Based on the play "Uncle Harry" by Thomas Job, this movie is a gripping psychological drama in which romance, obsession and murder all feature prominently. Its story charts how the mundane, well- ordered lives of three siblings who live together are suddenly disrupted by the arrival of someone who provokes strong emotions in two of them, and in so doing, brings the presence of some very dark desires to the surface.Middle-aged bachelor Harry Melville Quincey (George Sanders) leads a desperately dull existence in the small town of Corinth, New Hampshire where he spends his working days as a fabric designer in the local mill until he returns to his home where he lives with his two squabbling sisters, Lettie (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and Hester (Moyna MacGill). Lettie is a spoilt and selfish young woman who spends her days in bed complaining about a series of imaginary illnesses and bickering with her older, widowed sister, who she criticises for gossiping with some of the townsfolk. Harry's life suddenly brightens up when Deborah Brown (Ella Raines), a designer from the company's New York City office, arrives on the scene and is obviously instantly attracted to the man who the younger employees at the mill affectionately call "Uncle Harry".Harry and Deborah soon get to know each other better, fall in love and decide to get married. Hester is genuinely happy for her brother but Lettie, who's very attached to Harry and likes to monopolise his attention, easily becomes jealous of anyone (even his dog) who takes his attention away from her. As a cultivated person, she doesn't overtly show her displeasure at the presence of Deborah but instead, in her own refined and affected way, tries to discourage or undermine the relationship. When her scheming fails and it becomes clear that the two sisters should vacate the house for the future newlyweds to move in, Lettie uses the opportunity to frustrate the couple's plans by saying that every house that's offered to her is unsuitable. This goes on for so long that Harry and Deborah decide, in desperation, to elope together. On the day when they're ready to leave town and get married, Lettie fakes a collapse, gets rushed into hospital and Harry's conscience compels him to abandon his plans and instead, rush to her side.Harry's actions result in Deborah returning to New York City alone and he later hears that she has new marriage plans in place. In his sadness, he reflects on Deborah's words when she said that "Lettie has no intention of setting you free, not as long as she lives" and this inspires him to take revenge on his evil sister by using the poison that she'd bought to administer to his sick old dog called "Weary". The ramifications of his actions, however, go far beyond anything he could ever have imagined.As a rather passive man who'd felt a great responsibility to support his two sisters, Harry had tolerated their arguments and eccentricities and dutifully did what he considered to be the right thing until he realised how destructive Lettie's feelings for him had become and this provoked a profound change in him (which is contradicted by the movie's absurd censor-imposed ending). George Sanders, in an excellent performance, makes his character's descent to the dark side understandable and Ella Raines, whose expressions are priceless, is a pleasure to watch as her character never, even for a second, gets taken in by Lettie's antics. Sanders and Raines are also good in their scenes together and generate a few laughs when they launch into a rather risqué conversation about stargazer Harry's 9" telescope.Geraldine Fitzgerald is also perfectly cast as the manipulative Lettie who asserts that she has always known what's best for Harry and says that her devotion to him was the main reason why she never married."The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry" is a fine, well-acted movie which features a tagged-on ending which was necessary to placate the demands of the censor who, it seems, must have been totally unconcerned about the story's various allusions to Lettie's incestuous feelings for her brother.

George Sanders always played it cool, whether it be the obvious lover of Maxim DeWinter's late wife in "Rebecca", the nobleman adviser of the title character in "The Picture of Dorian Gray" or even the acerbic columnist of "All About Eve". Even his ultra villains (pirates, nefarious military leaders) had a twinkle in the eye of their villainy. So when Sanders played a "good guy", audiences were very wary. From the very start of this movie, it is quite stunning to see him playing such a calm, mild-mannered character, a beloved member of his community who has never married and is seemingly devoted to his two spinster sisters, the seemingly much older Moyna Macgill (who complains that nobody pays any attention to her) and the plant-obsessed beauty Geraldine Fitzgerald who on the surface appears to be quite normal but is really more grasping than how MacGill seems to be. When their cozy little world is interrupted by a visitor from New York (Ella Raines) who falls in love with Sanders, the sisters act pleased, but are they really, and how will Sanders respond when he finds out the efforts made to keep him and Raines from marrying? A medium sized town in Massachussatts is the setting for this drama of the destruction of family and the inner-workings of one's mind when one is pushed to the limits and to the point of no return. The twists and turns in the plot become quite aggravating with the way the story unfolds, but in watching Sanders suddenly very slowly snap after Raines leaves him for another man (realizing that Fitzgerald is always going to be a thorn in their side), you can understand why the writers choose to play it out the way they do. The performances are all excellent with small town U.S.A. atmosphere perfectly designed. Harry Von Zell adds bombastic humor as the drug store clerk who drunkenly drops a bombshell on Sanders.Then, there's Sara Allgood, the veteran Irish actress, giving her all to the lovable but crotchety cook who constantly argues with Macgill over everything and anything, from gooseberry pie to too much sugar in the coffee. Their arguments aren't just light-hearted banter for humor sake: they really seem like they are serious about what they are fighting for. The argument erupts even further when Macgill reveals the truth about what sister Fitzgerald has been up to, and it is the performance through Sanders' eyes which reveals the inner turmoil he's been undergoing, living with three women and basically under a rock as he discovers the life he's given up to cater to their needs. Not many movies really give a hint into the future of psychology with realistic portrayals of passive/aggressive neurotics like Fitzgerald, and the thundering volcano that can erupt at any time when somebody seemingly cool, calm and collected realizes what a sap they've been.

Harry lives with his two sisters. Hester is a widow. She's the nice one although ever- suffering. Lettie is younger, in her 40's, unmarried and much, much too devoted to Harry. Everything is relatively peachy with the three; they are the last of a once highly prominent family but since the lost the family fortune in the stock market crash of 1929, they have been reduced to gradual decay and Harry supports them in the gloomy old family home by working at the local textile mill as a fabric designer. Harry is an effete, sullen, boring, lump of milk-toast played by George Sanders of ( one of Zsa-Zsa Gabor's stable of ex's).Enter sexy,slinky, Lauren Bacall-Veronica Lake look-alike, Debrorah from NYC and the movie picks up. Sister Lettie is totally. possessive,manipulating and controlling. She will not stand by and see her precious Harry attend to, let alone marry Deborah. After she fails to intimidate Deb, Lettie fakes Illness and Deb leaves Harry as Harrydumps their wedding plans to attend to ailing sister Lettie.Soon Harry discovers Lettie has connived all along to destroy Harry's marriage to Deb. He is angry so he poisons her cocoa but good sister Hester drinks it instead. Since Lettie and Hester had been fighting and since Lettie has bought the poison, they arrest and convict her even tho Lettie knows Harry meant to poison her.On the eve of Lettie's execution, Harry, guilt-ridden mess, confesses but nobody believes him and Lettie refuses to attest to his confession as she sees a future for Harry as a guilt-ridden mess. Harry goes home & in walks Deborah, she has come back to him, and then dead sister Hester walks in. The part of the movie where Harry poisons Lettie 's tea and then on has been a dream! Harry & Deb walk off to be married. The End. Definitely a nice drama piece, good twist ending so everyone is alive, no harm done. Not noir by any stretch, just good old B&W soap.

Robert Siodmak directs this psychological film noir that is based on the Broadway play Uncle Harry by Thomas Job. It stars George Sanders, Ella Raines, Geraldine Fitzgerald & Moyna MacGill. The story follows Harry Quincey (Sanders) a shy clothes designer in small town New England. He lives with his two sisters, the pretty but manipulative Lettie (Fitzgerald) and the more scatty and care free Hester (MacGill). Into his life comes the gorgeous Deborah Brown (Raines) who quickly brings colour to his otherwise dull existence. But Lettie is far from impressed and sets about doing all she can to stop the couple getting married and living together. Her actions will have dire consequences for all of the Quincey family.Though falling some way short of the noir standards of Siodmak's best genre efforts {The Killers/Criss Cross}, this none the less is a dandy piece dealing in various forms of obsession. Finding that it's produced by Joan Harrison gives weight to the notion that this is more a Hitchcockian small town thriller than an overtly film-noir piece. Harrison of course wrote a number of screenplays for Hitchcock, and sure enough as the film unfolds one feels like we are involved in something the big director would have revelled in. Quite what Hitch would have made of the palaver surrounding the ending of the film, one can only imagine, but yet again a nifty 40s thriller is saddled with an ending that has caused division across the decades.Because of the Hays code, five different endings were tested for the film, with the one chosen vastly different to the one in the play. So while I personally find the existing ending quirky, and certainly not film destroying, it's sad that the incestuous elements of the source have been jettisoned and therefore taking away a crucial dark edge to the turn of events in the last quarter of the film. Harrison was incensed and promptly quit Universal Pictures in protest. With hindsight now, they could have ended the film about ten minutes earlier and it would have worked better. But cest la vie and all that.Sanders is superb, very touching as the shy, naive designer pushed to his limit by sibling suffocation. Fitzgerald is glamorous and nails the devious side of her character with much conviction. While Raines, a touch underused due to the story, has a hard quality that puts one in mind of a certain Lauren Bacall, and that to my mind is very much a good thing. Some food for thought tho, I couldn't help wonder about if the roles had been reversed. Raines playing manipulative bitch and Fitzgerald the love interest definitely cries out as a winner me thinks.It's a conventional story, but one that has depth and boasts a director capable of crafting the right sort of itchy mood. There's no technical trickery exactly, but attention to detail exists and between them the makers have produced an intelligent and gripping film, that, in spite of some foregoing of dark emotional undercurrents, is very recommended to noir and Hitchcockian supporters. 7.5/10