The Uninvited (1944)

A music critic (Ray Milland) and his sister (Ruth Hussey, PHILADELPHIA STORY) come across a large house on the seaside cliffs of Cornwall. They fall in love with the house and buy it but shortly thereafter mysterious things begin to happen and they begin to explore the history of the house and the tragedy that occurred there. One of the great ghost movies to come out of Hollywood, the film makers take the supernatural seriously and avoid, for the most part, the comedic aspects that usually accompanied movies dealing with the supernatural. Taking a page from Val Lewton's RKO films of the period, director Lewis Allen goes heavy on the spooky atmosphere without showing too much of the ghostly apparitions. The film is helped by the lovely presence of the doe eyed Gail Russell in her film debut as the young girl the house wants and by Victor Young's strong score. His love theme under the title Stella By Starlight became a popular hit of the day. With a rare film appearance by the stage actress Cornelia Otis Skinner as well as Donald Crisp, Dorothy Stickney and Alan Napier.