The Uninvited (1944)

The Uninvited (1944)

In director Lewis Allen's (and Paramount Pictures') mysterious and atmospheric 'old dark house' ghost story, it was his feature film debut. The spooky, eerie, unusual, and suspenseful ghost story was advertised with the tagline, comparing it to the gothic Hitchcock tale:

• "From the Most Popular Mystery Romance since "Rebecca "!

It was one of the very first of Hollywood's ghost-story horror films that wasn't a comedy, and actually featured real supernatural ghosts. The tale was based on Irish writer Dorothy Macardle's 1941 novel "The Easy Freehold" (aka Uneasy Freehold), with a script by Dodie Smith and Frank Partos. This compelling film was followed by the murder mystery sequel, The Unseen (1945).

The film's mystery was essentially about the causes of an unhappy childhood, a battle between two ghosts for the control of a disturbed daughter, and the seeking of an answer to the crucial question - why and how had a mother (now a haunting, 'uninvited' ghost) died in the past - was it an accident, a suicide, or a murder?

• the film opened in the spring of 1937, with a voice-over introductory prologue narration (by John Kieran):
  • "They call them 'the haunted shores' - these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland, which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here, and sea fog, and eerie stories. That's not because there are more ghosts here than in other places, mind you. It's just that people who live hereabouts are strangely aware of them. You see, day and night, year in, year out, they listen to the pound and stir of the waves. There's life and death in that restless sound, and eternity too. If you listen to it long enough, all your senses are sharpened. You come by strange instincts. You get to recognize a peculiar cold which is the first warning. A cold which is no mere matter of degrees Fahrenheit, but a draining of warmth from the vital centers of the living. Local people tell me they would have felt it, even outside that locked door. We didn't. They can't understand why we didn't know what it meant when our dog wouldn't go up those stairs. Animals see the blasted things, it appears. Well, my sister Pamela and I knew nothing about such matters, not then, we didn't. We had the disadvantage of being Londoners, just down for a fortnight's rest"
• on a two-week holiday from London, newspaper music critic and composer Roderick ("Rick") (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela Fitzgerald (Ruth Hussey) were hiking on the cliffs and came upon a "marvelous old house!" - a cliff-side Gothic structure on the southwestern English Cornish seacoast in Devonshire; after their pet dog Bobby entered through a slightly-opened window to chase a squirrel, the two entered the empty, abandoned manor just outside the (fictional) town of Biddlecombe; Pamela suggested: "Let's pretend we're buying it"; they found that one of the upper rooms (a painter's studio) was locked, due to "family skeletons, probably," Rick mused; Pamela impulsively proposed: "We're really going to buy this house," and that they would move from their small London flat to the seaside; the two imagined what they would do - live there permanently as their main residence instead of using it as a second home on weekends

• considering themselves "mildly interested" in the property known as Windward House, they visited the Biddlecombe home of Cmdr. Beech (Donald Crisp), who was selling the home; the commander wasn't there, but they met 20 year-old Stella Meredith (Gail Russell), his maternal grand-daughter, who claimed that the house wasn't for sale; however, they soon learned directly from the Commander that it was being offered for an unusually low price; Stella was against the sale of her mother's house to anyone, despite it being where her mother died (when she was only three)

• acc. to the Commander, Stella had lived in the house until 3 years of age; Beech described how 20 years earlier when the manor was being renovated, he had given the house to his daughter Mary Meredith (Stella's mother) as a wedding gift
• the Commander accepted the Fitzgeralds' low offer of 1,200ドル pounds to purchase the property; they learned from him (and later from other locals) that the house had an unsavory reputation of possibly being "haunted" - spread by "ugly stories"; while the house was being prepared (cleaned and painted), Pamela would remain in town while Rick returned to London to arrange to have their furniture moved; although they had some hesitations about the house and its "ghost business" after entering the locked artist's studio-room, the Fitzgeralds remained expectant, and told themselves that they couldn't be scared or disturbed; however, they were startled that their dog Bobby refused to venture upstairs
• Rick learned a little more information about the manor's past history from the tobacconist proprietor (Will Hardy) of a shop in town (while buying postcards of the Windward Manor); the Commander's only daughter Mary Meredith had died there (Stella was 3 years old at the time), when she mysteriously fell off the cliff's edge; whether it was an accident, murder, or suicide was unclear
• outside the shop, Stella appeared, and apologized for her behavior the previous day; she claimed her deceased mother Mary had made her apologize, not her grand-father; she often thought of her dead mother and spoke to her through a portrait - painted by her artistic father Llewellyn; Rick began to show romantic interest in Stella - he invited her to join him for an afternoon's sail on a rented boat; when he became seasick and she wiped his face, he noticed that her handkerchief had the scent of mimosa on it; Stella explained that it was her mother's favorite perfume
• three weeks later, Rick returned with their maid Lizzie Flynn (Barbara Everest) and they officially moved in together with their two pets, Bobby and Lizzie's cat Whiskey, although Bobby had wandered off; Whiskey also refused to venture to the second floor
• Rick learned that Pamela hadn't seen Stella since he had left; although she had been invited over for tea, she was forbidden to visit by her grand-father, due to unpleasant past memories of his own dead daughter; he gave the excuse that Stella "wasn't strong enough to accept invitations"
• during their first night, the Fitzgeralds experienced strange phenomena and disturbances in the haunted house, especially in the upstairs: flickering candles, unexplainable cold spots, and the sounds of a woman crying; Pamela admitted she had heard the crying before; Rick was certain it was explainable: "This business can be scientifically explained" and stated: "I'm not the least rattled" - although he turned scared when a door slammed shut by itself
• the next day, Rick discussed the house's uninvited "haunting" and crying incident with the Commander, speculating that it was possibly coming from the ghost of the deceased Mary; partly insulted by the idea, the Commander firmly stated that the noises had only "perfectly natural causes"; however, he then stated his reason to forbid the very 'delicate' Stella from being invited to the Fitzgeralds: ("She's not strong enough to make new friends"); and emphatically added:
  • "Stella is not going inside that house!"
• he feared that the house might harm her (inferring that he actually did think the place was haunted!); he had become convinced that Stella was in danger if she ever entered the house, even though Stella was often impulsively drawn to the house; he insisted that she be obedient to his wishes - without further discussion:
  • "I do not consider it suitable for you to visit Windward House....I can't discuss the matter"
• Stella rebelliously refused to obey him: "I shall go to Windward whenever I please"
• worried about Stella's impertinence, the Commander conferred with the town's trained nurse Miss Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner), the manager of the Mary Meredith Retreat, a rest home (or sanitarium) for mentally disturbed female patients; she had been one of Mary's close friends, and had a connection to the past events of 17 years earlier; she seemed to have had a fanatical devotion to Mary (the film's lesbian sub-text)
• the Commander expressed his concerns:
  • "I believe a house can be filled with malignity. Malignity directed against a certain child"
• Rick invited Stella for dinner at Windward House the same evening - without her father's knowledge; Stella had memories of her first three years of life in the home's nursery; she was shown the artist's studio room, where she explained that her artistic father Llewellyn often painted there - both portraits of her mother Mary, and a portrait of "a foreign girl" - she happened to mention doubts about her father: ("I suspect Father was a bit of a bad hat") [Note: Later, it was confirmed that her father was a womanizer, and was painting a second model, a Spanish gypsy named Carmel Quesada.]
• in one of the film's eeriest sequences, as it was getting dark in the studio room, Rick entertained Stella on the piano with a serenade he had written titled: "To Stella, By Starlight"; as he played, the tune became melancholy, the room darkened, and the candelabra on the piano dimmed; the tune changed Stella's mood and she trembled and blurted out:
  • "I was wicked. How could I ever have laughed in her house?...But she was so young, and she died so cruelly."

• semi-possessed, Stella fled from the house and raced towards the cliff's-edge where her mother Mary had died, rescued at the last minute by Rick; strangely, Stella had no idea she was endangering herself: ("I hadn't any sense of danger at all"); was her mother targeting her, frightening her and compelling her to also die at the cliffside?
• as they returned to the house, they heard Lizzie screaming out of her wits about having seen a female-shaped mist ("a ghost of a woman") at the door of the painter's studio; as Lizzie was being attended to, moments later, Stella again entered the ocean-view artist's studio where Rick found her unconscious on the floor; after she gained consciousness, Stella reported that she had turned chilly and fearful in the studio; the Fitzgeralds consulted with a local doctor, Dr. Scott (Alan Napier) who arrived to examine her; after she was sleeping peacefully, he told the Fitzgeralds that he was taking care of their dog Bobby - who was "the first to see the ghost" in the house
• through Dr. Scott, they learned more about the rumored scandalous history of the home, and about how Mary had possibly been murdered by her husband's model, a Spanish gypsy named Carmel; in the twisting plot, it was learned that Stella's artistic, womanizing father Llewellyn, although married to Mary, was in a loveless relationship - he was having an extra-marital affair with Carmel, and often painted Carmel's portrait in the painter's studio
• according to Dr. Scott, a week after Mary fell to her death to save Carmel from suicide (after Llewelynn had "tired of her"), ironically, Carmel also died in the house; it was also hinted that Mary's death could possibly have been murder; however, since then, Mr. Meredith took the secrets of the case with him to his grave (he died three years previously)
• the threesome group stayed up through the night until dawn, to listen for Mary's wailing, but there were other further signs of haunting, including the smell of mimosas (associated with Mary), and the momentary appearance of a "night-light"; they also noticed Stella had awakened and disappeared; she was found looking out the window, sensing the appearance of her ghostly mother Mary; she also mentioned "something else" - a loving presence; as Stella was to be escorted home, Rick told her that she couldn't return to the house; shortly later, Rick and Pamela suspected that there might be two ghosts in the house haunting Stella
• Rick visited Stella and proposed that she must never visit Windward again; he would take her away to London and rent an apartment for the two of them (with "no unseen, uninvited guests"), and Windward would be torn down; Stella begged him to not tear down the house (her mother's place), and instead permit her to return:
  • "You talk about destroying that house. You'd be tearing me apart....You shan't make me forget her!"
• to discover the answer to the mystery of what ghost was present and suffering in the house, and to set Stella's mind at rest, Pamela proposed a seance, to convince Stella that the spirit of her dead mother (Lynda Grey as ghost) didn't want her in the house; the seance was prepared inside Windward with a wine glass - it was used to send messages and receive answers (YES or NO, or spelled out words with a set of anagram letters); the initial messages received by the ghostly Mary urged Stella to remain in contact with her at Windward; a message came through to explain Mary's presence - it spelled out: I - G - U - A - R - D - (to guard Stella from danger) - C - A - R - M - E - L
• Stella entered a trance and began speaking in Spanish - speaking with the voice of her mother; the room also became infused with mimosa followed by intense cold, the dimming of the candles, and the formation of a spectral shape; the Commander barged into the house by breaking a window, to rescue and take Stella away and end the session; Rick was now motivated more than ever to find a cure for Stella:
  • "Stella will never be well until this house is cured. Somehow we're going to cure it."
• the Commander basically dismissed Dr. Scott as Stella's physician, and called upon Miss Holloway to treat her; before Stella was taken away to the sanitarium, the trained nurse Miss Holloway arrived to speak to the Commander in his home
• she mentioned her close, unusual relationship to the Commander's daughter Mary Meredith, portrayed in a portrait dominating the room; the Commander mentioned how Stella had developed a "childish fear" of Miss Holloway; the stern-faced manager of a hospital/retreat center then claimed she could have taken over Stella's mothering and cured her years earlier; the intimidating and villainous Miss Holloway had been urging the Commander to allow her to take charge of Stella in the retreat home/hospital for years:
  • "I could've cured it years ago if you'd let me have her, as Mary would have wished me to...Mary was a goddess. Her skin was radiant, and that bright, bright hair....The nights we sat talking in front of that fireplace, planning our whole lives. It wasn't flirtations and dresses we talked about. We were no silly, giggling girls. We intended to conquer life."

• after the Commander left the room, Miss Holloway addressed Mary's portrait, promising to keep Windward's secrets to herself:
  • "So they're searching into the past. They shan't ever find out, my darling. I promise you."
• the next day, the Fitzgerald's maid Lizzie related what she had heard in town - both a "trained nurse" (Miss Holloway) and a "terrified child" (Stella) were at the cliffside when Mary Meredith fell to her death
• without knowing that Stella was in Miss Holloway's charge and care, Rick and Pamela went to seek answers from Miss Holloway at the hospital, who knew of Windward's deadly past history; she extolled Mary as the "finest human being," but described the Spanish gypsy Carmel as exhibiting "intensity of evil...crafty, cruel"; to end Mr. Meredith's affair with Carmel, Meredith decided to take her to Paris to find work and lodging and leave her there; then, the Merediths returned to London with "their baby" (young toddler Stella)
• however, acc. to Miss Holloway, Carmel returned - "She still wanted Mary's husband"; after Carmel was ordered to leave Windward by Mr. Meredith (actually Mary had been the one), she considered killing both Mary and her husband, but then:
  • "A better plan flashed into her wicked little brain. She went into the nursery, picked up their baby, and raced to the cliff....Mary was after her in a second, Meredith and I close behind. Carmel reached the cliff by the dead tree. For a moment I saw them struggling, then Carmel raised her arm and struck Mary down...Meredith went down the cliff. Mary was dead when he reached her"
• Carmel ran off into a storm, but returned the next day; under Miss Holloway's care: ("I fought for Carmel's life day and night, hating her all the time!"), Carmel died of pneumonia
• after the Fitzgeralds left the facility, Miss Holloway visited with her patient Stella, who felt that she didn't deserve to be there; she felt imprisoned and treated as if she was insane, when she was perfectly alright: ("My door's kept locked, and there's a queer look in their eyes"); Stella asked: "Why do you hate me, Miss Holloway?"
• as Pam and Rick drove off, Pam denounced the retreat center as a "plain, old-fashioned lunatic asylum"; they both agreed that Miss Holloway had attempted to lie to them that it was Mr. Meredith who had ordered Carmel to leave; they asked themselves why Miss Holloway idolized Mary so much:
  • "Why should Miss Holloway want to turn her into a plaster saint?"
• afterwards, the two joined with Dr. Scott as he searched through his predecessor Dr. Rudd's old journals; they learned that Miss Holloway had deliberately allowed Carmel to die (in a freezing cold room) at Windward due to criminal negligence, to seek revenge for Mary's death; Dr. Scott was called to the Commander's home - he was suffering from a serious, heart-related "episode"
• in the film's conclusion set inside Windward, the house appeared to be filled with "wickedness"; the pages of Dr. Rudd's journal began to turn by themselves, and the smell of mimosas reappeared; Rick and Pam feared that Stella was in danger in Miss Holloway's sanitarium and planned to rescue her and extract her; however, at the same time, the crazed and irresponsible Miss Holloway released Stella and sent her back to Windward and the Fitzgeralds - hoping for disastrous results:
  • "To the cliff, and the rocks below the cliff...That's where Mary went. That's where she died."
• clearly, Miss Holloway had lost her mind; she spoke to Mary's spirit, embodied in the portrait in her office:
  • "I've done what she wanted at last. Haven't I, Mary? It's all straight now. There are no frayed edges. No loose ends. All straight. All smooth."
• Stella arrived at Windward and let herself in the unlocked front door; Cmdr. Beech had already been lured to Windward by one of Miss Holloway's associates; Miss Holloway was predicting that both of them would perish together in the haunted house; Stella found her ailing grandfather in the upstairs room; he worried for her safety:
  • "The danger is for you. Please get out of this house now...Be afraid, for heaven's sake. When you were a little child, after her death, the evils of this house reached out for you. I took you away then. If I could only take you now"
• suddenly, the Commander suffered a lethal heart attack after the shock of seeing the ghost of Mary
• as the Fitzgeralds and Dr. Scott drove up the house, they heard screaming as Stella fled out the door and raced toward the cliffside; fortunately, they were again able to save Stella from throwing herself off the cliff

• the secret to the mystery was revealed when Dr. Scott read more of Dr. Rudd's journal; Carmel was revealed to be Stella's actual birth mother; the pregnant Carmel was sent to Paris while the pregnancy was kept quiet, and she was to remain there permanently, while the Merediths presumably planned to adopt the newly-born child back in England; the saintly Mary was unnaturally fearful about having children, and had objected to motherhood herself (probably due to the influence of Miss Holloway); however, Carmel couldn't remain away from her adopted baby-child and returned to England to be with the Merediths
• at this point, Stella realized that she was Carmel's child - Stella was relieved to now know the truth about her real mother:
  • "Always there's been something fighting in me, something that couldn't be calm and cold like Mary. I can be myself now"
• Pam responded to Stella: "That's what she's waited all these years to tell you"; Stella spoke to her 'mother's' ghost (Carmel), and reconciled with her mother and her troublesome past: "Oh, Mother, now I know. She's happy now. The scent's gone. She won't cry anymore. She's gone forever" - as she heard Carmel's laughter (instead of tears), and the mimosa-scent disappeared
• it was clear that there were two ghosts that had reappeared to haunt Windward:
  • Carmel's ghost (Betty Farrington as ghost voice), mimosa-scented
  • Mary's ghost, angry and malevolent with "icy rage"
• Rick figured out the mystery: Mary had threatened Carmel to clear out and leave her baby behind, but Mr. Meredith wouldn't allow it; to spite both of them, Mary tried to kill baby Stella at the cliffside, but Mary was the one to topple over the edge; the ghost of Carmel had been there to protect and warn her daughter Stella and shield her from harm, and the other one was of Mary who was there to seek vengeance
• the power of the ghost of Mary, who appeared on the staircase, was neutralized when Rick confronted her, and threw a candelabra at the spectral figure:
  • "I should think you'll be on your way now, Mary Meredith. We've had enough. We're not frightened of you anymore. From now on, this house is for the living."
• Mary's haunting ghost disappeared (and with the threat gone, Carmel had also vanished); a shaken but relieved Rick gave Stella the humorous closing line regarding Mary:
  • "Well, I've had a narrow escape. She might have been my mother-in-law"