Gothic thrillers involving women in peril don't often take a sinister turn like this one does. Of course, it's obvious that the lonely ladies of "Night Must Fall", "Kind Lady", "Angel Street" (aka "Gaslight") and "Love From a Stranger" will be used by men, some of them resulting in grim fates. But this is closer to "Double Door", a forgotten Gothic melodrama about an evil old lady who intends to barricade her enemies alive, no air or food.
The premise of the original "Ladies in Retirement" had an aging spinster killing her employer to give her crazy sisters a home, but the role has been altered with the much younger Ida Lupino playing that part, having proved her ability to play sinister parts only in her early 20's. The sisters are older: the gentle but potentially crazy Edith Barrett and the hot tempered Elsa Lancaster, obviously hiding a violent streak under her claims of religion.
And the poor unfortunate old lady, Isobel Elsom, a down on her luck actress, who hired Lupino as a companion, and agreeing to allow her to bring her sisters for a brief visit sets her household up for misery, and ultimately signs her death warrant. The only ones who could find evidence against Lupino are housemaid Evelyn Keyes and Lupino's crooked cousin, the handsome but low class Louis Hayward.
With a foggy setting in the hinterlands, this is fascinating from the eerie credits down to the finale, and Lupino's finest role prior to her signing on at Warner Brothers. Barrett and Lanchaster are fascinating, with Hayward and Keyes making the most our of the un-showy parts they play. Veteran character actresses Emma Dunn and Queenie Leonard appear as the visiting nuns. There's not a dull moment in the film, a must for fans of anything Gothic.
The premise of the original "Ladies in Retirement" had an aging spinster killing her employer to give her crazy sisters a home, but the role has been altered with the much younger Ida Lupino playing that part, having proved her ability to play sinister parts only in her early 20's. The sisters are older: the gentle but potentially crazy Edith Barrett and the hot tempered Elsa Lancaster, obviously hiding a violent streak under her claims of religion.
And the poor unfortunate old lady, Isobel Elsom, a down on her luck actress, who hired Lupino as a companion, and agreeing to allow her to bring her sisters for a brief visit sets her household up for misery, and ultimately signs her death warrant. The only ones who could find evidence against Lupino are housemaid Evelyn Keyes and Lupino's crooked cousin, the handsome but low class Louis Hayward.
With a foggy setting in the hinterlands, this is fascinating from the eerie credits down to the finale, and Lupino's finest role prior to her signing on at Warner Brothers. Barrett and Lanchaster are fascinating, with Hayward and Keyes making the most our of the un-showy parts they play. Veteran character actresses Emma Dunn and Queenie Leonard appear as the visiting nuns. There's not a dull moment in the film, a must for fans of anything Gothic.