crawford play a woman who slowly begin to go mad when van heflin break up with her . she marry rich raymond massey to punish him only to find massey daughter ( geraldine brook ) fall for heflin . and push joan to the brink . exceptional movie . one of joan best . this be one of the few hollywood film of the 1940s to treat mental illness ( somewhat ) seriously . the director use sound effect and music and weird camera effect when crawford grip on reality start to loosen . but she slip in and out of madness so quickly that she ( and the audience ) never know what real or not . crawford be just superb one of her best performance . brook be just great in her film debut . heflin though and i never like . he unattractive and generally cruel i wonder what crawford see in him . and massey be stone face through the proceeding . still and well worth catch . love that lake house . the tv print of this be in pretty poor condition . this film need serious restoration .