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. They discover that is is haunted. Rather than flee, they endure the frightening situation and try to put the spirit to rest. The photography and art direction are great. The house looks elegant at yet slightly sinister but not overtly "spooked-up" . The acting is good, although somewhat dated in delivery and style when viewed today. And the story follows an interesting flow of turns and revelations, with a satisfying conclusion. The scares in the film are well handled. When there are strange noises at night, or when Milland is exploring in the dark, the sense of unease is handled well. One of my favourite scenes is when all the characters are in a room and some large double doors open. In the first second we don't register this, but when the doors are fully open and nobody is there. it's suddenly frightening. Same thing when Milland and Hussey hear noises at night and look down the stairs. Somehow, the inky blackness of the lower hallway looks horrific. The director should be given credit for being able to turn the mundane into the unsettling, and he does it on several occasions.However I said the film has flaws, and I do think it falls down in certain areas. There are scenes of humour inserted all over the place which really dilute the tension. Cute dogs and squirrels running about with Disney-esque music, Ray Milland saying he's feeling brave but performing almost goofy facial expressions to "portray" that he is not come to mind. The "salt-of-the-earth" Irish housekeeper is a complete cliché. To be honest the central premise is also slightly off-kilter by having Milland and Hussey as brother and sister rather than a married couple. This robs the film of having any real emotional heart as there is no visible emotional investment between the pair. Instead, they both find romance with other characters: Milland sets his cap at a 20 year old girl which is excruciating to watch as he is far too old for her, and Hussey gets stuck with a doctor as he's the first and only eligible male she meets in the movie. Ah, romance!One more thing that didn't sit well with me is how disappointing the climactic revelation is. It really only hit me on my second watch of the move, but the way the film wraps up the proceedings once the truth behind the haunting is revealed is botched. I think it's the way the revelation is handled by the actors who quickly blurt out some expository dialogue and that's that. The film doesn't do drama via close ups or pauses, and the way that the character of Stella almost tosses off what could be a life-changing revelation with a few seconds of script reading is very poor. And now I realise what troubles me about the movie as a whole - none of the characters has any emotional depth. Milland and Hussey are as dull and dry as cardboard. Stella is blank and gauche, and everyone else is even more lifeless. In writing this I have just realised I how much have heavily criticised a movie which I am actually quite fond of, and that I recommend as a good treatment of the supernatural in serious vintage cinema. I still think it is, but I'm not going to shy away from saying that it has faults. Ghostly atmosphere and unease it definitely has, but passion or believable emotion seems to be lacking.

This film worked a lot better for me as a mystery than the purported scary ghost story it was set up to be by Turner Classic Movie host Ben Mankiewicz when I watched it this morning. The story holds one's attention level well enough, but I never got the impression that there was something really ominous about to happen. Roderick 'Rick' Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) sort of dropped that ball when he ducked under the covers like a grown up scaredy cat.Probably the scariest aspect of the film turned out to be old Miss Holloway (Cornelia Otis Skinner, even that name sounds scary) as the proprietor of the Mary Meredith retreat - 'Health Through Harmony' - that was a good one. It was more than a little fitting that the biddy went a little bit crackers of her own after sending Stella Meredith (Gail Russell) on her way back to the Windward homestead. And speaking of Stella, didn't it seem like she wasn't even the slightest bit astonished when she found out that her mother wasn't her mother, but that she was the daughter of the gypsy mistress? I think that would have freaked me out just a little bit if it happened to me.Say, you know, and I don't know why stuff like this intrigues me, but how do you think the film makers got the squirrel to act squirrelly enough to pull off the scene with Bobby the pooch. The rodent hit his marks perfectly across the floors and up the chimney, just like a real pro. I mean, you can't teach or direct a squirrel to do what you want them to do like a dog, so I'm just a bit puzzled by it all. As well as Rick sticking his hand under the dresser to find the animal, geez, what a dumb move that was.Well, I may sound a little flippant here with my review but I actually liked the picture well enough to recommend it for classic movie fans. Once again, the horror or scary aspects of the film are not what drives it, but the odd, almost sinister motivations of characters like Commander Beech (Donald Crisp) and the aforementioned Miss Holloway. The Commander was actually quite a creep when you get right down to it, at one point he even stated that his granddaughter Stella wasn't as beautiful as her mother. In retrospect, I wonder who he was talking about?

this film is the epitome of excellence. who can miss with director of photography Charles Lang..the haunting music score...the sent of mimosa...the studio which i remembered 5o years ago i dreamt of having. now the acting...Ruth hussy hussy and ray Milan true to themselves that is Excellency. Cornelius skinner she gave me the creeps. not an over abundance of ghost and stuff but just enough to keep us on edge even when you have seen it 4 times. Now dessert. Gail Russell ... cant believe some foul mouths said she couldn't act.....she carried the film and came out smelling like roses. What a sad lost and i still have tears thinking of her sad life. all and all borrow it....buy it.....copy it......you wont regret it

This was a lovely ghost film from Hollywood's Golden Age, with an impeccable lustrous production from Paramount and an excellent array of actors to put the hokum across. And it is hokum – there's nothing wrong with that at all, and usually I prefer it that way; usually it's much better than being considered capital letter Art.An erudite brother and sister are smitten by and decide to buy a windswept quaint house on the Cornish coast which although it was signalled to them in various ways prior to purchase, turned out to have a houseful of secrets. After a degree of ghostly detective work the Past (a mere 17 years previous) gave up a torrid love affair, an illegitimate baby, murder, lesbians, a seance and above all a seemingly malevolent ghost – or two. And by the end the portly Ray Milland was going to shack up with a young Gail Russell, while his sister Ruth Hussey was being sized up by the always avuncular looking Alan Napier. Yes, it's a post-Rebecca woman's picture par excellence, novel written by Dorothy Macardle. In civilised Western society the ladies rightly or wrongly are perceived to always speak from a position of Belief in the Afterlife, the gentlemen always from a position of Scoffing. Although main man Milland initially frivolously vacillates overall this film is in no Doubt: ghosts exist as surely as there has to be a point in living. It's all done very well with a spooky atmosphere you could cut with a knife. And dim or dark rooms or passages, creepy studio sets and a flowery romantic script acted with dignity and straight faces and with some classic crackpot wispy dialogue that might make the ladies nod their heads sagely and the gentlemen guffaw loudly. In that sense it's probably more comparable to Now Voyager than to The Innocents. It has a rushed ending that doesn't invite scrutiny, but it certainly doesn't outstay its invitation.I still love this wonderful film even though I can be even more frivolous - but hopefully more consistent - than Ray Milland! Except, I too believe in ghosts