Accidentally ran across this--awesome, with Aline MacMahon so good and gracious and Basil Rathbone at his skin-crawling best. I enjoyed the evil personalities of the confederates, too. No one seemed ready to help this lady but her courage won the day. This story takes place all inside the lady's house, outdoor scenes only by reference, so it did come across rather like a play than a movie.Rather dated, of course, but a great little thriller to root for the "good guys". And, of course, I enjoyed the costumes and room decorations. I recognized "Mr Wiggs" at the very end. All the players were very convincing.

"Kind Lady" is based on a stage play. This version stars Aline MacMahon, Basil Rathbone, Nola Luxford, Mary Carlisle, and Donald Meek. It was remade with Ethel Barrymore and Maurice Evans in 1951."Kind Lady" is the story of Mary Herries, a wealthy British woman who takes pity on a starving artist, Henry Abbott (Rathbone), his wife, and baby and take them in. Her home and life are soon taken over by Abbott and his gang, and Mary is a prisoner in her own home while she is gradually robbed.Somehow, with a younger Mary and Henry, this film has a different and better dynamic, although the denouement in the 1951 film is more interesting than the ending here. Here, Mary still has the possibility of romance in her life, and though it isn't explored (or, given the class distinctions, probably not even a thought), there is some chemistry in the beginning between Mary and the debonair, dashing Rathbone.Aline MacMahon, normally in character roles, is excellent as Mary, a formal though generous and honest woman who cares for the less fortunate. Rathbone is dastardly and smooth as silk as Henry, whose aggressiveness becomes apparent almost immediately as he pressures Mary into buying one of his ugly paintings.This version is a little less cruel in its treatment of poor Mary, who seems to have the freedom to move around; in the '51 version, she doesn't, and Henry actually does her portrait.Both films are very good, as it's a strong story, but the '51 comes out as slightly superior. I did love this cast, though.

What an odd little movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Plot-rich but very stagey, almost as if it might have originally been a play, KIND LADY tells the story of a wealthy woman (McMahon) who takes in a starving artist (Rathbone) and his wife and daughter. Soon enough,she finds the artist is no artist, but a grifter with an extended family of grifters who soon move in on her. What they are after is her extensive collection of paintings, which are worth a fortune. The bogus artist and his crew hold the old lady captive, and only an 11th-hour intervention by a suspicious relative saves the day. A young Rathbone is suitably sinister and suave as the head of this pack of thieves and cutthroats, and McMahon is thoroughly convincing as the wealthy old woman who is much too generous. The marvelous character actor Dudley Digges plays Rathbone's main confederate. There is a doctor among this group of thugs, but it is never explained why he is part of the group. A little back story couldn't have hurt, like maybe he was peddling drugs and lost his license to practice medicine. Also, Rathbone is so elegant, one has to wonder why he has thrown in with this mostly ragtag lot, other than to assume these are the best people he could find to aid and abet him with his scam. Or perhaps he just acts and looks elegant, and is as sleazy as the rest of the crew when not working one of his deals. Who knows? A real curio with a top-notch cast, perfect for lovers of creaky old melodramas..

This is a great example of an original film and its remake being nearly identical. Perhaps the remake is a tiny bit better, but they are just so close that if you've seen one, there's no reason to see both.Both are extremely frightening movies--more so than many "horror films" because the terror is more believable and threatening. It all starts when a nice rich lady helps out a supposedly nice guy down on his luck (Basil Rathbone). Soon, Rathbone's entire family is living in the woman's home and the doctor advises the sick wife and baby stay there until they are able to be moved. However, after a few days, it becomes apparent that they are NOT ill and the family is milking the woman's kindness for all its worth. When she tries to throw them out, the family refuses and have replaced the servants with a band of thieves who terrorize and bleed the woman of her money! It's all very tough to watch, as the people are so evil and cruel and you really get pulled into her nightmare. However, for lovers of suspense films, it's an excellent picture. Just be warned that it is pretty intense stuff--definitely not a film for the kids!