Rent The Uninvited (1944)

A Ghost of a Chance - The Uninvited review by CH

It is 1937, and while strolling along the cliffs of the English coast brother and sister Ray Milland (he a composer) Ruth Hussey become enchanted by a large empty house into which their dog has chased a squirrel.

From such a small event (momentous if you are the squirrel) springs a tale which transcends time and space as a ghost brings tidings from two decades earlier.

All of which is a far cry from Milland's bravura spirit when first moving in. He thinks twice about sliding down the curving banister - “I don't want to damage the landing gear.” A new phrase on me. And, indeed, the film suggests a Lesbian relationship between a teacher and the dead woman whose portrait hangs on her wall.

When reviewing the film on its 1944 release, James Agee said that it transformed a mediocre story (the screenplay from an obscure novel was co-written by Dodie Smith, whose way with dogs is of course well known). “Ot seems to me harder to get a fright than a laugh, and I experienced thirty-five first-class jolts, not to mention a well-calculated texture of minor frissons.”

That electrical rate might not be as high eighty years on but – more mystery than Gothic – it has an atmosphere of civilised malevolence, not least the performances by Donald Crisp who forbids his grand-daughter Stella (the tragic Gail Russell) to visit the house, and Cornelis Otis Skinner as that teacher, her facial movements a masterclass in seething contempt.

And if this were not enough, there is Victor Young's theme music for the grand-daughter, which, a few years later, would have Ned Washington's words added to create “Stella by Starlight” - and, simultaneously, staying with the music alone for numerous versions by such jazz artists as Charlie Parker and Miles Davis.

Haunting - The Uninvited review by sb

FILM & REVIEW Very effective haunted house movie has Rick (Milland) and his sister Pamela (Hussey) buying up an old remote house in Cornwall. They arrive to make an offer to Commander Beech (Crisp) but are at first put off by his grandaughter Stella (Russell) who used to live there but whose time ended in tragic circumstances. They agree to buy the house and move in while Stella is forbidden from going there by her grandfather. It’s not long before ghostly weeping in the night begins with rooms becoming ice cold and it all seems to be connected to Stella’s past. This forces Beech to re-engage her Mothers nurse ( a very creepy Skinner) and slowly the truth of what happened one fateful night 17 years ago emerges. Hitchcock was approached to direct but couldn’t make it but Allen does a fine job as the replacement. The interiors are superbly shot by Charles Lang and both leads are very good (although Milland does overdo the jocular bits at times). It’s Russell who steals the film as the vulnerable Stella - it’s was her first film and was very nervous so she started drinking to compensate - an affliction that would haunt the rest of her short tragic life. It’s a real gem of the cycle of films from the period. - 4/5