The Uninvited

Plot synopsis:
Roderick Fitzgerald and his sister Pamela are enjoying the last day of their holiday on the Devonshire coast in the spring of 1937. Walking on the beach with their dog Bobby, they climb a cliff and wind up in the garden of a large uninhabited house. When Bobby spies a squirrel and chases it into the house through an open window, Roderick and Pam follow, intending to save the squirrel from their dog. But the squirrel more than holds its own and escapes up the chimney after nipping Rick's hand.Once the crisis is past Pam notices how lovely the inside of the house is and decides to explore. It reminds them both of their childhood home, and they become enamored of it immediately. Pam becomes excited at the prospect of actually buying the house, and has an answer for each argument that Rick comes up with including the fact that Rick, who writes reviews of music for a newspaper, would be able to compose his own music. They decide to see about the possibility of buying the house, after Pam exclaims that "Important decisions must be made quickly."Discovering from a woman in the nearby village that the house, called Windward, is for sale, they go to call on the owner, Commander Beach. The Commander is not at home, but his granddaughter, Stella Meredith, welcomes them in to wait for him. But Stella's demeanor changes from warm and friendly to almost hostile when she discovers their purpose in visiting. While she tries to send them away her grandfather arrives home. Stella pleads with him to not sell the house, but he dismisses her and sits down to discuss the transaction.The Commander assures Rick and Pam that the house is sound, and that a lot of money was spent on it twenty years before when he gave it to his daughter Mary as a wedding gift. Rick and Pamela make an offer of 1200 pounds, which is considerably below the house's actual value. To their surprise, the Commander accepts their offer, saying that 1200 pounds in the bank for Stella would ease his mind. The commander asks whether they would be bothered by disturbances of which tenants had complained in the past. Pam and Roderick dismiss the hints at a dark past and the sale is made.Brother and sister go back to their new house to take a closer look, including a room that was locked and they were unable to explore before. The room is a painter's studio, and Pam exclaims it to be the one ugly room in the house. Rick thinks it would make a perfect room for his own studio. As they talk, the pair become less and less enthusiastic, and even begin to think they have made a mistake in buying the house. The howling of their dog below breaks their reverie, and they wonder why he refuses to climb the stairs to the floor above.Admiring a large window, they spot Stella outside on the lawn. Although Roderick seems to have no sympathy for her, Pam does, and tells Rick that Stella feels shut out of her own home now.Pam is set to stay on at the inn, but before heading back from Biddlecomb to London to make arrangements, including getting their furniture out of storage, and collecting Lizzie, their childhood housekeeper, Roderick visits the local tobacconist and buys some postcards of Windward, which leads him to explain that he is the new owner. The shop owner bemoans the fact that the previous tenants started ugly rumors, no doubt to get out of their lease and the debts they owed in the village. He also recounts how the Commander's daughter had died after a fall from the cliff by the house.Returning to his car, he meets Stella, who apologies for her rudeness the previous day. She mentions that her mother told her not to feel that way. Rick is puzzled, since he now knows that Stella's mother is dead, but Stella explains that she was referring to a portrait of her mother painted by her father. They discuss how unfair it is for her grandfather to hate the house just because his daughter died there. Rick decides to kidnap Stella for the afternoon, cancelling her plans for a library visit to get a new Dickens novel and some wool-matching in favor of a sail on a rented sailboat.Roderick's boasting of never getting seasick comes back to haunt him when he does just that. Stella gives him her handkerchief to wipe his brow and he recognizes the scent of mimosa. Stella tells him it was her mother's scent, and she has made a bottle of it sent to her by her absent father last for many years.Taking off for London, Roderick asks Stella to be sure and drop in on Pamela while he is away. She declines a ride home, and exclaims that she is happy that he and Pam will be living in the house.Weeks later Roderick arrives back after dark with Lizzie. Pam is annoyed since she wanted them to see everything while it was still daylight. Rick begins to call for Bobby, and Pam explains that the dog has wandered off. Pamela has done wonders with the house and Lizzie and Roderick are impressed. Rick asks Pam how Stella likes the changes, but Pam says she hasn't seen Stella at all, despite having invited her. Her grandfather rebuffed the invitations, and Roderick is confused since he was sure Stella would become friends with Pamela while he was away.Getting ready to turn in, Lizzie's cat Whiskey refuses to go up the staircase. Later Pam goes into her brother's room, seeming to want to discuss something. But his enthusiasm over the house changes her mind and she wishes him a good night's sleep and goes to her own room.Hours later Rick is awakened by the sound of a woman sobbing. Thinking it is Pam he goes out onto the landing, where she joins him. Pam explains that the cries have come before and she has searched for their source without success. She knows the sounds will die away at dawn, which they do. They both go back to bed, and Rick comes up with some unlikely explanations for the sounds as he returns to bed.The next day Rick visits Commander Beach to get information about the disturbances. Asking about the history of the house, he learns that the Commander's ancestors did not experience anything out of the ordinary. While talking Stella comes in, but her grandfather refuses to allow her to converse with Rick, and she leaves for church. Rick's thinking out loud touches on the fact that the noises started since Mary Meredith's death, which upsets the Commander greatly. Rick apologizes for implying his daughter haunts the house. As he is leaving the Commander insists that Stella will not set foot in the house, which leads Rick to realize the Commander actually does think the house is haunted.Stella meets Rick outside and arranges a visit to the house, unknown to her grandfather. After church she informs the Commander that she intends to befriend the Fitzgeralds no matter what. The Commander then telephones Miss Holloway, a woman who was Mary's closest friend and who now runs a retreat. He arranges to go to Miss Holloway's to discuss his fears about the house and Stella.Stella spends the evening at Windward and is taken with the way the house looks, and especially with her old nursery where she lived her first three years. She remembers a warm, loving feeling when someone would bring her a nightlight, and fear when someone else would remove it. Rick then shows her the studio where her father painted her mothers portrait, or more often, portraits of a Spanish model named Carmel. Stella asks Rick to play something on the piano and he plays a tune she's never heard before. When he stops to correct a note on his sheet music Stella realizes he wrote the music, and then he tells her its title is "To Stella, By Starlight."As he continues to play, the tune becomes sadder and sadder, and the candles dim by themselves. Then Stella's mood darkens and she rushes out of the room, and the front door, heading straight for the cliff edge where Mary died. Rick follows, catching her just in time; she says she had no feeling of danger at all. Pam comes out to bring them in to dinner and before they get back inside they hear Lizzie screaming. Lizzie tells Rick that she saw a crawling mist at the studio door, which was forming into the figure of a woman. Stella overhears her and while Pam and Rick attend to Lizzie, Stella returns to the studio, where Rick finds her unconscious. They send for Dr. Scott and put Stella to bed in the nursery. She explains that the studio tuned cold while she was in it and she became afraid, then fainted.Dr. Scott spends the rest of the night and they all sit up watching until dawn. Scott recounts all the stories revolving around the haunting and the history of Mary, Meredith and Carmel and the open scandal in the village. There was also a hint that Mary had been murdered by Carmel. Later they sense the aroma of mimosa, and see a small light in the nursery. Rushing in to check on Stella they find her at the window, at peace. Stella says she knows her mother is the presence in the house, and for the first time felt true love.Rick and Pam allow the doctor to take Stella home and tell her that she cannot return to the house. After Stella leaves Pam thinks that maybe the ghost is gone since it has now found Stella again. They check out this theory by going into the studio, but find the room as clammy and rotten as ever. Soon after, they hear the moaning again. Rick tells Pam that she was right about not having "a ghost" anymore because now he thinks they have two of them.Rick goes to visit Stella, and tells her she mustn't visit Windward ever again. He proposes that she go away with him, never to return. She begs him to take her to the house. He wants to tear it down and forget about the past. She promises she will find a way to return to the house and he promises to prevent it.Rick goes to Scott's where he finds Pam. Rick says Stella is being torn apart by the conflict. Pam suggests a séance at Windward, and Rick jumps at the idea, only he wants to rig the answers to set Stella's mind at rest by pretending the spirit of her mother wants her to stay away from Windward.That night the séance is held using an upturned wine glass and anagram letters. Stella tries to contact her mother and when she asks if she should stay away from Windward the glass goes to "No," much to the consternation of Rick and Scott who had been trying to push it towards the "Yes" card. Then a message is spelled out and Stella goes into a trance during which she begins to speak in Spanish. The room then is flooded with the scent of mimosa, followed by the dreaded cold. As the door bell rings and is ignored, a spectral shape begins to appear and a window is smashed by the Commander who has come to rescue his granddaughter.Scott drives Stella and her grandfather home, and is dismissed as the family doctor. After Scott leaves, Miss Holloway enters, and the sleeping Stella is carried to a waiting car for the drive back to Miss Holloway's retreat.The morning after the séance Lizzy is cleaning up the broken window glass and takes issue with the makings of the séance. Rick promises not to do something similar again and says they intend now to go looking for facts behind the haunting, but laments that all the principal players are dead. Lizzie corrects him, saying that the trained nurse, Miss Holloway is still alive (a fact she discovered while gossiping at her temporary housing with a local family, where she moved after seeing the ghost.)Unaware that Stella is there, Rick and Pam go to see Miss Holloway at her place, the Mary Meredith Retreat. Miss Holloway recounts the history of her time at Windward, stressing how evil Carmel was and how when Mary tried to get rid of her, she refused to give up Mary's husband and returned. Miss Holloway tells them that Mary died trying to prevent Carmel from throwing the baby Stella off the cliff. The next day Carmel came back to Windward with pneumonia and Miss Holloway nursed her until her death.After Rick and Pam leave, Miss Holloway goes to see Stella, who is a virtual prisoner at the retreat. She questions Stella about her experience at Windward and her dash toward the cliff.Before returning home the Fitzgeralds stop by to see Dr. Scott, and he pulls out an old journal from his predecessor. The journal hints that Miss Holloway had allowed Carmel to die through negligence. Scott is called to the Commander's house, to attend the old man who had an episode.Pam and Rick take the journal home to look for more clues, and the room suddenly becomes full of the mimosa scent. The book's pages turn by themselves, unseen. Scott comes to Windward and tells them that Stella is at Miss Holloway's. They decide to return to the retreat immediately since the thought of Stella being under Miss Holloway's influence is abhorrent. They telephone Miss Holloway and tell her they are coming back. Miss Holloway takes the opportunity to send Stella back home, but tells her she must go immediately to Windward.When Pam and Rick and Scott arrive at the retreat they discover that Stella has been sent back to Windward, and Miss Holloway descends into full blown madness.Stella arrives at a darkened Windward and goes inside. Following the sound of her name being called she goes up into the studio, where she finds her grandfather collapsed in a chair. Hed been notified by someone at Miss Holloway's and walked over to warn Stella. Soon the mist reappears and forms itself into a woman. Commander Beach dies at the sight and Stella is driven once again to the cliff, where she is rescued again just in time by Rick.Dr. Scott finds the Commander dead, and Stella says it was her mother that did it. The room is again flooded with mimosa and the journals pages fly open, this time seen by all. An entry in the journal tells of Carmel having a child and how Mary had rejected motherhood. The news means that Stella is actually Carmel's child, and Stella is happy at the news. Distant laughter is heard and it appears that Carmel has what she was waiting for and leaves Windward. Just then the ghost of Mary materializes on the staircase. Rick confronts it and defies the spirit with the truth. He flings a candelabrum at the specter, which dissipates.Flush with their victory over Mary they notice that Whiskey is going up the staircase. Rick says he thinks Bobby will come back, but Scott indicates that he and Pam have other plans for him. Stella remarks that Rick is still trembling and Rick, nodding towards the staircase, responds that "she might have been my mother-in-law."

Tags: insanity, gothic, atmospheric, haunting

Review:
The intricate plot will delight mystery fans and the acting by Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Gail Russell, Donald Crisp and Cornelia Otis Skinner is excellent.
But the guilty secret he's been keeping all these years, a secret that involves Stella and her heritage, will not stay secret anymore and Roderick must face a vengeful ghost if he wishes to save the woman he loves.This is a really great ghost story, a true classic of the genre.
Add the likes of veteran actors like Ray Milland, Donald Crisp, Ruth Hussey, Alan Napier, Cornelia Otis Skinner, and a charming newcomer in Gail Russell.
The Uninvited is a first-rate ghost story about a secret this solitary, palatial house has, and it creates its suspense with things like creaking doors, lights faintly moving, wind blowing windows in(or out), barely audible whispers floating in the air, and ethereal images casting their ghostly shadows for the living's visual consumption.
In its own way, The Uninvited book is equally as wonderful as the film, and the movie definitely keeps the gist of the story.
It stars Ray Milland, Gail Russell, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp and Cornelia Otis Skinner.
With a new special edition DVD recently released, and the likes of Martin Scorsese and Guillermo del Toro championing its cause by putting it on their lists of favourite frighteners, The Uninvited is proving its worth as an old sub-genre classic.Plot is pretty conventional stuff.
The cast are very effective, with Russell really making a mark so early in her career, while Young's score is both sinister and tender (the song Stella by Starlight would become a popular standard) at all the right times.A genuine ghost story for those who prefer the sparing atmospheric touch to the noisy carnage approach.
The ghost plot almost takes a backseat at times to the developing love story between Milland and Russell's characters, but this is not a problem since the film always remains intriguing.
When their dog chases a squirrel, they need to break in an abandoned manor named Windward House and Pamela immediately falls in love with the real state and convinces her brother to invest his savings purchasing the house.They seek out the owner, Commander Beech (Donald Crisp), who lives with his twenty year-old granddaughter Stella Meredith (Gail Russell) far from the house, and he accepts their offer and sells the house for a very low price.
They also discover that the house is haunted by two ghosts, one of them evil and the other one trying to protect Stella."The Uninvited" is a creepy ghost story, with a great performances and a good story.
The Uninvited in this case are brother and sister Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey who take a seaside house to let in England.
They truly were not invited by one of the ghosts who does her utmost to get rid of them as well as frighten Russell to death.The haunting cinematography sets the gloomy mood for The Uninvited and small wonder it got an Academy Award nomination for black and white cinematography.
This is my first viewing of the movie and the beginning is very reminiscent of the contemporaneous duo Myrna Loy/William Powell in their repartee and tone of acting, but instead of a crime scene they are confronted with the "paranormal." Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey keep an upbeat lilt to their scenes and the added beauty and innocence of Gail Russell makes the tale special somehow.
Besides, the crashing waves and and cliff-side mansion add a ton of atmosphere to a really good ghost story.Actually, it's as much a mystery movie as it is a haunting.
A composer (Ray Milland) and his sister discover that the reason they are able to purchase a beautiful Gothic seacoast mansion very cheaply is the house's unsavory past.I entered into this film with the understanding that it is a classic.
Milland throws in some humorous touches but he succeeds in keeping things in the scary, spooky film genre as opposed to the comedy ghost story genre, which is always a let-down.
Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey are excellent as the brother and sister (Rodrick and Pamela Fitzgerald) purchasers of Windward House.
The mystery that is the heart of the film's plot is long in the past, so all we receive are characters talking about it--telling us, and figuring out, a story.At that however, what might have been a 6 out of 10 from me, at best, was brought up due to the very clever dialogue, which usually contains a very subtle and quick sense of humor.
On the downside, the dialogue was also a bit confusing every once in a while, especially given that two crucial characters in the mystery are a woman referred to as "Mary Meredith" and a man usually referred to only as "Meredith".The fine black & white cinematography is another bonus, as is the horror material (all in the guise of a haunted house) those few times that it is present.
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 horror movie by any stretch of the imagination, and viewers who expect to rocked, jolted, shocked, and shuddered will probably be disappointed.
An antique box of "Anagrams" sits on the shelf in my TV room -old friends know why.One thing no one has mentioned-when "Poltergeist" was made, the effects crew wanted to show the ghosts in the best way they could -guess which film they watched?
While I enjoyed the former a great deal on my one and only viewing many years ago, I've always been rather underwhelmed by all viewings of the latter (I still intend to pick up the SE DVD one day) and actually consider its partial-remake, THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973), to be a superior film.Anyway, back to THE UNINVITED: as can be expected due to its age and the circumstances under which it was filmed, the movie dispenses with most of the visual and sound effects we've come to associate with "haunted house" pictures.
The only "ghostly" sound we hear is that of a woman sobbing which does get on one's nerves after a while (and, therefore, completely successful in its intentions) and the only "apparitions" are those of a cloud of smoke which transforms itself into the feminine figure of the ghost (whose identity I won't spoil here for anyone who hasn't watched the film yet); still, those fleeting moments in which it does appear do manage to send a chill down one's spine, particularly towards the film's climax  which, again proves (if any was truly needed) that all the technological advances in the field of special effects do not necessarily make today's horror films any scarier, let alone better.The film features a good cast: Ray Milland is his usual amiable self here and, unsurprisingly, is the one who finally confronts the ghost head-on at the very end; Ruth Hussey is his practical sister who usually gets her way; Donald Crisp is the stern landlord with a secret; Alan Napier is the kindly country doctor who joins the investigation for love of Hussey; the two I was most impressed with, however, were Cornelia Otis Skinner who plays the shady (and possibly lesbian) confidante of Crisp's dead daughter  she reminds one of Gale Sondergaard at times and I was very surprised to find out that her appearance here was only one of a handful she did for the cinema; and, best of all, the ill-fated Gail Russell (who was only 20 at the time and whose facial features are not unlike those of Hedy Lamarr) who plays Crisp's grand-daughter and is at the centre of the hauntings; according to the IMDb, Russell suffered paralyzing stage fright during the filming, used alcohol (which would be the cause of her untimely death at just 36) to summon up enough courage to get her through it and had a nervous breakdown after the film's completion!
Apparently, the film is also notable for introducing a hit Victor Young tune, "Stella By Starlight", which in the film is supposedly the work of struggling composer Ray Milland, an on-the-spot inspiration when the Gail Russell character (named Stella) comes visiting one evening!.
I can't think of any truly good haunted house films that have come from Hollywood in recent years.
Then there's this film, The Uninvited, which I have read was the first serious attempt by Hollywood to tell a straight forward haunted house story.
If this was truly a first serious effort in the genre, it's a darn good one.While vacationing on the English coast, Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) come across a long abandoned mansion.
The owner, Commander Beech (Donald Crisp) is only too happy to sell in order to provide a nest egg for his granddaughter Stella Meredith (Gail Russell) and because previous tenants had spread rumors about the house being haunted by the Commander's deceased daughter, Mary Meredith, who met an untimely death by taking an unscheduled dive off a nearby cliff.
All this is complicated by an added love story as Roderick begins falling for the young Stella, who is drawn to the house by the ghost of her dead mother who may or may not have good intentions.
It's a genuine puzzling mystery film that will leave you guessing and a truly chilling ghost story with just enough romance and a few light comedic touches thrown in to top things off.
Meanwhile, a young woman (Gail Russell) that the brother has fallen in love with is drawn to the house because she believes her mother's spirit lives there.The Uninvited is one of the earliest films to treat the ghost story seriously.
If you have never seen this before but are interested in seeing an old black & white ghost story, I should warn you this movie isn't likely to frighten a modern viewer.
The heavy darkness dominates the film and deepens the sense of dread.This is the sort of tale which done this way on the screen takes me from my own time and place and puts me in that house, hearing things, seeing things, unsure of but aware of the danger that is from a separate reality but has stepped into my reality and threatens me as it threatens the characters in the story..
These days, with the special effects available, the ghosts in the story would be awesome, but this 70-year old film didn't really need all that, it works just fine on every level.The film has a haunting quality, but that also has a lot to do with the stars, all of them gone now.Rick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) buy a large house on a clifftop in Cornwall.
The special effects are remarkably good as well.Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey play brother and sister Roderick and Pamela Fitzgerald, who come across an oceanside mansion named Windward.
They also meet the commanders' 20-year-old granddaughter Stella, played by the enchanting and beautiful Gail Russell, and become determined to look out for her, even as Stella is drawn to that old house and prone to putting herself in danger.Something like "The Uninvited" would likely not suit all tastes when it comes to horror fans, but its subtlety is something to be respected.
Supporting players Crisp, Cornelia Otis Skinner as nurse Miss Holloway, and Alan Napier as the helpful Dr. Scott are all excellent, but many eyes will likely be on Ms. Russell, who earns our sympathies quickly.The execution by director Lewis Allen is efficient from start to finish, and everything leads to a nicely satisfying resolution.Easily comparable to the later "The Haunting", "The Uninvited" is one of the better films of its kind.Eight out of 10..
An effective enough little ghost story that sustains a mood of Gothic mystery for almost its entire running time and then wraps everything up patly and rather hilariously in the last five minutes.You'll be able to spot the "twist" in the film from a mile away, but that doesn't spoil the enjoyment to be had from the movie's setting, a haunted house perched on the edge of a cliff in the English countryside.
Thoroughly enjoyed Turner Classic Movie's Halloween presentation of the classic ghost story, "The Uninvited." Milland's character is much warmer and self-deprecating than his later performances.
With the beautiful (but sad) Gail Russell, Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Cornelia Otis Skinner, this is a terrific movie of the period.
I really liked, how the film combined horror with romance, which created a relationship between Ray Milland & Gail Russell, and was totally convincing.....
It is one of those films with strange and ambiguous relationships between the characters.A brother-sister duo (Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey) is impressed by a large mansion while on a trip to a seaside town.
Uninvited, The (1944) *** (out of 4) A brother and sister (Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey) buy an old house and soon begin to hear crying and other strange noises.
"The Uninvited" (1944) takes place on the English coast where a brother and sister (Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey) become enchanted with and move into an old seaside house that has stood uninhabited for years.
One could say this is Hitchcockesque, except for its pervasiveness: Hitch usually uses his comic relief more sparingly; when he doesn't, the difference is that between a humoresque "The Trouble With Harry" and the allegro con suspense "North by Northwest." Interesting that writer Cornelia Otis Skinner plays Miss Holloway in "The Uninvited," as Russell had her first starring role as the author later this same year, 1944, in the movie version of the autobiographical novel "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay," co-written with Emily Kimbrough.
I'm a big fan of classic supernatural movies, and The Uninvited is an enjoyable ghost story that takes the subject seriously, but it does have a few flaws.
Set in Cornwall, it tells a simple story in which Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey play the new owners of a large house on the coast.
The story follows Milland and his sister (Ruth Hussey), who buy a supposedly haunted house in Scotland.
The film features Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey in the lead roles, brother and sister who happen to come onto a sea-coastal house located in Cornwall, England.
Ray Milland is the handsome hero and Gail Russell is the lovely young lady who seems to attract considerable attention from the ghost.One of the elements that I liked best about the movie was the music, the song, Stella by Starlight.
Lewis Allen directed this superb haunted house film that stars Ray Milland & Ruth Hussy as Roderick & Pamela Fitzgerald, two siblings who buy an abandoned and isolated Seaside house on the English coast in 1937.
It is sold to them by Commander Beech(played by Donald Crisp) who is cagey about its past, though his granddaughter Stella Meredith(played by Gail Russell) is at first reluctant to see it sold, but later changes her mind, and a romance brews between her and Roderick, though disturbances in the house(a disembodied woman's crying) leads them to believe they have a ghost, prompting them to investigate its past, which involves Stella and her old Nurse Carmela, who is also haunting the home...What is really going on?
Milland and Hussey are good but Russell is terrible and Cornelia Otis Skinner is LOTS of fun as a villainess.So a serious spooky ghost story.
Gail Russell takes the role of Milland's love interest but her part plays a far more vital role in the final outcome, Alan Napier is in as the local doctor and performs with gentleman-like professionalism while Cornelia Otis Skinner almost steals the limelight from the rest and delivers an enigmatic performance.On an overall scale, The Uninvited is a well-made haunted house horror that utilises its resources quite well to keep the audience's interest alive but it's not scary, or maybe time has diminished its scare factor by a great deal.
Director Lewis Allen's 1944 film "The Uninvited" features Ray Milland as Roderick Fitzgerald, a composer from London who, on holiday with his sister Pamela (Hussey) comes across an abandoned mansion by the sea.
As expected, strange things begin to happen in the house - scared pets, cold rooms, mysterious sounds  which rattle the pair, yet inspire them to explore the history of the house, and the lives of its former occupants further, exposing a secret that could threaten the life of Stella, a young woman that Roderick has become very fond of."The Uninvited", shot in black and white, is a great spooky film.
This movie is one of the scariest ghost story films I have ever seen.
Based on Dorothy Macardle's best selling novel, and directed by the wonderful Lewis Allen, this wonderful mysterious film stars Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Cornelia Otis Skinner and introduces Gail Russell to film audiences.
Well acted and photographed for its time, the story tells of spirits that linger in the house, recently purchased by Milland and sister Hussey, that seek revenge for something that happened in the past which caused Gail's departed mother to leap off the cliff into the sea.