The Uninvited 1944

The real ghost, the haunted and sad spirit hovering over and in this elegant and atmospheric haunted house movie is Gail Russell who in her first big role played Stella of the starlight and who in real life didn’t make it past her 36^th birthday, dying alone, broke & alcoholic in some Hollywood dump after having a terrible time of it. Russell who was very pretty was married for a short 5 years to the gay-bi closeted and supremely handsome Guy Madison, and there are many stories of Russell being gay herself which if true would have no doubt added to her conflicted and troubled self even though the usual reason given for her problems was her lack of confidence in her acting skills which some say led her to start drinking during the making of this film and began her downward spiral of despair. The movie like all good ghost stories has a sadness and unease about it, even though this one ends on an upbeat and somewhat abrupt note. The film opens with brother and sister played by Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey who are on vacation and accidentally stumble onto a beautiful old mansion that hugs the cliffs along the Cornwall coast of Britain and fall madly in love with it. Adding to my unease was that I found this brother sister act between Milland and Hussey to be a little unorthodox, how many grown up siblings actually live together especially in a happy well-adjusted situation?  We don’t know much about them except that Milland is a musician and we never find out what Ruth does other than be witty, smart and dress nicely.  Windwood Manor is bought quickly and cheaply by them from the crusty and curmudgeonly Donald Crisp who wants it gone as soon as possible and tries very hard to keep his granddaughter Stella far away from the house for reasons that are slowly laid out for us as the movie progresses. Crisp is cold and not very loving to Russell, who it is pointed out in the notes accompanying the very lovely Criterion transfer could not stand her in real life and this dislike is evident and troubling. The Dull Milland a year away from his Lost Weekend and an Oscar starts to fall for Russell (another troubling unorthodox relationship since he was twice the age of Russell) and is so moved by her beauty that one night he writes the lovely Stella by Starlight theme for her that down the road would get added lyrics and become a big hit for many singers. Russell is at first standoffish to both Milland and Hussey but soon warms up to them but Grandfather Crisp wants her to have nothing to do with them or the house that she is constantly drawn to and soon has her committed to the strange mental asylum for disturbed women run by the butch Cornelia Otis Skinner who is an old “friend” of the family. Miss Holloway is a Sapphic sister of Judith Anderson’s Mrs. Danvers and holds all the secrets of the family and the house which ultimately lead her to an unrealistic out of nowhere nervous breakdown. The haunting start with terrible mournful crying that fills the house and soon candles go out, doors close by themselves and the scent of Mimosa fills the cold and drafty rooms. It’s Milland who falls apart and literally hides under the covers, (the film’s one poorly done attempt at humor) while the cool and calm Hussey takes control of the situation and arranges for a séance to try to do away with the spell that has taken control of the house and Stella. Directed by Lewis Allen who went on to do a few other films, none of which matched the directness and ambience of The Uninvited and spent most of his career directing for television. The film looks A list with handsome process shot, matt paintings and glittering shadowy cinematography (Oscar nominated) by Charles Lang whose remarkable career behind the camera spanned nearly 50 years