A Reader’s Field Guide to Identifying
a Classic Hollywood “Mansion Movie”

Putting First Things First
What is a Mansion?

Dictionary Definition: A large, imposing house
Hollywood’s Attributes of “Mansionness”

An edifice with an impressive façade
Usually reflecting a formal period or eclectic architectural style
(Gothic, Tudor, Jacobean, Baroque, Italianate, Georgian, Victorian, etc.)
A place identified by special name or the family’s name
If a country house- a formal entrance gate and long driveway
A distinguished front door- set into an archway or
topped by a classic horizontal cornice or triangular pediment
Single or double doors of wood, with glass and iron trim
Inside a large entry hall and grand staircase
Interior architectural details; arches, columns, pilasters, niches,
paneled walls, marble or parquet floors, ornamental ceilings,
Furnished with antiques, oriental rugs, objets d’art, statuary, pedestals and urns
Portraits and or photographs of ancestors and/or head of the family in residence
A warren of hallways, corridors and passageways
A variety of formal rooms with special purposes:
Drawing Room, Parlor, Library, Conservatory, Billiard Room etc.
A place staffed by live-in, uniformed servants

A film is a “mansion movie”

When its image is shown repeatedly on the screen
When the other characters talk about the mansion as a subject
When the protagonist is an outsider
When the mansion is a journey’s endpoint destination
When most of film action is anchored in its mansion setting

A Focus is on Place

Where the setting is of first importance
It is not merely the setting but entwined into the story
One or more of the characters are attached to the house as insiders
One or more of the characters are drawn into the mansion as part of the plot

Mansion Movie Essentials

  • the mansion itself is a character in the story, often having as a staring role
  • in entering the mansion the outsider crosses a threshold to enter another world
  • the story is told from an outsider’s point of view
  • the outsider is invited inside; he or she enters as a guest, not a trespasser
  • by means of the camera work the movie audience “virtually” enters the mansion and the story in the footsteps of the outsider protagonist
  • the audience, thus, is also invited inside, becoming an unseen guest-participant, a visitor as opposed to a voyeur
  • the audience identifies with the outsider, but later comes more fully understand the family inside, especially an unloved or otherwise alienated family member

Typical Mansion Movie Plots

  • an event or crisis impacts the everyday life of one or more of the characters
  • the outsider’s brief physical journey from some point outside to the mansion
  • the outsider’s emotional and transformational journey once inside the mansion
  • a cross-class encounter or relationship between people of unequal status
  • unrequited love- either familial or romantic
  • the encounter offers the outsider a second chance, a life changing opportunity
  • the climax involves a revelation of a family secret or moment of truth
  • one or more characters undergo a belated coming-of-age transformation
  • final resolution involves departing the mansion, its destruction or decay

Repeated Mansion Movie Scenes

  • car or carriage rides: arrivals, departures and mini-trips in between
  • exterior “Wow” long shot of mansion filling screen
  • outsider’s arrival at the mansion
  • servant or servants at the door
  • interior “Wow” long shot of mansion’s interior as first seen upon entrance
  • outsider and audience taken upstairs to family’s private quarters soon after arrival
  • mini-tour of various rooms inside the mansion
  • staircase scenes: ascending, descending, standing on landings
  • formal dining room, gathering for drinks or intimate hospitality scene
  • grand ball, wedding, or other celebration scene

Archetype Characters

  • outsiders presented as ordinary working class or middle class individuals
  • family insiders initially presented as stereotypes: dominating, distant patriarchs; ditzy, ineffectual mothers; spoiled snobby daughters; indolent, inebriated sons.
  • servant insiders, when not merely props, are generally sympathetic and kindly, but may act officious and superior to visiting outsiders. In mystery of suspense films one of the servants may be malicious or evil
  • insiders become more three-dimensional and likable personalities by end of film

Proverbial and Cautionary Themes

  • Longing for Home, Coming Home, Leaving Home
  • Home Sweet Home (be it ever so humble) in contrast to fantasy mansion home
  • Belonging versus Independence
  • Unrequited love- familial or romantic
  • The American Dream: Upward and Downward Mobility
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: All That Glitters Is Not Gold
  • The Grass Looks Greener
  • Bird in a Gilded Cage: Money Does Not Buy Happiness
  • The Rich Are Different Than You and Me (or Are They?)

Filmic Conventions and Techniques

  • voice-over narration to express inner thoughts and feelings of a main character
  • use of signage, prologues and flashbacks to give the back story of the unfolding plot
  • use of a forward moving camera/tracking shots to move audience into the story
  • elaborate and authentically detailed purpose-built studio sets to emulate elegant mansion interior spaces
  • providing additional interior architectural details such as ceilings or extensive landscape backgrounds by means of process shots combining moving shots of the the actors in the foreground superimposed on matte paintings of grand interiors or filmed exterior location shots
  • use of subjective camera shots making audience see what the characters see
  • mansion rooms shot from different angles to give audience sense of being inside a three-dimensional space as opposed to viewing action played out on a discreet stage
  • deep focus shots giving sharp image to characters in foreground as well as showing the opulent mansion space in background and furnishings and objects in the middle
  • use of large scale of setting contrasted with small human proportions to give sense of impact of space overwhelming the outsider
  • use of contrast rooms, spaces, or alternative settings to emphasize societal rigidity and formality versus more welcoming and comfortable ordinary environments
  • shot reverse shot technique in dining scenes at table level making audience feel it seated among the protagonists rather than viewing them at a distance

Understanding Mansion Movies

There are two co-existing levels of reading and understanding mansion movies: (1) the patent or obvious level – the narrative of the specific story being shown on the screen and (2) the latent, underlying level – audience’s engagement in experiencing common challenges and loses of the human condition

The first is the outsider protagonist’s experience of the mansion as a journey to a foreign place that although enticing is discovered to be so fraught with I its own special problems and challenges that make the outsider want to escape its perils and perversities and return to the ordinary outside world.

Concurrent with this is the is the audience’s sense of relief in leaving the rarified world of wealth when the film ends, no longer envying luxuries of the Rich. This view is epitomized by the old song refrain “Between pleasures and palaces, be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.”

The other level is that the mansion movie is a modern day cultural version of myths, fairy tales, and fables that present every day human problems and issues in a magical or adventurous environment. Instead of using stark or harsh realism to express universal everyday problems and inter- relationships, these are presented and played out by glamorous heros and heroines against a fantastical opulent background. Perhaps we would subconsciously prefer to identify with family or marital issues of the rich and famous than the realistic difficulties of being down and out. This may be part of our culture’s obsession with celebrities and their problems. There may be a sense of catharsis in watching and responding to the emotional drama on the screen that lets you feel their pain and makes you feel you are not alone and relieved that even rich people struggle and suffer similar with issues.

I want to incorporate the following but not clear how or where to put it:

(Vel note: my childhood friend who remembers the mansion not me)

Brideshead Revisited: a house etched in memory