by Hal Erickson
synopsis
The legend of Bluebeard's last wife formed the basis of this Edison fantasy film. Disobeying her husband's wishes, Bluebeard's missus takes a peek into her husband's "secret room." There she finds the dismembered heads of Bluebeard's previous spouses, a gory spectacle that leaves her quite dizzy. Confronting her husband, the poor heroine is herself sentenced to the same bloody fate as her predecessors. Fortunately, the girl's two burly brothers show up just in time to rescue her and give Bluebeard a sound thrashing. According to a reviewer for the trade magazine Variety, this final scene was the highlight of the picture, suggesting that the severed-heads sequence was somewhat lacking dramatically.
