The Unseen (1945)

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This follow-up to the classic Hollywood ghost story The Uninvited doesn't quite measure up to its predecessor. Joel McCrea stars as widower Davie Fielding, who has long been suspected of bringing about his wife's death. It helps not at all when a series of murders coincides with Fielding's move into… More This follow-up to the classic Hollywood ghost story The Uninvited doesn't quite measure up to its predecessor. Joel McCrea stars as widower Davie Fielding, who has long been suspected of bringing about his wife's death. It helps not at all when a series of murders coincides with Fielding's move into a new neighborhood. Elizabeth Howard (Gail Russell), governess to Fielding's children, takes it upon herself to either clear her boss' name or prove him a murderer-and this requires her to delve into the supernatural (or so it seems!) The Unseen was cowritten by Raymond Chandler; one of Joel McCrea's children is played by Richard Lyon, son of actors Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 21 min.
Directed By: Lewis Allen
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Classics

In Theaters: May 12, 1945 Wide

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Cassandra M

In an older London neighborhood beset with strange deaths and a spooky, abandoned house with boarded-up windows, Gail Russell arrives via Boston to accept job as governess to widower Joel McCrea's two precocious kids; quickly, she begins to realize McCrea's little boy is… More
In an older London neighborhood beset with strange deaths and a spooky, abandoned house with boarded-up windows, Gail Russell arrives via Boston to accept job as governess to widower Joel McCrea's two precocious kids; quickly, she begins to realize McCrea's little boy is in-cahoots with the previous nanny and may be covering up a dangerous plot which ties in with the old house--and also with McCrea, whose mysterious comings and goings spell trouble. Over-plotted and yet ultimately slim-seeming co-feature from Paramount, stiffly directed and not very exciting. Heavy-lidded Russell, fresh off her triumph in "The Univited", was never an exceptional actress, but here she gives hint she may have become a very good one, and her terse exchanges with McCrea show a much more confident performer than in "The Univited". The screenplay, adapted from Ethel Lina White's novel "Her Heart in Her Throat", falls rather early into a disparaging rut, what with Russell continually reporting peculiar happenings to people who don't believe or listen to her, and that final clinch nearly comes out of nowhere. However, for fans of 1940s potboilers like the not-dissimilar "Gaslight", this provides minor enjoyment.