"The Uninvited" (1944)

The previous film I mentioned was "Laura" with its haunting music theme that became a pop standard. Imagine my surprise when I started watching "The Uninvited"(1944) and during opening heard a melody I quickly recognized as "Stella by Starlight" by Victor Young! Yes, this song was actually introduced in this movie about haunted house.

"The Uninvited" looks and feels very much like movies by Val Lewton ("Cat people") but it was only inspired with his work, director here is Lewis Allen. Apparently "Rebecca" left a lot of people scratching heads and wanting to do something similar so there were quite a few movies made in early 1940s emulating gothic approach with strange houses with even stranger past,dead people who won't go away and always a female villain somewhere in there. Today almost completely forgotten Ray Milland was a busy man that year as he made "The Uninvited" back to back with Fritz Lang's "Ministry of Fear" - here again he is a good natured guy who just happens to be surrounded with most bizarre twists and turns of the story. Milland and his sister stumble upon a very pretty house on a atlantic coast (dangerously close to cliffs,if you ask me,just asking for accident to happen) and decide to buy it on the spot even though they are warned that previous tenants mentioned disturbing noise - from than on story goes in expected direction and though is an old fashioned movie it still works fine for people like me who love old black & white movies. Strangely enough I wasn't really interested in the main characters but really noticed completely off the wall part of Barbara Everest as "Miss Bird" patient in sanatorium and she was cutest little neurotic.

The best thing about this movie (along with a beautiful Victor Young song) is surprising turn by excellent Cornelia Otis Skinner who shows up in a second part of the movie - so far we never had a glimpse of her and suddenly she arrives on a screen like a dark cloud towering above everybody else. She is very authoritative and strong willed owner of mentioned sanatorium and somehow spiritual sister of the housekeeper from "Rebecca" - very soon we get that Skinner has obsession with a beautiful lady who was previous owner of the haunted house and there is something between the lines that suggest that she is either a lesbian or a loony herself (which in 1944 was probably the same thing - the only way gay characters were ever shown in a movies back than was like madmen, villains or caricatures). Just as unexpectedly as she arrives on the screen, Skinner is than unceremoniously dropped out and we never heard about her again, which is a pity as she was by far the most interesting person in the movie - I cared for her much more than for Gail Russell (Stella from the song) who was supposed to be innocent centre of ghosts attentions. We actually see ghosts on a few occasions but this was quite unnecessary because things are scarier when not seen,in my opinion.

I was so intrigued with Skinner that I needed to check her on internet and yes, just as I expected she had a strong theatre background.