The Uninvited (1944)

One of my all time favorites.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

An atmospheric haunted-house yarn nestled on the coast of Cornwall, Broadway workman Lewis Allen's directorial feature debut THE UNINVITED is not a spine-tingling scare-fest one might expect it to be, but a decorous melodrama seeking out the truth about a past tragedy tinged with a tint of Gothic spookiness owing to Charles Lang's stupendous Oscar-worthy camera work through minimal torchlight and candlelight in the mansion where the London siblings Rick (Milland) and Pamela (Hussey) Fitzgerald dwell. The mansion is called Windward House, which the siblings buy from Commander Beech (a lumpen Crisp) for a knockdown price. The Commander is very cagey about the history of the house and whose only intention is to get the pecuniary profit to secure the future for his 20-year-old granddaughter Stella Meredith (Russell), he brazenly makes it clear that they don't want anything to do with the Fitzgeralds after the deal is cut and dried, intriguing, isn't it? It is not every day someone is offering to buy a jinxed house. But an impressionable and spontaneous Stella takes a liking for the debonair but expansive Rick, confides in him that she feels a strong yet strange connection toward the house where she has been forbidden to set her foot since she was three, when her mother fell to her death from the escarpment in front. So, apparently it is the apparition of Mary, Stella's mother who torments the new residents with the nightly wailing, chilling draft and pungent scent of mimosa (a clever olfactory indicator as we have to take the characters at their word), but the plot thickens when more details are disclosed: Stella's father had a gypsy mistress Carmel, and the rumor says that it is her who murdered Stella's mother then died of illness afterward. At this step, the ghosts become plural, the rub is whether it is Mary's benevolent calling or Carmel's malignant hex that draws Stella back to the place? Or, as we are all fully aware, there would be a final reveal to overturn all the previous presumptions, after the fuss of a seance and the intervention of a formal nurse, Mary's best friend Miss Holloway (Skinner), there is something fishy about Stella's real identity. Not quite often a pair of siblings is put in the center of a household, Milland and Hussey make do with their rivalry-free interaction and instill a patina of sangfroid which doesn't seem to be congruent with the mystical happenings, and willfully gives the movie a jocund vibe, if they are not spooked, how can we, armchair rubberneckers, be startled through vicariousness? Forever remembered by Victor Young's theme strain STELLA BY STARLIGHT, a fresh-faced Gail Russell is pleasant to behold, but couldn't be bothered to register a convincing reaction after receiving the bolt from the blue, which mars this otherwise fairly sustained suspense (along with Rick's half- hearted final smack-down with Mary's misty specter). In fact, the best part comes from a scrumptiously scenery-chewing Cornelia Otis Skinner, flagrantly furnishes the story with the requisite venom which one cannot get enough in the genre of uncanny mysteries, which, if really is your cuppa, bearing in mind that Jack Clayton's THE INNOCENTS (1961) is a far superior achievement to be amazed, transfixed and awe-struck.

Pure Gold I live for these classic Hollywood days I'm so glad they have not been lost to my generation This is without question one of the greatest Movies ever Of course you are always going to encounter people on here That to be honest hate on everything To describe this movie a womens film is about the dumbest thing I've heard Give yourself an upper cut moron The movie is well made has amazing acting and can not be faultedAs for the movie a composer and his sister buy a house Which truly should be out of their price range Thinking they have got their dream house they soon learn their new house is anything But a dream and In fact may just be their worst nightmare You must watch this

Considered the First Real Haunted House Movie, that isn't Played for Laughs. Horror Film Historians can Trace the Lineage Back to this Well Received and Popular Ghost Story and Sight this as the Archetype, complete with Flickering Candles, Swirling Etherical Entities, and Ouija Board Encounters.The Atmospheric Lensing of Charles Lang was Nominated for an Oscar. Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, and Gail Russell Headline, but are Supported with a Great Cast of Character Actors that Bring to Life some Creepy and Eccentric Odd-Balls.Donald Crisp as "Grandfather", Cornelia Otis Skinner as a "Spiritualist" and Off-Her-Rocker New Age Type (that most read Lesbian), and Charles Napier as a "Country Doctor" who lends an Atypical 'Open Mind" to the Paranormal.It is also Against Type for Hollywood to give Credence to the Intervention of the After-Life that isn't Completely Judaeo-Christian Dogma. With all of that, it is a Film of Importance.The Story is Intellectually Complicated and one Needs to Pay Attention to get all of the Ramifications of the Plot and for a Clear Understanding of the Third Act.The Movie does have its Detractors that say it is too Comedic and Aloof at times, and Fails to Scare. But these, mostly Modern Oriented Folks, are in the Minority. It Holds Up quite well and has its Share of Spooky Scenes. The Dark Frame is Consistently Foreboding and Gail Russell's "Far Away Eyes" are something to Behold.

Sign me up for anything Ray Milland did. I enjoy his execution of every role I've seen him in. For my money, thew's not a lot separating him from some of the leading actors of his generation.The Uninvited is a first-rate production. As my review title suggests, it's stylish without being pretentious. The characters are credible and engaging. It has a Gothic feel due to the large, often dark house which ironically is set on a seaside cliff in the most beautiful setting. Elements of noir interject themselves as we try to unravel the mystery. One significant and one lesser romance find themselves budding juxtapose to the haunting, eerie mystery. In fact, much of the movie is a study in these contracts of darkness and light, of love and tragedy, and I found these contrasts compelling.This is somewhat of a prototype of the leading films of this era, films like Rebecca and other Hitchockian efforts that comprise a golden age of Hollywood. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it will be a film I will watch again.About my reviews: I do not offer a synopsis of the film -- you can get that anywhere and that does not constitute a meaningful review -- but rather my thoughts and feelings on the film that hopefully will be informative to you in deciding whether to invest 90-180 minutes of your life on it.My scale: 1-5 decreasing degrees of "terrible", with 5 being "mediocre" 6- OK. Generally held my interest OR had reasonable cast and/or cinematography, might watch it again 7 - Good. My default rating for a movie I liked enough to watch again, but didn't rise to the upper echelons 8- Very Good. Would watch again and recommend to others 9- Outstanding. Would watch over and over; top 10% of my ratings 10 - A Classic. (Less than 2% receive this rating)