Sunday, November 19, 2017

323 - The Uninvited, United States, 1944. Dir. Lewis Allen.

Sunday, November 19, 2017

323 - The Uninvited, United States, 1944.  Dir. Lewis Allen.

Disturbances wouldn't disturb me.

So says Roderick Fitzgerald to Commander Beech.  He is talking about the house.  The charming old house on top of the cliff overlooking the sea.

They call the sea the haunted shores.

They call the house Windward.

Roderick and his sister Pamela want to buy it.  It reminds her of childhood.  It has a room where he can work on his music and writing.

He should be a composer, but he has settled for being a music critic as a way of paying the bills.

"What a job.  Going to concerts and telling your readers how bad the music was."

They buy the house without an inspection.  Without sleeping on it.  Without any due diligence of any kind.  It is just too charming.  They make Commander Beech an offer.  He accepts without countering.  They are surprised.  He tells them he will take less because it is haunted.

Haunted.

Ha!  Fitzgerald laughs at such a silly notion.  He is not worried about the house's being haunted.

He will be.

Commander Beech's granddaughter Stella Meredith loves the place and does not wish it to be sold.  Commander Beech has forbidden her to go there, so he is all too happy to get it off his hands.

Little does he know that Fitzgerald will take a liking to Stella and take her out in the boat.  And invite her back when he gets back from London.  Invite her back.  Inside the house.

Things are going to get darker.

Something happened once in that house.

Something involving Stella's mother.

Stella's mother returns with the scent of mimosa.

Another presence returns with a different scent.

They are both uninvited.

Stella's father, Mr. Meredith, was an artist.  He painted.  In that room where Roderick wants to write his music.

But something happened.

And it has never been resolved.  Now it wants to be resolved.

Painters need models.

And sometimes models . . . well . . .

Dr. Scott gets involved.

So does that strange former secretary named Miss Holloway.

Somebody is up to something.

And they might not make it in time.

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