• Wide Release
• Director: Delmer Daves
• Written by: Delmer Daves, Albert Maltz, George Agnew Chamberlain (novel)
• Running Time: 100 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: G - General Audiences
• Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Lon McCallister, Judith Anderson, Rory Calhoun, Allene Roberts, Julie London, Ona Munson, Harry Shannon, Arthur Space, Pat Flaherty, Walter Sande

Below is a full length review of Delmer Daves' "The Red House" aka "No Trespassing" released theatrically by United Artists.

It’s red and it’s located deep in the woods – that’s pretty much all we know about the house of the film’s title. Oh yeah, and Edward G. Robinson doesn’t want anyone going there and has taken to hiring a high school drop-out to guard it. “The Red House” is one of those rarities that comes along and surprises you with its pastoral effectiveness. It’s got all the right elements; mood, atmosphere, dodgy characters, and lots of moments to keep the tension growing, contrasted against what appears on the surface to be a rather austere country-living canvas. A solitary strand of a story constitutes the entire make-up of “The Red House” with every action revolving around that strand. Some will suggest that it takes far too long to arrive at it’s chilling conclusion, however, to others the build up is what makes the whole thing rather fun.

Allene Roberts plays Meg Morgan, the cushy, dough-eyed teenage niece of handicapped Wisconsin farmer Pete Morgan (Edward G. Robinson) and Pete’s devoted live-in maid/sister Ellen (Judith Anderson). At Meg’s behest, and because Pete’s having problems with keeping up the farm chores, he decides to hire some help, namely Nath Storm (Lon McAllister), who looks like your typical all-American, rosy cheeked 50's era teenager until he barters with Robinson for some more cash. Nath’s insolence will work its way into the story in a much bigger way, later, however, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. Let me digress a bit. See, Meg’s a bit sweet on young Nath and even though he’s dating Tibby Renton (Julie London), a student with devious eyes and an attitude to match, she believes that by having Nath help around the farm, he’ll likely fall for her at some point. Forget the fact that Meg has the personality of a dead fish.

An uncomfortable dinner table discussion leaves Nath feeling an overwhelming desire to leave, however, it’s late into the evening and judging from the strong winds blowing through the forest, a storm is brewing just over the horizon. Nath decides to take a short-cut home, a path that’ll lead him through the woods. Pete is opposed to it, suggesting that he go around because the chances that he will get lost are just too great. Neither wants to give an inch and Nath’s persistence forces Pete to become nearly hysterical -- a first hint that maybe things aren’t so serene at the old Morgan farm. As Robinson’s filled-in cheeks contort his face into a freaky mask, he goes on a manic tirade about the woods being haunted, about a strange Red House and about being unable to “run from a scream.” As the wind rips through the trees, and Miklos Rozsa’s score punishes the audio, a chilled Nath charges into the darkness of the woods and into the unknown. Soon, Pete’s premonitions of the menace awaiting Nath start to come true, as every brush covered path leads to a dead-end, and screams of agony appear to arise from the forest itself. Terrified, Nath rushes back, veering headlong into the Morgan barn. The struggle of wills between Nath and Pete is best evidenced in Nath’s decision to sleep in the barn rather than offer his adversary the courtesy of knowing that he was right.

As day breaks, Nath is determined to find out what really happened the night before, sensing that Pete’s warnings of ghosts and a cursed forest were simply his way of keeping him away from something out there in the woods, maybe that Red House he spoke of. Nath senses that Pete is hiding something out there in that remote place, and he’s resolved to finding out what it is. He rounds up a modest search party, made up of a reluctant Tibby and Meg, who disregards her uncle's orders for her not to go into the woods, and they head out looking the strange old haunt. With the introduction of Rory Calhoun's character, Teller, a highschool drop-out hired by Pete to guard the crimson colored shack, we discover just how serious Pete is about intruders. As Nath and Meg get closer to the location of the house, Teller, at Pete’s encouragement, ups the anty by utilizing a rifle. This leads to all sorts of problems, and works as a tipping point to the film's macabre climax.

Curiously, the Red House seems symbolic of something; a secret and, indeed, without giving away the ending, I’ll only say that Pete isn’t as syrupy as first thought. In fact, he is a man with a dark past and an even darker secret – and like that old place out there in the woods, he’s kept it hidden and remote.

Fifty-three films into his career and Edward G. Robinson was still coming into his own as an actor. It was a real treat watching him here, even though the role called for all sorts of motivational shifts as his character seemed to be straddling the line between paranoid schizophrenic and loving patriarch. His scenes with Lon take on a sort of 'one up' quality, while scenes with Judith and Allene are much different in tone. Early on they are nurturing, but as the film unfolds and various exterior elements are entered into the fray, Robinson becomes surly and menacing towards them, a glimpse of the person he was. Another thing prevelant throughout is Robinson's rather unhealthy relationship with his neice, something clearly fed upon by his repressed sexuality. Such themes were rarely explored in film back in 1947, and even here it's pretty vague, but it is there. 

Proving again that the worst charascters sometimes make the most interesting ones, Julie London, as the calculating Tibby, and Rory Calhoun, as the thug-like Teller, steal every scene they are in even if the script isn't up to their talent. A sequence whre Teller entrusts stranger Tibby with $750 dollars and orders her to get him a bond is almost laughable. However, a scene near the end of the film, when one of Teller's errant bullets manages to hit Ellen, his character seems to show genuine remorse. "I'm sorry, Ellen," he says with honest sincerity. The least inspiring performance has to go to Allene Roberts who approaches her role like she's going to see a dentist. Long takes featuring her staring off into nothing as if in a trance, do little to inspire, and her personality has the same quality, attractive but very little to hang your coat on.

Last but not least, Miklos Rozsa's full orhestral score helps ratchet up the tension to new levels, as encompassed in the early scene where Nath challenges Pete and rushes into the forest. His music gives this psychological thriller a definite shot in the arm.

In 'A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese through American Movies', Scorsese lovingly referred this film, which goes to show just what a classic it has become. Check it out.