The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry

source: The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry

Perhaps because I have a fondness for older movies, that is why I find this rather quirky film very amusing. Despite the strange and annoying obsession the younger sister has for controlling her brother's life, this story is filled with so many surprising twists, it kept me in sufficient suspense to see it through. Geraldine Fitzgerald gives a superb performance as Lettie, the needy, and manipulative sister. I found George Sanders performance touching as the patient, tender-hearted older brother Harry, caught between his loyalty to his sister and his first serious love, for the sophisticated Deborah Brown ( Ella Raines ), the self-assured woman he wants to marry. Ella Raines gives a strong and confident performance and the cattish attitude both Fitzgerald and Raines have towards each other is most entertaining. Moyna MacGill is lovely in her role as the kindly and sympathetic sister Hester. This is another film I will not give a synopsis for, rather I encourage the reader to watch and be their own judge of this interesting story with it's very unexpected ending.

George Sanders plays a nice middle-aged man living with his two sisters. One is a nice person--a widow. The other is a very manipulative and needy lady (Geraldine Fitzgerald)--and the full extent of her control over him becomes apparent later in the movie. Sanders meets a much younger lady (Ella Raines) and they fall in love and plan on marrying. However, Fitzgerald is determined to to destroy this marriage--and much of it seems for very selfish reasons because she doesn't want to give up living in the family home with her brother. However, after Fitzgerald gets her wish, she gets far more than she bargained for when Sanders snaps and comes up with a way to get revenge. There are so many twists and surprises in the film, I don't want to say more about the plot. Suffice to say that some completely caught me off-guard. Generally, this was a good thing but when it comes to the ending some might not like just how strange a twist it is--after all, it seemed to come from out of left field and lacked believability. It was, however, enjoyable--so perhaps it was for the best. Fortunately for the film, in addition to the nice script the acting is quite nice--particularly by Fitzgerald. As for Sanders, he's wonderful as always but this role is far different than what you'd usually expect for him--and it's a nice change of pace.

The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry belongs to writer-producer Joan Harrison, who worked closely with Hitchcock but she was a force to be reckoned with her own self. Harrison crafted a tight psychological thriller here. The inimitable George Sanders plays the male lead. Watch his face when the younger sister reveals a deception in the Second Act. His smouldering rage, without saying a word or barely moving a muscle, is a thing to behold. Geraldine Fitzgerald as the controlling sister knocks it out of the park from beginning to end. In fact, my jaw was on the floor after their final scene together. I was certain I had just watched the hidden gem of the 1940s. Then, as was all too common, the studio couldn't leave well enough alone. The finished product includes what is surely two of the most disappointing extra minutes of film you're ever likely to experience. Harrison fought for control but lost to studio hacks. Author Christina Lane, who wrote a book about Harrison in 2020, spoke about it when she guested on TCM's Noir Alley with Eddie Muller early in 2021. It doesn't mean the first 78 minutes weren't perfect. But it certainly means the movie when taken as a whole no longer is perfect. Not until we get a Producers Cut that excises the final scene. Until then, I'm going to buy the book and read more about Harrison. What a remarkable introduction this movie is to her work.

The setting is a small New England town where the residents are, according to the disembodied narrator, "not much different from yourselves", which means, of course, that they're perfectly willing to contemplate murder when a loved one becomes an insufferable nuisance. George Sanders plays an otherwise kindly bachelor forced to take drastic measures after a too-possessive younger sister spoils his plans to wed a beautiful, sophisticated big city girl. His plot backfires, naturally, and the consequences proved to be so downbeat that a bogus Little Nemo epilogue had to be added by studio censors. It never was a major motion picture, but when seen today is certainly an enjoyable and well-crafted diversion.

It's been a while since such an excellent feature film played on my VCR. Kudos to the UCLA Film and Television Archive for restoring this all around well-acted, well-written, incestuous-driven murder mystery which when viewed twice makes the so-called "tacked on ending" very plausible and even MORE effective. Fitzgerald's character knows no boundaries to her familial manipulations and the writing brilliantly has her warring w/ Raines' character for Sanders' very soul. If only ALL the alternate endings where available to view like on "Clue." It impressed me as much as "Memento" although the structure here is linear. BTW: Raines in more than one scene is the exact image of a very young Lauren Bacall.

The Trouble with Harry is the trouble with Hollywood, the fact that the right-wing timid moguls bowed to reactionary forces and drove out much of the creativity from the movies. Their code ensured that nothing unpleasant or amoral, in their eyes, would be allowed into the cinema, so anything with an edge, or against the grain, or left of center was watered down or erased from films. All of this culminated with the Anti communist Witch Hunt which removed the last vestiges of talent, honesty, and integrity, but preserved for us such hypocrites as R Reagan. The reason many of us like the film noir is that this conservative tendency was less noticeable in the dark crime melodramas of the late 40'a and early 50's since no one cared that much about B movies. Still, when Hollywood had a chance, like in the ending in this film, they would ruin a film. In fact, censorship and its companion greed still rules American films, almost without exception.

The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry came on during the small hours on BBC2 recently and I was pleased I set the video. Harry Quincey works in a mill and has never married. He lives with his two sisters, Lettie and Hester, who is a widow. He falls in love with one of his colleagues and Lettie certainly doesn't approve of this as she wants the three of them to live altogether for good. Lettie then poisons a drink but Hester drinks it by accident and is killed. Lettie is charged with her murder and Harry and his new love go to live elsewhere. The cast includes an excellent performance from George Sanders as Harry and Geraldine Fitzgerald and Moyna MacGill as his sisters. This movie is a good way to spend an hour and twenty minutes one afternoon or evening. Excellent. Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry was different to what I had been expecting. I was expecting a cushy little number about a family life which becomes disrupted. However, the film was edgier and much more daring than I initially anticipated. The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry tells the story of Harry, a middle-aged man who lives with his two sisters: the good-natured widow Hester, and the young, beautiful but unstable Lettie, who is self-centred, possessive and a hypochondriac. Harry begins seeing a co-worker and becomes engaged to her, and it soon becomes clear just how possessive of her brother Lettie exactly is... The film explores the idea of dependency and dares to hint at the idea of incest between Harry and Lettie, something which would be shocking today, never mind in the 40s. Harry and Lettie's strange relationship will surely intrigue viewers and keep them captivated till the very end. The movie takes a few twists and turns - some predictable, others genuinely shocking, before drawing to a rather dull, cliché conclusion. Unfortunately, the movie, which held solid potential all the way through, is let down by a bad ending. It's not that the ending is bad as much as it is hurried and vague. I had to re-watch the last three minutes to fully understand what was happening. With a little more time and thought in the script, I'm sure a better ending could have been added. All the actors involved were simply wonderful. People who are familiar with George Sanders' work are in for a pleasant surprise as he portrays a rare protagonist role. He's excellent in it, too - sympathetic, comfortable and believable. Geraldine Fitzgerald is captivating and alluring as Lettie, giving her character a dangerous edge. Ella Raines gives a great performance as Harry's new girlfriend. Moyna Macgill and Sara Allgood are also very good in their roles and offer solid support for a brilliant lead cast. I just wish the ending was as gripping and daring as the rest of the film. However, I suppose we can't expect too much from an 80 minute B movie from the 40s. Perhaps if the film were to be remade today, it would be rewarded with a much more fitting ending.

Try to imagine Harry, an aging bachelor who lives in Corinth, New Hampshire, with his two sisters. It's enough to send anyone to commit a crime just so he can get away from these two vultures that totally dominate his life. Harry Quincy, and his siblings, are local aristocracy who are confined to share the big family mansion. The two sisters, Letty and Hester are constantly quarreling about the most menial things. When sophisticated Deborah Brown appears in the picture, Harry sees a way out to escape his poor existence in the provincial town. Little does he realize that Lettie, his domineering sister, wants for him. This turns Harry into a hatred for the sister that evidently feels another kind of love for his brother. After a bitter quarrel between Lettie and Hester, he decides he must take corrective action to get rid of his problems. In turn, he will destroy the cozy family life he, and his siblings, enjoyed. "The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry" is a film that was ahead of its times in the subtle way it dealt with sibling incest, which is behind the action. Based on a stage play, this feature, directed by Robert Siodmak, was greatly distorted by the Hays Commission in an ending that frankly, doesn't make much sense and doesn't add anything to our enjoyment of it. As a matter of fact, the warning at the end, doesn't quite make sense. We have all been led to believe one thing, yet the arrival of Deborah, out of nowhere, and the dream sequence, doesn't add up. Yet, in spite of the flaws, out attention is held because of the story and what has come before this let down of a finale. George Sanders does wonders with his Harry Quincy, the man who might be involved with his own sister. This was one of his best movies and he contributes to the enjoyment of this melodrama. Lovely Geraldine Fitzgerald plays the strident sister Letty. She is also quite effective in the way she plays the part of the sister who might be involved in more ways than one with her own brother. Moyna Macgill, (Angela Lansbury's mother) has also great fun as Hester, the other sister. Sara Allwood appears as the family cook. Ella Raines makes a sophisticated Deborah Brown. Who knows what the film would have turned out like if Robert Siodmak, the director, would have been able to do the story as he probably conceived it.