'The Uninvited' - Movie Review

Set in 1937 (but shot in 1944), Rick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland) and his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) find a house on a cliff by the sea, and when their dog chases a squirrel through an open window, they discover the house is abandoned. They fall in love with the place (it's gorgeous, why wouldn't they?) and decide to buy the house, give up their jobs in London, and live there. The owner ("Commander Beech," played by Donald Crisp) is willing to let the place go at a surprisingly low price. Rick meets, and starts to flirt with the Commander's daughter Stella (Gail Russell). Stella is unhappy the house has been sold, but Rick is more than happy to have her visit it. But both he, his sister, and their housekeeper all notice strange things happening in the house ...

There are some elements of horror, but most modern watchers would label this as "mildly supernatural" and leave it at that. It does succeed in being both charming and somewhat creepy, and the end product is something I quite enjoyed.

An odd post script comes from my noticing that Dr. Scott, played by Alan Napier, towers over Milland. I thought "Ray Milland is NOT short!" I was correct: IMDB puts him at 6'1". Napier turns out to be 6'6" ... and in looking that up, I found out that his most famous role was Alfred Pennyworth, the Adam West version of Batman's butler. Too bad he was remembered most for that: he seems to have been a decent actor.