"The Uninvited"

Additions to the above "review" (I should have checked imdb.com before posting!):

I wasn't sure of the Ray Milland character's name, but I see from imdb.com that it is "Roderick Fitzgerald."  (I think he was called Rick for short.)  So "Roderick" as a first name has a closer connection than I thought with Poe's character, Roderick Usher, in "The Fall of the House of Usher."

The Mrs. Danvers  character's name in "The Uninvited" is Miss Holloway.

I know I really should do more research and find out when the novel on which the movie was based was published, though I would put my money on "Rebecca" having appeared first.  The novel is "Uneasy Freehold" (awkward title!) by Dorothy Macardle.

And a final morsel for Dickens fans (I know there is at least ONE of you out there!). Did you note the reference to one of the characters early in the movie reading "Bleak House" (incidentally, my favorite novel!).  The brief appearance of the loony "Miss Bird" was a small homage to Dickens' "Miss Flite" in "Bleak House" (the half-mad lady who keeps all the caged birds, setting them free at the conclusion of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce).

I know I really should do more research and find out when the novel on which the movie was based was published, though I would put my money on "Rebecca" having appeared first.  The novel is "Uneasy Freehold" (awkward title!) by Dorothy Macardle.

Not that awkward if you're British, lol.  I can't access WorldCat right now, but I would be willing to bet that it was the British title, because I know the book was also called "The Uninvited", at least the edition I read was titled as such.

Rebecca was published in 1938.
Uneasy Freehold was published in 1942.

The unexpected humor you mentioned probably had something to do with the screen presence of Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey (who was wonderful in The Philadelphia Story).  Despite Milland's final, um, unfortunate films, he had a persona associated with light comedies.  

There have been better films, but this one unnerved me, particularly that scene where they're in the studio, leave and then we see what happens to the flowers.  Mary Meredith's portrait has always creeped me out no end and finding out that Elizabeth Russell was used as the model for that never made me feel any easier

Luciaphil

Sorry Vlad....I'm one of the people who's Cable Company didn't carry "The Uninvited" so I could neither watch it, nor tape it.  I'm on the hunt for a VHS copy now.

"BLEAK HOUSE?!!!"

Your favorite novel is "Bleak House"?  Lordy, lordy, you ARE a Dickens freak.  That one completely defeated me.  I've tried to start it 3 or 4 times, but the very IDEA of "Jarndyce V. Jarndyce" exhausts me!!  

However, I do use the term frequently....as in "....this ball game is taking longer than Jarndyce V. Jarndyce"....which produces blank looks from my companions, and a smug sense of superiority for me

Rainey

Thanks for the info, Luciaphil.  I just reserved a library copy, which was listed under the title "The Uninvited," not "Uneasy Freehold."

I really enjoyed Ray Milland, and when I mentioned who was in the movie to my mother, she said, "Oh, yes, Ruth Hussey.  She made a lot of good movies."  (I, on the other hand, had never heard of Ms. Hussey, nor of Gail Russell.  Imdb.com has quite a bit of info on both actresses.  Ms. Russell's life was definitely a textbook Hollywood tragedy. )

One more comment about the movie:  the foyer in the house reminded me of the Clampitt mansion on that other childhood favorite series of mine, "The Beverly Hillbillies."      

So sorry you weren't able to view the movie, Rainey.  I thought I was the only person who had never seen it.       If you can't find it to rent, you could probably find it fairly inexpensively to purchase (spoken by one of Barnes and Noble's best online customers   ).  I know I will definitely watch it more than once, so you may find it worth purchasing.

"BLEAK HOUSE?!!!"

Your favorite novel is "Bleak House"?  Lordy, lordy, you ARE a Dickens freak.  That one completely defeated me.  I've tried to start it 3 or 4 times, but the very IDEA of "Jarndyce V. Jarndyce" exhausts me!!  

However, I do use the term frequently....as in "....this ball game is taking longer than Jarndyce V. Jarndyce"....which produces blank looks from my companions, and a smug sense of superiority for me

Yes, very few people have even heard of "Bleak House," though it is certainly regarded as the greatest -- or one of the two or three greatest -- Victorian novels, and one of the top 10 novels of all time.  I would encourage you to give it another go-round.  I think as soon as you get to the minimalistic opening description that begins  "Fog everywhere.", you'll be hooked.  (I think you first have to get through a lengthy preamble about the Courts of Chancery, which I never fully understood.)  A very bittersweet, dark and tragic story.

The BBC did a nice -- albeit very understated -- rendering of the book some years ago that is available on video.  Diana Rigg in particular is superb.

Not to worry Vlad....I've seen "The Uninvited' more than a couple of times....but not recently and NOT the other night when the REST of the planet could get it on the SciFi channel, but we could not.....Thank you very much, Cablevision!!    

Please, next I'll get started on our Cable company not carrying the Yankees,  and MB and Midnite will be yanking my posting priveleges for profanity SO fast I won't know what hit me!!!

Yes, it's the opening 400 pages or so about how the Courts of Chancery work that overwhelm me each time I try "Bleak House".  I've actually BOUGHT the bloomin' thing more than once, only to end up hauling it (in a wheelbarrow, I think) to the local library after surrendering once again.

But a filmed version with the delicious Dame Diana?!  Now THAT I could handle!!

Rainey

WARNING:  Rather Off-Topic!  

Rainey,

I was hooked on the novel ("Bleak House") right from the start, so it could be the differences in our temperaments, I suppose.  It definitely is helpful to have a basic understanding of the British court system, and I think that must have been the subject of a lengthy editor's introduction that I was remembering.  I checked my current paperback copy last night and noticed that the description of the moral and physical fog that envelopes London begins on the very first page.  I remember when I first saw the BBC-TV version, I was greatly disappointed as it seemed slow moving and dull, whereas I had found the book tremendously exciting!  Watching this on video more recently, though, I had greater appreciation for its very Britishness, e.g. Denholm Elliott's rather dry (dust-dry) performance as John Jarndyce.  Ms. Rigg definitely gives it all a shot in the arm, though!

In reading these 19th century novels, I've found it's helpful to keep a notebook to keep track of all the characters ...  

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Whew!  I think I'll take a brief sabbatical and let someone else post now ...