The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945)

Geraldine Fitzgerald is the sister from hell in "The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry," a 1945 film directed by Robert Siodmak, who knows a thing or two about suspense. The film stars George Sanders, Ella Raines, Moyna Macgill (Angela Lansbury's mother), and Sara Algood.The Quincy family, a brother (Sanders) and two sisters (Macgill and Fitzgerald) live in an big, old house - all that was left to them by their parents. Harry is the head designer of patterns in a cloth family; his sister Lettie (Fitzgerald) is a professional invalid; and his other sister, Hester (Macgill), is a rather silly, complaining woman who feels unappreciated.When a New York firm comes to town to look at the cloth factory, Harry meets and falls in love with Deborah (Raines) and announces they are going to be married. Hester is thrilled beyond belief for him; Lettie, on the other hand, is very upset. Deborah has her number immediately and is determined not to allow Lettie to break up her relationship with Harry.Lettie and Hester are supposed to move into another house, but that doesn't happen. On the day Harry and Deborah are to leave for Boston to be married, Lettie has one of her "attacks" and Harry refuses to leave town. Deborah realizes that he will never leave his sisters and walks out of his life. When Harry finds out that Lettie's inability to find a suitable house after six months and her illness were just manipulations to drive Deborah away, something in him snaps.Based on a play, this film proved somewhat controversial. Censorship would not allow the original ending, so five different endings were filmed and shown in preview. The ending that was chosen is derivative, drawing on a device used successfully in the past.I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I really loved the way it ended, in spite of some people seeing it as a cop-out. I liked it because of my sympathy for Harry, so well portrayed by George Sanders, who was cast against type here.Geraldine Fitzgerald gives a fantastic performance as the awful Lettie, an unbelievable shrew. Fitzgerald was perfect. Macgill is excellent as well, likable because she sincerely wants the best for Harry, and annoying because she's a whiner. Ella Raines made a lovely Deborah.Very entertaining - I loved it!

The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (1945)George Sanders is a wonder of subtlety, and he rules this movie almost from secrecy he's so quiet and nondescript to a T. He lives in a small town with all the usual small town ways, including insularity. There are three women around him: a plain sister who is simple and sweet and loves him, a beautiful sister who is obsessed with keeping him a bachelor, and a newcomer, a New Yorker who is in town because of the fabric factory that dominates the town.This is pretty much the set up, and it's plenty because it is the subtle and not so subtle interactions and cross purposes of these three women and the somewhat hapless Mr. Sanders that makes the movie. It's really funny and sad and romantic in its own quirky way. It never loses its way, and the types that each women represent get developed with clarity enough to make you really want what Sanders wants. And doesn't get.The director Robert Siodmak would be famous soon for a series of great film noirs, but it was his next film that seems to mark a transition, "Spiral Staircase." In that, the photography soars and the sinister aspects surrounding ordinary people add a level of intrigue and fear that this movie simply doesn't want to have. And so you might in some ways find it a little plain, a little sweet without the hard edge that the nasty sister is meant to alone supply. Still, she convinces me just fine, and I rather like the confident New York woman (a little like Bacall in this way). It does come around to Sanders, the man who committed suicide with a note saying he was just a little bored with life. You can feel that in him here, remarkably. He's so perfectly weary, and yet rather content still. In fact, one treat in the middle of things is him playing piano (he does play) and singing. A remarkable man and unusual actor, worth seeing here.

Try to imagine Harry, an aging bachelor who lives in Corinth, New Hampshire, with his two sisters. It's enough to send anyone to commit a crime just so he can get away from these two vultures that totally dominate his life. Harry Quincy, and his siblings, are local aristocracy who are confined to share the big family mansion. The two sisters, Letty and Hester are constantly quarreling about the most menial things.When sophisticated Deborah Brown appears in the picture, Harry sees a way out to escape his poor existence in the provincial town. Little does he realize that Lettie, his domineering sister, wants for him. This turns Harry into a hatred for the sister that evidently feels another kind of love for his brother. After a bitter quarrel between Lettie and Hester, he decides he must take corrective action to get rid of his problems. In turn, he will destroy the cozy family life he, and his siblings, enjoyed."The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry" is a film that was ahead of its times in the subtle way it dealt with sibling incest, which is behind the action. Based on a stage play, this feature, directed by Robert Siodmak, was greatly distorted by the Hays Commission in an ending that frankly, doesn't make much sense and doesn't add anything to our enjoyment of it. As a matter of fact, the warning at the end, doesn't quite make sense. We have all been led to believe one thing, yet the arrival of Deborah, out of nowhere, and the dream sequence, doesn't add up. Yet, in spite of the flaws, out attention is held because of the story and what has come before this let down of a finale.George Sanders does wonders with his Harry Quincy, the man who might be involved with his own sister. This was one of his best movies and he contributes to the enjoyment of this melodrama. Lovely Geraldine Fitzgerald plays the strident sister Letty. She is also quite effective in the way she plays the part of the sister who might be involved in more ways than one with her own brother. Moyna Macgill, (Angela Lansbury's mother) has also great fun as Hester, the other sister. Sara Allwood appears as the family cook. Ella Raines makes a sophisticated Deborah Brown.Who knows what the film would have turned out like if Robert Siodmak, the director, would have been able to do the story as he probably conceived it.

It's been a while since such an excellent feature film played on my VCR. Kudos to the UCLA Film and Television Archive for restoring this all around well-acted, well-written, incestuous-driven murder mystery which when viewed twice makes the so-called "tacked on ending" very plausible and even MORE effective. Fitzgerald's character knows no boundaries to her familial manipulations and the writing brilliantly has her warring w/ Raines' character for Sanders' very soul. If only ALL the alternate endings where available to view like on "Clue." It impressed me as much as "Memento" although the structure here is linear. BTW: Raines in more than one scene is the exact image of a very young Lauren Bacall.