Despite the title the film Dragonwyck is not a fantasy but rather a period drama set in the area around New York and Connecticut during the years of 1844 to 1846.

Gene Tierney plays Miranda Wells a devout Connecticut farmgirl who is asked by distant cousin Nicholas Van Ryn, (Vincent Price) to come live with he and his wife for a while as a companion to

their eight-year-old daughter. Miranda convinces her religiously strict father to consent, and she leaves the family farm with dreams of see a larger and more exciting world.

Nicholas is estranged from his wife and daughter and rules over his vast estate, Dragonwyck, as a patroon, a Dutch title nearly invalidated by the Revolutionary War and Independence, but Nicholas retains ownership of the land and extracts rents from the farmers living there.

Miranda also meets the handsome young Doctor for the farming community Jeff Turner who is also involved in the Anti-Rent movement seeking to abolish the last vestiges of patroon system. Torn between these two men and their opposing political views Miranda is mired in ancient superstitious familial curses, the growing threat of political violence, and possible murder.

Dragonwyck is an enjoyable melodrama and few actors performed haughty patrician as well as Vincent Price. Though popularly known for his work in the horror genre Price’s gifts as a thespian granted him great range with his stature and demeanor perfectly suited for the doomed nobles.

While not the best example of his work, Dragonwyck is thoroughly serviceable for anyone wanting to experience Price beyond ghosts, ghouls, and ghastly revenge.