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Dragonwyck

Dragonwyck

Drama · Romance · Thriller · 1946

A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.

Movie details

Dragonwyck

“Secret thoughts... That led to secret love... That led to rapture and terror!”

1946 Drama · Romance · Thriller 1h 43m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Dragonwyck?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Wuthering Heights

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Written by

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Gene Tierney

Gene Tierney

Miranda Wells

Walter Huston

Walter Huston

Ephraim Wells

Vincent Price

Vincent Price

Nicholas Van Ryn

Glenn Langan

Glenn Langan

Dr. Jeff Turner

Anne Revere

Anne Revere

Abigail Wells

Spring Byington

Spring Byington

Magda

Connie Marshall

Connie Marshall

Katrine Van Ryn

Court is in session

Put Dragonwyck on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.