The Uninvited is a 1944 American supernatural horror film that was directed by Lewis Allen and stars Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, and Donald Crisp. The film is based on Dorothy Macardle's novel Uneasy Freehold (1941), which was published in the United States as The Uninvited (1942) and deals with a brother and sister who purchase a house in Cornwall, England, that is plagued by paranormal events. The film is part of a cycle of supernatural-themed films that began appearing in the mid-1940s. Dodie Smith began writing the film, and Frank Partos was brought in by his friend, associate producer Charles Brackett. Brackett wanted to have the film directed by Alfred Hitchcock but could not organize plans with him, so Allen directed it. Filming began on April 16, 1943; Allen found working with Gail Russell, who was inexperienced and began crying several times, to be the most difficult part of filming.
The Uninvited was released in Washington, D.C., on February 10, 1944, and was one of the highest-grossing films of the year. On its release, it received positive reviews from trade papers Variety, Harrison's Reports, and The Monthly Film Bulletin. Critics were surprised the film's supernatural elements were presented as reality and that they found it genuinely frightening. The film was also praised in retrospective reviews. In the 1940s, director of photography Charles Lang Jr. was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the film, which was later adapted into two radio plays. The film did not create a wave of supernatural-themed horror films but led to further work by director Allen with Russell and with Milland. The song "Stella by Starlight", which was created for the film, became a popular jazz standard that was performed by Frank Sinatra, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis.
Plot In 1937, during a holiday to the coast of Cornwall, London music critic and composer Roderick "Rick" Fitzgerald and his sister Pamela fall in love with Windward House, an abandoned seaside home, and buy it from Commander Beech at the unusually low price of GB£1200 (). Rick and Pamela meet Beech's 20-year-old granddaughter Stella Meredith, who lives with her grandfather in the nearby town of Biddlecombe. Stella is deeply attached to the house, and its sale upsets her, despite its being where her mother Mary Meredith fell to her death from a nearby cliff seventeen years earlier. After Rick encounters Stella in town and spends the day with her, the commander forbids Stella to see Rick or to enter Windward House. She defies his orders, and Rick becomes infatuated with her.
The Fitzgeralds' initial enchantment with the house diminishes when they unlock an artist's studio, where they feel an inexplicable chill. Just before dawn, Rick hears the sobs of an unseen woman, which Pamela investigates while awaiting Rick's return with their Irish housekeeper Lizzie Flynn. The superstitious Lizzie notices a peculiar draft on the stairs. Lizzie's cat refuses to go upstairs, and the Fitzgeralds' dog escapes the house permanently. Rick and Pamela realize Windward House is haunted.
Stella visits Windward House for dinner and senses a spirit. Rather than fearing it, she associates the calming presence with her mother. Stella suddenly runs towards the cliff from which her mother fell to her death; Rick catches her just in time. Stella does not remember the near-fatal incident. The Fitzgeralds and the town physician Dr. Scott investigate and learn Stella's father, a painter, had had an affair with his model, a Spanish gypsy named Carmel.
Rick stages a séance to persuade Stella that her mother wants her to stay away from Windward House; however, the ghost takes over and says it is guarding Stella. Stella becomes possessed by the spirit and begins muttering in Spanish. Beech is distressed by Stella's renewed involvement with Windward and sends her to a sanatorium run by Miss Holloway, Mary's friend and confidante. The Fitzgeralds visit the sanatorium, unaware Stella is there; they question Holloway, who says Mary found out about the affair and took Carmel to Paris, leaving her there. Carmel subsequently returned to England, abducted the infant Stella from Windward House, and during a confrontation, pushed Mary off the cliff to her death. After Mary's death, Holloway took care of Carmel, who had contracted pneumonia and eventually died of it. Looking through his predecessor's records, Dr. Scott discovers Holloway may have hastened Carmel's death.
Dr. Scott is called away to care for an ailing Beech, who tells him Stella is at the sanatorium. Rick, Pam, and Scott telephone Miss Holloway to inform her they are on their way. Holloway tells Stella the Fitzgeralds have invited her to live with them. Stella happily takes the train home. Holloway tells Rick, Pam, and Scott that Stella is on her way to Windward House. There, Stella finds her grandfather in the studio; with the last of his strength, Beech begs Stella to leave, but she remains at his side. When a ghost manifests, Beech succumbs to a heart attack. Stella at first welcomes the ghost, believing it to be her mother, but then the apparition frightens her and she flees towards the cliff.
Rick and Dr. Scott arrive just in time to rescue Stella from the crumbling cliff. Back inside, the group return to the physician's journal, which the friendly spirit has opened at a certain page. They discover Carmel gave birth to a child in Paris, where Stella was born. The group realizes Carmel is Stella's mother, freeing Carmel's spirit to leave Windward, but something evil has remained. After sending everyone away, Rick confronts the spirit of Mary Meredith, telling her they are no longer afraid of her and that she no longer has any power over them. Defeated, Mary's spirit departs.
Cast Cast according to the American Film Institute film database.
Uncredited:
Production During and immediately after World War II, a small cycle of supernatural-themed films were released. These include A Guy Named Joe (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), and Portrait of Jennie (1948). In 1944, Jack Cartwright wrote in Motion Picture Daily there was a trend for "higher bracket horror pictures" around this period. This led to the production of similarly themed films such as Dead of Night (1945) and The Uninvited. Associate producer Charles Brackett wrote about working with Dodie Smith on The Uninvited on September 29, 1942, noting in his journal the two had "the opening of the pictured doped out with her. The end is still in the mist ..." Brackett and Smith discussed the script until on October 15, when Brackett suggested having Smith work with Frank Partos, a Hungarian-born screenwriter who went to Hollywood as a story scout in 1928. Brackett and Partos had worked together at Paramount in May 1934 for Her Master's Voice and remained friends. According to Brackett, Smith responded negatively to this suggestion and said to him, "You're worse than Sidney Franklin – he only changed one scene." On October 16, Brackett received a phone call from Smith, who stated she thought he was right about the screenplay and apologized to him. On October 20, Brackett met with Erik Charell, who suggested including "the sound of heart-beats, a fire that goes out, petals that fall from roses and ectoplasm climbing the stairs". Brackett met with Alfred Hitchcock on November 14, gave him a copy of The Uninvited, and asked him to read it. By November 21, Hitchcock was unable to work on The Uninvited but gave Brackett suggestions for the film. By January 1, 1943, Smith was still communicating with Brackett about The Uninvited; Brackett noted he was "rather disappointed in her revisions, which are always small and niggling," and contemplated taking her off the project.
Lewis Allen worked in both West End and Broadway theater for Gilbert Miller, and was connected with agent Louis Shurr, who connected him with Buddy DeSylva, an executive at Paramount Pictures. DeSylva had seen a play adaptation of Pride and Prejudice that Allen had directed and offered him work at Paramount. According to Allen, he had about six months of apprenticeship, initially at Paramount, working with directors including Preston Sturges and Mark Sandrich. During this period, Allen became friends with Brackett. By January 18, Allen had been reading the script of The Uninvited for DeSylva and noted the film's slow pace. By January 21, they had worked on a faster-paced and lighter introduction. By January 29, De Sylva had contacted Brackett, stating he wanted The Uninvited to be produced in March. On February 6, Brackett asked Allen to direct The Uninvited; It would be the first film Lewis Allen would direct. Brackett continue working on the script for The Uninvited and completed it on February 20. On March 2, Brackett read the script to Smith, who approved it. Brackett commented Smith was "afraid of the job of writing out scenes skeletonized by Frank [Partos], but is going over our first sequences seeing if she can approve them and if so going to work".
According to Allen, he had a lot of influence in the casting of the film. In his March 24 journal entry, Brackett said Allen, Partos, and himself were "knocked over the head by [the] extraordinary beauty" of Gail Russell and, after seeing her perform in Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour, commented, "she wasn't bad – not a brilliant actress but something which can really dazzle the beholders, if Lew can squeeze any kind of a performance out of her". Allen said he was not particularly happy with the casting of Russell, noting, "when she read for me, it was pretty bad". Also among the cast was Cornelia Otis Skinner, who at the time was working for Paramount on a screenplay for Our Hearts Were Young and Gay.
Filming of The Uninvited began on April 16, 1943. Filming took place near Fort Bragg, California. Scenes of village exteriors and sailing ships were filmed on studio backlots. On April 19, Brackett had a budget meeting, during which he unsuccessfully tried to get the film's schedule extended from 42 days to 50. On April 23, on viewing the daily rushes, Brackett said Russell's performance was "amateur and adenoidal", and Dodie Smith echoed similar distaste for Russell. Filming with Russell proved difficult; on May 3, Brackett wrote she would cry on set with her mother, claiming she had a sore throat, but in fact, Russell was crying because Allen had made her wear a hat for a scene for which she did not want to wear it. Allen said Russell's performance in the film was "manufactured" and added: "She could only do about five or six lines, and then she'd burst into tears." According to Allen, Russell, who had not drunk alcohol before, began drinking it to calm herself at the suggestion of the head of make-up on set. Issues also rose with Ray Milland, who on May 8 required eleven takes to film a scene. Allen spoke positively about working with Milland, stating he was very supportive of Allen, especially as a first-time film director. Allen also stated Milland would take Russell aside and continuously practice her lines with her. Allen felt the only person who reacted poorly to Russell was Donald Crisp, who did not like working with people whom he deemed to be non-professional actors. Filming was completed by mid-June 1943; in his journal, Brackett stated June 15 was the final filming day for The Uninvited.
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