"Secret passages" in houses in old films

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Baba Oh Really, Aug 14, 2011.

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  1. Baba Oh Really

    Baba Oh Really Certified "Forum Favorite" Thread Starter

    Location:
    mid west, USA
    You know.. I just love watching a creepy black and white flick from the 1940's where a bookcase can be pushed and give way to a "secret" room, where a "hidden switch" can be pushed, and a secret panel opens up in the wall, revealing a "secret hallway", etc..

    What's the deal with this? Was it common for houses in the 1940's to actually have "secret passages" like this? WHY do so many of these old films have these creepy "secret passages"? I love it! I would love to live in a house that had such things - I wonder if they exist??
     
  2. JerolW

    JerolW Senior Member

    Put the candle back.

    jerol
     
  3. soundboy

    soundboy Senior Member

  4. pig whisperer

    pig whisperer CD Member

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    :D
     
  5. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I think it was a cool visual plot device that kept the audience watching.

    To the Batcave!

    [​IMG]
     
  6. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Having toured one of the Biltmores, yes, there are secret passages in large, older homes. In order for the servants to not be underfoot or mingling with the rich and their guests, they had separate, parallel pathways throughout the house which did not use the main hall or stairways.

    Google "H.H. Holmes," a Chicago man who had a large home built specifically for horrific purposes, later known as the "murder Castle," with airtight rooms that could be filled with gas, steel-lined airshafts that deposited bodies several floors below to dissection rooms, etc.
     
  7. kevintomb

    kevintomb Forum Resident

  8. JAuz

    JAuz Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Interesting question. Also, do homes actually have Panic Rooms, as in the movie of the same name?

    A visit to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose is a must!
     
  9. It was relatively common in the 19th Century for houses to be built that way. Housing did not really have standardized designs back then and many of the larger homes were designed to the exact specifications of the rich.
     
  10. applebonkerz

    applebonkerz Senior Member

    I've always loved the thought of secret passages and rooms too (and wanted them in my house.) Unfortunately my house does not have any.

    Maybe it was fueled by Batman when I was a kid.
     
  11. Karnak

    Karnak "81, 82, 83, 84..."

    "I picked up a book, and threw it at the bookcase, and Whoosh!"
     
  12. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    That's a nice hobby. Didn't I see Boris Karloff have a place like this (a dozen times)? Check out The Man They Could Not Hang, The Black Cat, and a whole bunch of those Universal "Inner Sanctum" mysteries. Those were great.

    BTW, that H.H. Holmes was a fun guy. Check out the Wikipedia link. If there isn't a potential film that could be made out of his life, I don't know what is.
     
  13. Pibroch

    Pibroch Active Member

    Location:
    Dayton, OH
    Fixed.
     
  14. blind_melon1

    blind_melon1 An erotic adventurer of the most deranged kind....

    Location:
    Australia
    It was fueled by Secret Seven and Famous Five books for me! :D
     
  15. Captain Groovy

    Captain Groovy Senior Member

    Location:
    Freedonia, USA
    There's a good doc on H. H. streaming on Netflix. He's been ripe for a making of a film for ages. Have often tried to bring that up in mixed industry company, but always amazed hardly anyone's heard of him.

    Same thing with J. Edgar - but at least people had heard of him.

    Now I think Leonardo DiCaprio is tackling both.

    Really hard to make a film on a serial killer because the main character is so damn unsympathetic.

    Is the H. H. Holmes "hotel" still up? I can't remember if it's been torn down or not, but that would be an interesting place to visit. For others, not me. Knowing is enough.

    Jeff
     
  16. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    The Holmes 'Hotel' burned down.
     
  17. preferred user

    preferred user Member

    Location:
    no. calif.
    I wanted a bat cave or a super fortress remember the revolving wall in The last Crusade.
     
  18. stumpy

    stumpy Forum Resident

    Location:
    South of Nashville
    Definitely more popular when homes were "castles".
     
  19. Captain Groovy

    Captain Groovy Senior Member

    Location:
    Freedonia, USA
    Cool. What are some examples?

    Jeff
     
  20. quadjoe

    quadjoe Senior Member

    Years ago, my parents lived in Long Island in the little town of New Suffolk. There was an old mansion that the locals called the Lowe Mansion, and it was reportedly built in 1865. The house had been abandoned for several years, and one afternoon, my stepbrother and I decided to explore the old place as the gate was open. There were a lot of secret passages inside, most of which connected the kitchen to the various rooms. It was obvious that they were there so that the servants could go unnoticed from room to room. The entrances into the various rooms from the serving passages were "hidden" in that they were made to blend into the paneling on the walls. There was a lot of exquisite woodwork in that old place. It was torn down the following year (1974?), and I don't know if any of that beautiful old wood was salvaged.
     
  21. blind_melon1

    blind_melon1 An erotic adventurer of the most deranged kind....

    Location:
    Australia
    That's the kind of stuff I dreamed about as a kid! Hell, I'd still love to explore a place like that now!
     
  22. stumpy

    stumpy Forum Resident

    Location:
    South of Nashville
    Europe. :) (I was originally half-joking. This one all the way.)
     
  23. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I seem to recall that Phil Spector had a bunch of secret doors and rooms installed in his Alhambra house on Grandview Drive (where the 2003 murder took place).

    The Magic Castle in Hollywood on Franklin has a few secret passages, but (generally) only club members know where they are.
     
  24. AdamK

    AdamK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Knoxville, TN
  25. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    My grandparents house had a secret passage that led from the top of the stairs to a back bedroom.
    It was cool to use when I was a kid.
    Even showed it to my wife when we are dating.
    Think I've got a photo of her in the doorway.
    Gotta find it someday.

    Darryl
     
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