The Uninvited (1944 film)
Encyclopedia
The Uninvited is a 1944 American
supernatural
mystery
/romance film directed by Lewis Allen
. It is based on the Dorothy Macardle
novel Uneasy Freehold.
Charles Lang
was nominated for a 1945 Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography
.
) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey
) fall in love with Windward House, an abandoned seaside house, during a holiday on England's rocky coast. They purchase it for an unusually low price from Commander Beech (Donald Crisp
).
Rick and Pamela meet Beech’s 20-year-old granddaughter, Stella Meredith (Gail Russell
), who lives with her grandfather in the nearby town of Biddlecombe. Stella is deeply upset by the sale because of her attachment to the house, despite it being where her mother died. The commander has forbidden Stella to enter the house. However, she gains access to Windward House through Rick, who has become infatuated with her.
The Fitzgeralds' initial enchantment with the house diminishes when they unlock an artist's studio where they feel an inexplicable chill. Then, just before dawn, Rick hears the eerie sobs of an unseen woman, a phenomenon that Pamela investigated whilst awaiting her brother's return with their Irish housekeeper, Lizzie Flynn (Barbara Everest
). The superstitious Lizzie notices a peculiar draft on the stairs. Rick and Pamela must face the obvious: Windward House is haunted
.
When Stella comes to Windward for dinner, she senses a spirit. Rather than fearing it, she associates the calming presence with her mother. Also, the strong scent of mimosa
is that of her mother's favorite perfume. Suddenly she dashes out towards the very cliff from which her mother Mary fell to her death seventeen years earlier. Rick catches her just before she reaches the edge. Stella professes to have no recollection of the near-fatal incident.
The Fitzgeralds and the town physician, Dr. Scott (Alan Napier
), investigate. They learn that Stella's father, a painter, had had an affair with his model, a Spanish gypsy named Carmel. Stella's mother, Mary Meredith, from all accounts a beautiful and virtuous woman, found out and took Carmel to Paris, leaving her there. Subsequently Carmel returned to England, stole the infant Stella from Windward, and, during a confrontation, flung Mary Meredith off the cliff to her death. Shortly afterward, Carmel became ill and died.
Rick tries to dissuade Stella from her dangerous attraction to Windward by staging a séance
to convey the "message" that her mother wants her to stay away. However, the ghost takes over, communicating that it is guarding Stella. Stella becomes possessed by the spirit and begins muttering in Spanish.
Distressed by Stella's renewed involvement with Windward, Beech sends Stella to a sanitorium run by Miss Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner
), Mary's friend and confidante. The Fitzgeralds visit and question Holloway, unaware that Stella is confined there. Holloway explains that after Mary's death, she took care of Carmel, who had contracted pneumonia
and eventually died of it. Looking through the records of the previous village physician, Dr. Scott discovers that Holloway may have hastened Carmel's death. The doctor is then called away to care for an ailing Beech, who tells him that Stella is at the sanitorium. Rick, Pam, and Scott telephone Miss Holloway to inform her that they are on their way.
Holloway deceives Stella, saying that the Fitzgeralds have invited her to live with them. Stella happily takes the train home. A deranged Holloway tells the would-be rescuers that Stella is on her way to Windward House. There Stella finds only her grandfather in the studio. He begs Stella with his last strength to get out, but she remains at his side. When a ghost manifests, the commander succumbs to a heart attack.
Stella welcomes the ghost, believing it to be her mother, but the apparition frightens her, and she flees towards the cliff. Rick and Dr. Scott get there just in time to pull Stella from the crumbling cliff to safety. Back inside, the group is drawn again to the physician's journal, which the friendly spirit has turned to a certain page. They discover that Carmel gave birth to a child (apparently in Paris, where Stella herself was born). The truth becomes clear: Carmel is Stella's mother. Stella's realization of her true parentage frees Carmel's spirit to leave Windward.
Something evil, though, has remained. After sending everyone away, Rick confronts the spirit of Mary Meredith, telling her that they are no longer afraid of her and that she has no power over them anymore. Defeated, Mary's spirit departs.
with Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Betty Field
. It was also presented on the November 18, 1949 broadcast of Screen Director's Playhouse
with Ray Milland, Alma Laughton and Mary Shipp.
placed The Uninvited on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
mystery
Mystery film
Mystery film is a sub-genre of the more general category of crime film and at times the thriller genre. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of a crime by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.The...
/romance film directed by Lewis Allen
Lewis Allen (director)
Lewis Allen was an English film and television director. Allen worked mainly in the United States, directing 18 feature films between 1944 and 1959...
. It is based on the Dorothy Macardle
Dorothy Macardle
Dorothy Macardle was an Irish author and historian. Her book, The Irish Republic, is one of the more frequently cited narrative accounts of the Irish War of Independence and its aftermath...
novel Uneasy Freehold.
Charles Lang
Charles Lang
Charles Bryant Lang, Jr., A.S.C. was an American cinematographer.Early in his career he worked with the Akeley camera, a gyroscope-mounted "pancake" camera designed by Carl Akeley for outdoor action shots...
was nominated for a 1945 Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
.
Plot
In 1937, London music critic and composer Roderick "Rick" Fitzgerald (Ray MillandRay Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.-Early life:...
) fall in love with Windward House, an abandoned seaside house, during a holiday on England's rocky coast. They purchase it for an unusually low price from Commander Beech (Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...
).
Rick and Pamela meet Beech’s 20-year-old granddaughter, Stella Meredith (Gail Russell
Gail Russell
Gail Russell was an American film and television actress.-Career:She was born Elizabeth L. Russell to George and Gladys Russell in Chicago, Illinois, and then moved to the Los Angeles, California, area when she was a teenager. Russell's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of...
), who lives with her grandfather in the nearby town of Biddlecombe. Stella is deeply upset by the sale because of her attachment to the house, despite it being where her mother died. The commander has forbidden Stella to enter the house. However, she gains access to Windward House through Rick, who has become infatuated with her.
The Fitzgeralds' initial enchantment with the house diminishes when they unlock an artist's studio where they feel an inexplicable chill. Then, just before dawn, Rick hears the eerie sobs of an unseen woman, a phenomenon that Pamela investigated whilst awaiting her brother's return with their Irish housekeeper, Lizzie Flynn (Barbara Everest
Barbara Everest
Barbara Everest was a British film actress. She was born in Southfields, Surrey, and made her screen debut in the 1916 film The Man Without a Soul.-Selected filmography:* A Romance of Old Baghdad...
). The superstitious Lizzie notices a peculiar draft on the stairs. Rick and Pamela must face the obvious: Windward House is haunted
Haunted house
A haunted house is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property...
.
When Stella comes to Windward for dinner, she senses a spirit. Rather than fearing it, she associates the calming presence with her mother. Also, the strong scent of mimosa
Mimosa
Mimosa is a genus of about 400 species of herbs and shrubs, in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family Fabaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek word μιμος , meaning "mimic."...
is that of her mother's favorite perfume. Suddenly she dashes out towards the very cliff from which her mother Mary fell to her death seventeen years earlier. Rick catches her just before she reaches the edge. Stella professes to have no recollection of the near-fatal incident.
The Fitzgeralds and the town physician, Dr. Scott (Alan Napier
Alan Napier
Alan William Napier-Clavering was an English actor, best known for portraying Alfred Pennyworth in the 1960s live-action Batman television series.-Early life and career:...
), investigate. They learn that Stella's father, a painter, had had an affair with his model, a Spanish gypsy named Carmel. Stella's mother, Mary Meredith, from all accounts a beautiful and virtuous woman, found out and took Carmel to Paris, leaving her there. Subsequently Carmel returned to England, stole the infant Stella from Windward, and, during a confrontation, flung Mary Meredith off the cliff to her death. Shortly afterward, Carmel became ill and died.
Rick tries to dissuade Stella from her dangerous attraction to Windward by staging a séance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
to convey the "message" that her mother wants her to stay away. However, the ghost takes over, communicating that it is guarding Stella. Stella becomes possessed by the spirit and begins muttering in Spanish.
Distressed by Stella's renewed involvement with Windward, Beech sends Stella to a sanitorium run by Miss Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner
Cornelia Otis Skinner
Cornelia Otis Skinner was an American author and actress.-Biography:Skinner was the daughter of the actor Otis Skinner and his wife Maud Skinner. After attending the all-girls' Baldwin School and Bryn Mawr College and studying theatre at the Sorbonne in Paris, she began her career on the stage...
), Mary's friend and confidante. The Fitzgeralds visit and question Holloway, unaware that Stella is confined there. Holloway explains that after Mary's death, she took care of Carmel, who had contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and eventually died of it. Looking through the records of the previous village physician, Dr. Scott discovers that Holloway may have hastened Carmel's death. The doctor is then called away to care for an ailing Beech, who tells him that Stella is at the sanitorium. Rick, Pam, and Scott telephone Miss Holloway to inform her that they are on their way.
Holloway deceives Stella, saying that the Fitzgeralds have invited her to live with them. Stella happily takes the train home. A deranged Holloway tells the would-be rescuers that Stella is on her way to Windward House. There Stella finds only her grandfather in the studio. He begs Stella with his last strength to get out, but she remains at his side. When a ghost manifests, the commander succumbs to a heart attack.
Stella welcomes the ghost, believing it to be her mother, but the apparition frightens her, and she flees towards the cliff. Rick and Dr. Scott get there just in time to pull Stella from the crumbling cliff to safety. Back inside, the group is drawn again to the physician's journal, which the friendly spirit has turned to a certain page. They discover that Carmel gave birth to a child (apparently in Paris, where Stella herself was born). The truth becomes clear: Carmel is Stella's mother. Stella's realization of her true parentage frees Carmel's spirit to leave Windward.
Something evil, though, has remained. After sending everyone away, Rick confronts the spirit of Mary Meredith, telling her that they are no longer afraid of her and that she has no power over them anymore. Defeated, Mary's spirit departs.
Cast
- Ray MillandRay MillandRay Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
as Roderick Fitzgerald - Ruth HusseyRuth HusseyRuth Carol Hussey was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.-Early life:...
as Pamela Fitzgerald - Donald CrispDonald CrispDonald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...
as Commander Beech - Cornelia Otis SkinnerCornelia Otis SkinnerCornelia Otis Skinner was an American author and actress.-Biography:Skinner was the daughter of the actor Otis Skinner and his wife Maud Skinner. After attending the all-girls' Baldwin School and Bryn Mawr College and studying theatre at the Sorbonne in Paris, she began her career on the stage...
as Miss Holloway - Dorothy StickneyDorothy StickneyDorothy Stickney was a Broadway actress best known for appearing in the long running Life with Father.Born in Dickinson, North Dakota, Stickney attended the North Western Dramatic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
as Miss Bird - Barbara EverestBarbara EverestBarbara Everest was a British film actress. She was born in Southfields, Surrey, and made her screen debut in the 1916 film The Man Without a Soul.-Selected filmography:* A Romance of Old Baghdad...
as Lizzie Flynn - Alan NapierAlan NapierAlan William Napier-Clavering was an English actor, best known for portraying Alfred Pennyworth in the 1960s live-action Batman television series.-Early life and career:...
as Dr. Scott - Gail RussellGail RussellGail Russell was an American film and television actress.-Career:She was born Elizabeth L. Russell to George and Gladys Russell in Chicago, Illinois, and then moved to the Los Angeles, California, area when she was a teenager. Russell's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of...
as Stella Meredith - Uncredited cast members include Holmes HerbertHolmes HerbertHolmes Herbert was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952.Born as 'Horace Jenner', Holmes Herbert emigrated to the United States in 1912. He was the first son of Ned Herbert , who worked as and actor/comedian in the English Theatre...
, John Kieran, Queenie LeonardQueenie LeonardQueenie Leonard was a British character actress and singer.-Early life and career:She was born as Pearl Walker in London in 1905 and began her career on stage in 1921, and debuted on film in 1931. She had already amassed 20 years of stage and screen experience when, in 1941, she made the first of...
, Moyna MacgillMoyna MacGillMoyna Macgill was an Irish stage and film actress and the mother of actress Angela Lansbury and producers Edgar Lansbury and Bruce Lansbury.-Life and career:...
Adaptations to other media
The Uninvited was dramatized as a radio play on the August 28, 1944, broadcast of the Ford TheatreFord Theatre
Ford Theatre was a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts...
with Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Betty Field
Betty Field
Betty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
. It was also presented on the November 18, 1949 broadcast of Screen Director's Playhouse
Screen Director's Playhouse
Screen Director's Playhouse is a popular radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949...
with Ray Milland, Alma Laughton and Mary Shipp.
Production notes
- The Uninvited was among the very first HollywoodCinema of the United StatesThe cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
feature filmFeature filmIn the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
s to portray a haunting as an authentic supernaturalSupernaturalThe supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
event. Previously, ghosts were often played for comedy (The Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes WestThe Ghost Goes West is a British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film...
, 1936; TopperTopper (film)Topper is a 1937 American comedy film which tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. It was adapted by Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran from the novel by Thorne Smith. The film was directed by Norman Z. McLeod, produced by...
, 1937) or revealed to be practical jokePractical jokeA practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...
s (Blondie Has Servant TroubleBlondie (film)Blondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
, 1940) or subterfuge to obscure an illegal activityCrimeCrime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
(The Cat and the CanaryThe Cat and the Canary (1939 film)The Cat and the Canary starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard is a 1939 comedy horror film remake of the 1927 film The Cat and the Canary, which was based on the 1922 play of the same name by John Willard...
, 1939; Abbott and CostelloAbbott and CostelloWilliam "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
’s Hold That GhostHold That GhostHold That Ghost is a 1941 comedy horror film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and featuring Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers, and Shemp Howard....
, 1941).
- Victor YoungVictor YoungVictor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
’s lush, romantic scoreFilm scoreA film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
produced a popular hit, "Stella by StarlightStella By Starlight"Stella by Starlight" is a jazz standard written by Victor Young and featured in The Uninvited, a 1944 film released by Paramount Pictures. Originally played in the film as an instrumental theme song without lyrics, it was turned over to Ned Washington, who wrote the lyrics for it in 1946...
", based on the film’s main themeTheme musicTheme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
. "Stella by Starlight" has been recorded numerous times as an instrumentalInstrumentalAn instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
by such artists as jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
greats Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Stan GetzStan GetzStanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
and Dexter GordonDexter GordonDexter Gordon was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and an Academy Award-nominated actor . He is regarded as one of the first and most important musicians to adapt the bebop musical language of people like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the tenor saxophone...
, and as a vocal (with lyrics by Ned WashingtonNed WashingtonNed Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...
) by singers Dick HaymesDick HaymesRichard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
, Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ray CharlesRay CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Tony BennettTony BennettTony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
, Ella FitzgeraldElla FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
and many others.
- Miss Holloway, as portrayed by Cornelia Otis SkinnerCornelia Otis SkinnerCornelia Otis Skinner was an American author and actress.-Biography:Skinner was the daughter of the actor Otis Skinner and his wife Maud Skinner. After attending the all-girls' Baldwin School and Bryn Mawr College and studying theatre at the Sorbonne in Paris, she began her career on the stage...
, is often cited as a lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
caricatureCaricatureA caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
. For a detailed study, see Patricia White’s book Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Indiana University Press, 1999; ISBN 0253213452).
- The filmmakers initially did not intend to show any ghosts in the film, but ParamountParamount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
’s unease resulted in the insertion of several ghost shots in post-production. According to the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
, the ghost’s facial features were modeled by actress Elizabeth Russell and physical form by model and bit player Lynda Grey. Russell also posed for the large portrait of "Mary Meredith" that is seen on the wall of Miss Holloway’s office in the film.
Reception
Director Martin ScorseseMartin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
placed The Uninvited on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.
External links
- The Uninvited at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
- 1944 preview trailer for The Uninvited, accessed 15 January 2011
- The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review of February 21, 1944 (requires registration)