Uncle Silas (1947)

A Freaking Fantastic Movie With Well Plotted Suspenseful Moments ... Jean Simmons Is Excellent As The Trusting, Loving Niece (Caroline Ruthyn) ... Derrick De Marney Is Equally As Good As The Loving, Caring (We Know From The Very Beginning Up To No Good) Uncle Siras ... Even Though We Know What The Characters Are Up To This In No Way Takes Away From Their Performances ... The Combination Of Uncle Siras, His Son And Their Governess Seem To Be More Than Caroline Will Be Able To Handle On Her Own ... The Setting Is Excellent For This Story And The Props Add Greatly To The Story ... Of Special Note For Me Was The Handling Of The Camera, Angles And Motions Were Used That I Had Never Seen Before And Gave The Movie A (At Times) Kind Of Overwhelming Feeling Of Hopelessness ... If You Ever Get A Chance To Catch This One Don't Pass It Up ...

I read in other user comments above that several U.S. viewers have only been able to see "Uncle Silas"(1947) in the inferior and censored title of "The Inheritance".Like the original "The Wicked Lady" 1945 which had to be re-shot minus décolletage, this was released at a time in America of great prudery.I am happy to report to my said U.S.brethren that the original U.K. version is available from www.myrarefilms.co.uk for which I paid £5 or about $7 + postage in your currency.In this more liberal climate I hate films being censored, after all, I am 69,so purchase a copy of the original rather than watch an inferior copy.Jean Simmons was born in 1929 so when asked her age (16) in "Uncle Silas" she is nearly telling her real age of 18 and very young fresh & lovely she looks.Full marks to the set & dress designers to show clothes worn by ladies in 1845.Derek de Marney for once plays a villain as Uncle Silas compared to say "Young & Innocent" (1937) directed by Hitchcock, when he played the hero wrongly accused of murdering a lady associate found strangled on a beach.Other reviewers have adequately explained the plot above but do make an effort to see this film if you like Gothic horror.

I saw this film years ago as "The Inheritance," and I never forgot it. When I read the description of "Uncle Silas," I thought it sounded suspiciously like "The Inheritance" - after all, did Jean Simmons go around playing one young heir after another? After seeing it again, I'm not surprised I remembered it."Uncle Silas" is a Gothic thriller, based on a novel by Sheridan Le Fanu, and directed by Charles Frank, who also directed "So Long at the Fair," another wonderful film. "Uncle Silas" is the story of a young heiress, Caroline Ruthyn (Simmons) who is sent to live with her uncle (Derrick De Marney) in a dark, eerie mansion after her father's death. Her father adored his brother, who was once accused of murder, and has made Carolina a ward of Silas. However, as he's dying, he tries to change this provision, but dies before he can do it. Silas, with the help of Caroline's ex-governess (Katina Paxinou) plan to get rid of Caroline, since the inheritance then passes to him.The acting of especially DeMarney and Paxinou is fairly over the top, but I believe this was intentional on the part of the director to give it that good old scary Gothic feel. Sinister characters often aren't very subtle in Gothic books. Jean Simmons is lovely as Catherine - vulnerable, sweet, and naive, making her a perfect target of danger.This story was remade as "The Dark Angel" back in the '80s - I remember the sets being completely overdone, a kind of Gothic version of Liberace's house. I don't remember much else, but I'm sure O'Toole was marvelous as Silas.As others have pointed out, the British version is recommended.

This moody version of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's classic Gothic novel is quite simply one of the most accomplished British films of the 1940's.With cinematography reminiscent of (and rivaling)that seen in David Lean's "Great Expectations," it is a pity that this picture is not better known.This may accrue from the fact that an American, heavily edited, and re-titled version ("The Inheritance") is the only print in U.S. circulation.At all costs avoid this butcher job, as the 6 minutes of missing footage are very germane to the story's narrative, mood and imagery.Jean Simmons is a reminder of yet another lost dramatic staple--a decorous, demure heroine, who speaks in complete sentences with flawless diction. Her lady like deportment combined with her unquestioned loveliness makes her a very sympathetic Lady Caroline. Mr. De Marney is similarly impressive as the sinister, titular character. But the film belongs to Katina Paxinou as the redoubtable Madame De La Rougierre. I believe Mr. Le Fanu would approve of her performance. In any case, her first appearance, as depicted with her malignant face peering through a rain lashed window pane, is as startling an entrance as one could hope for.Laurence Irving's art direction is superb, (and some of his sketches for this film are included in Edward Carrick's "Art and Design in the British Film," Dennis Dobson, London) fully realizing, as it does, the stories' atmospheric requirements, and amply demonstrating how superior sound stages are to location shooting.All told, this picture stands favorably alongside Thorold Dickinson's "Queen of Spades," Terence Young's "Corridor of Mirrors," Anthony Pelissier's "Rocking Horse Winner," Leslie Arliss' "Night Has Eyes," Jacques Tourneur's "Experiment Perilous," and Martin Gabel's "The Lost Moment," as one of a small group of visually distinguished Gothic melodramas of the 1940's, and far superior to the more recent television version, which despite the welcome presence of Peter O'Toole and Barbara Shelley lacks both flavor and mood.