Guest In The House (1944)

A young doctor (Scott McKay) brings his fiancee (Anne Baxter), who is an invalid, to his brother's (Ralph Bellamy) home to recover. But the frail young woman turns out to be a devious psychotic who plots to destroy the family that took her in. Based on a play by Hagar Wilde and Dale Eunson which had a brief five month run on Broadway and directed by John Brahm (HANGOVER SQUARE). Baxter's manipulative liar seems like a dry run for her Eve Harrington in ALL ABOUT EVE six years later. The main problem with these type of movies is that too often the whack job is played so broadly that one can't help but wonder why nobody else in the movie can see through the schemer. Baxter is in full "dragon lady" mode and one gets frustrated when everyone coos over the poor darling when you're screaming at the screen, "Kick the bitch out!". But, of course, if they did, there would be no movie. Still, for what it is, it gets the job done and I wasn't bored for a minute. The Oscar nominated score is by Werner Janssen. With Ruth Warrick, Marie McDonald, Aline MacMahon, Jerome Cowan, Margaret Hamilton and Percy Kilbride.