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6.8/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.8/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. A House Divided remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
You should definitely watch this if you like movies where people are miserable and it never stops raining. If you want a happy ending or something light, you should probably stay far away from this one.
It’s a movie for people who like watching families fall apart in real time. It’s definitely not for anyone who hates old, scratchy audio or actors who yell their lines.
I watched this on a Tuesday night when it was actually raining outside, which felt like 4D cinema. A House Divided is from 1931, so it’s got that early sound movie clunkiness, but man, it’s heavy.
Walter Huston plays Seth, the dad, and he is basically a human hurricane. He’s a fisherman who lost his wife and decides he needs a new one just to keep the house clean.
He sends away for a girl, Ruth, played by Helen Chandler. She shows up thinking she’s marrying the son, Matt, but Seth has other plans.
The whole thing is just... uncomfortable. There is this one scene where Seth is eating dinner and the sound of his chewing is so loud it makes you want to crawl out of your skin.
He’s a big, hulking guy and the way he dominates the tiny rooms in that house is scary. It’s way more intense than some of the stuff you see in Alias Jimmy Valentine.
The son, Matt, is played by Douglass Montgomery. He spends most of the movie looking like he’s about to burst into tears or faint.
He’s a bit of a wet blanket, honestly. You want him to stand up to his dad sooner, but he just kind of mopes around the docks.
I think the most impressive thing is how wet everything looks. Usually, in these old movies, the rain looks like white lines drawn on the film, but here you can feel the dampness in the walls.
The house they live in is tiny and cluttered. It feels like a trap for everyone inside.
There is a lot of silence that isn't the "meaningful" kind. It’s the kind of silence where you can hear the actors breathing and you know someone is about to get hit.
Seth eventually gets injured and ends up in a wheelchair. You’d think that would make him less scary, but it actually makes him worse.
He just sits there in the middle of the room, watching Ruth and Matt with these mean, suspicious eyes. It reminded me of the tension in The Smiling Madame Beudet, but with more shouting.
I noticed that the movie doesn't really care about the fishing village stuff after the first ten minutes. It just wants to get back inside that house where everyone is angry.
It’s much darker than something like Oh What a Knight. There is no comedy here, just pure dread.
The ending is very physical. There is a lot of wrestling and falling down stairs.
I felt a bit exhausted when it was over, even though it’s barely 70 minutes long. It’s a short movie but it feels like a long day of hard labor.
One thing that bothered me was how fast the son falls in love. He sees her for five minutes and suddenly he's ready to die for her.
But I guess in 1931, things moved faster? Or maybe they were just bored in that village.
The dialogue is pretty simple, which I liked. No one is giving big speeches about the "human condition" or whatever.
They are just yelling about who is going to cook dinner or who is looking at who. It’s raw and messy.
Some of the acting from the extras is kind of bad, though. There’s a scene in a shop where a woman is just staring at the camera like she’s never seen one before.
But Walter Huston carries the whole thing on his back. He’s so good at being a jerk that you almost respect it.
Anyway, if you want to see a movie that feels like a punch in the gut from a hundred years ago, this is the one. 🌧️
It’s not perfect, and the sound is a bit fuzzy, but it’s real. It doesn't try to be pretty.
Just make sure you have a towel nearby because you'll feel soaked by the time the credits roll.
IMDb —
1913
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