the open doorway. Stymied, Cranford brings Susan to the Stirrling apartment to recreate the night of the killing. When she fails, she adopts Susan instead and intends to remove her from the hospital and from Cranford's care. When Cranford shows Susan the doll, she becomes agitated and asks to stop playing.ĭell, realizing that Canford is getting close to restoring the girl's memory, attempts to murder the child with poison and by drowning. Later, Susan draws for Canford a picture of the shadow which haunts her, which resembles a doll she calls "Cupid".
She is on the verge of finding out what she might have seen when Dell, who has been watching from behind a one-way mirror, contrives to make a loud noise which interrupts the session. In the hope of unlocking Susan's memory, Canford brings Susan to see her father in prison, but it does not help.Ĭanford continues to use play therapy to probe Susan's memory, and finds out that Susan screamed not because of the gunshot, or the sight of her father and stepmother falling down, but because she saw something frightening in the doorway. Based on what the girl said during play therapy, Canford believes that Susan saw her father kill her stepmother, which she tells Dell. She is now living in a psychiatric hospital, where psychiatrist Caroline Canford is convinced she can cure the girl. Susan has repressed memory of what she saw, but is haunted by the image of the shadow on the wall. As the hairdryer is put over her head, she imagines that it's the cap of the electric chair. With no memory of what has happened, David can only assume he was the one who shot Celia, so when he is tried for first degree murder, he accepts a jury's verdict of guilt and the judge's sentence that he be put to death.Īfterwards, Dell writes out a confession, and takes it with her to an appointment at the hairdressers. Just then, David gets up, but falls down again, and the child Susan starts to scream. She throws the gun on the floor and flees. Backing away towards the door, she throws a distinctive shadow on the wall of the bedroom. Dell and Celia then have an argument: Crane has told her about the affair, and resentment that already existed between the sisters flares because Dell feels this was not the first time Celia had selfishly taken something from her. Celia tells Dell to pick up the gun and take it away. He approaches Celia to confront her with the evidence of her infidelity, but Celia thinks he is threatening her with the gun and hits him with a hand mirror, knocking him unconscious.ĭell arrives and assures Celia that David is still alive. Celia tells him to lock it up in the study, and he is leaving to do so when he discovers Crane's monogrammed handkerchief in the pocket of his robe. After they leave, Celia and David have an argument, during which David takes out from his suitcase the souvenir gun in order to put it in his desk. Dell, who believed that Crane was at a business meeting, makes an excuse to leave, and Crane leaves with her. David sees her getting out of Crane's car, so he realizes that her story of seeing a matinee with a girl friend is untrue.Ĭrane and Dell come to dinner that night, and afterwards David tricks Crane into revealing that he and Celia had been together that afternoon. Crane is the fiancé of Celia's sister, Dell Faring.
Celia is not there when David arrives, she's with Crane Weymouth, with whom she is having an affair. He also has some World War II souvenirs, including a handgun. David Stirrling returns from a business trip with gifts for his six-year-old daughter Susan, and for his wife, Susan's step-mother, Celia.
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