Dragonwyck (1946)

Starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Vincent Price, Glenn Langan, Anne Revere
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A farmer's daughter in 1800s Connecticut is invited by her wealthy cousin to live at his ancestral estate and take care of his daughter, but after falling for him, she learns the wicked truth about him. 

Based on a novel by Anya Seton, Mankiewicz and 20th Century Fox turn the property into an impressive film drama, led by ravishing actress Tierney and excellent cinematography by Arthur Miller, and a fine supporting cast, with Huston and Langan definite standouts.  However, the film's chief showcase is Price, portraying a dual nature with genteel manners and dialogue, as well as selfish and cruel caddish behavior, which my friend Troy Howarth points out mirrored his later horror roles for American International Pictures.  There's even a bit of a foreshadowing towards those roles in a brief supernatural subplot in the film.  The clash between Price's character Nicholas Van Ryn, a Dutch patroon lording over farmers in early New York, and his settlers, as well as the cruelty shown by Van Ryn to his wife who copes by devouring sweets, and his daughter, who hardly knows her father, give us all the evidence that Van Ryn is not to be trusted, and it's a little surprising that Tierney's Miranda never catches on despite plenty of warnings.  Nevertheless Tierney is convincing as an innocent too captivated by her new lifestyle to notice.  Other elements worthy of notice are a featured role for the famed Jessica Tandy as a handicapped and outspoken personal maid for Miranda who draws Van Ryn's ire, and the disappearance of a couple of characters without explanation in Mankiewicz's screenplay.  Still, this is a fine production and a clear stepping stone in Price's career towards his later successes.