Now we head back to Hollywood for 1944's THE UNINVITED, notable for being one of the first Hollywood films to feature a house that actually ends up being haunted by real ghosts, instead of impostors.The film stars Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey as brother and sister vacationing in England who encounter an abandoned seaside mansion, fall in love with it, and decide to purchase it. They're surprised when the house's owner (Donald Crisp) unloads the house on the cheap, especially since his daughter (Gail Russell) seems quite attached to it.
It isn't long after they move in that they realize there's something wrong with the place. There's an attic room where a foreboding presence resides, none of their pets seem to want to go up the stairs, and a disembodied woman's voice weeps throughout the night.
The duo investigates the house's history with the help of the local doctor (Alan Napier, Alfred from the BATMAN TV series) and even conduct a seance. It seems there's a sordid history with the family who once resided in the house.
Like THE CAT AND THE CANARY, THE UNINVITED spends a lot of time on comedy. Our brother and sister team of heroes in this film is a somewhat lazy, bemused, affected duo who, with their terrier, are kind of a low rent Nick and Nora. Still, Milland is amusing in this light role and has some of the charm of a Carey Grant type as he romances the previous house owner's daughter, Gail Russell, who probably comes out the best in this whole affair. Russell probably has the most to work with, showing a full range of emotions as her family's past is unearthed.
The ghostly effects, when they arrive, look pretty cool and are nicely understated. For all the lighthearted comedy and romance, there are definitely some real creepy moments that go far beyond bumps in the night.
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