A Good Old Fashioned Ghost Story Effectively Told
Neatly playing light-hearted daytime fun against unsettling nighttime hauntings, THE UNINVITED is very much a traditional ghost story. When Ray Milland and sister Ruth Hussey buy a house on the Cornwall coast the purchase seems ideal--particularly as Milland is attracted to the seller's granddaughter, beautiful Gail Russell. But once settled in, Milland and Hussey soon find they are not quite alone in their new home.
The film is particularly notable for an "every day ordinary" style: there are no manipulative camera angles or unexpected editing tricks; there is no foreshadowing soundtrack; there are precious few special effects--and by refusing to use such time-honored elements, the story's ghostly elements seem all the more disturbing by comparison. The strong cast, which also includes Donald Crisp, Alan Napier, Cornelia Otis Skinner, is first rate and plays expertly, and Lewis Allen directs with restraint but never allows the pace to drag. THE UNINVITED is not a...
YOU CAN ALMOST SMELL THE MIMOSA!
Based upon Dorothy Macardle's 1942 novel "Uneasy Freehold" THE UNINVITED is a wonderful and unique film which keeps the viewer mesmorized throughout. On the last day of their vacation in May, 1937, Rick and Pam Fitzgerald (brother and sister!) find an empty house on the seaside which they purchase for a ridiculously low price. Naturally, the place has "disturbances" in the form of two spectres,one of which just happens to be the daughter of the previous owner, Commander Beech (Donald Crisp).The other ghost is the spirit of Carmel Casada an artist's model. The commander's grand-daughter, Stella Merideth makes friends with the Fitzgeralds and she is ecstatic about visiting them in the childhood home she loves dearly. Gail Russell is luminous as the moonstruck Stella; this was her second film and her lack of acting experience is actually an advantage-her eerie lustre and shy, naive demeanor suit her role perfectly. There is a great sequence involving a...
SUPERB GHOST STORY
An usual and fascinating item, a ghost story which takes itself seriously. A "classy" film with considerable charm, "The Uninvited" is a ghost story with Freudian overtones which lingers in the mind long after one has seen it. During their fortnight vacation from their London flat, brother and sister Rick and Pamela Fitzgerald (excellently portrayed by Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey) buy an old Georgian house on the Cornish coast which is haunted by the spirits of two women. One of these ghosts is found to be Mary Merideth and the other a model who posed for Mary's artist husband Llewellyn, a Spanish gypsy girl named Carmel Casada. Gail Russell,in her best-known performance, luminously plays the ethereal Stella, and her strong performance is no small part of the effectiveness of the picture;her limpid eyes seem to conceal the mysteries of life and death. Stella believes it is the spirit of her mother who haunts Windward house (it was her Grandfather who...
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