Kind Lady

Accidentally ran across this--awesome, with Aline MacMahon so good and gracious and Basil Rathbone at his skin-crawling best. I enjoyed the evil personalities of the confederates, too. No one seemed ready to help this lady but her courage won the day. This story takes place all inside the lady's house, outdoor scenes only by reference, so it did come across rather like a play than a movie. Rather dated, of course, but a great little thriller to root for the "good guys". And, of course, I enjoyed the costumes and room decorations. I recognized "Mr Wiggs" at the very end. All the players were very convincing.

The awesome, oscar-nominated Aline McMahon, Basil Rathbone (Sherlock Holmes!) and Donald Meek... he's always a fun character actor. Group of art thieves tries to take advantage of a rich old lady to steal her art collection. She falls for it until her maid clues her in, and then it all goes to hell. Will she ever get these horrible people out of her house ? Remade in 1951 with Ethel Barrymore, another MGM film. Pretty good. Directed by George Seitz.. .died quite young at 56. Cause of death not listed anywhere. he had directed a TON of the Andy Hardy films. Both versions show on Turner Classics now and then.

Rich old maid Mary (Aline MacMahon) is a soft touch for beggars. On Christmas Eve, she invites one (Basil Rathbone) into her home and gives him some food. He leave but returns later with his wife and baby, tricking Mary into letting them stay. Soon he's invited more people to stay at Mary's home. Before she can have them thrown out, they've taken her prisoner. Intriguing premise for a movie made in the '30s. It's hard to dislike anything with a cast that includes Aline MacMahon, Basil Rathbone, and Dudley Digges. It's even got Frank "Hee Haw" Albertson in it. So it's a good cast with a good story. Still, it feels a little flat. It's not a particularly gritty or suspenseful movie. Had it been made at Warner Bros around that time I imagine it would have had a little more edge to it. More than watchable, though. This was remade in 1951 but I haven't seen that one yet.

...to see Aline MacMahon, the great character actress, in a lead role. As a tender benefactress who unwisely invites a suave beggar (Basil Rathbone) into her gracious home on Christmas Eve, she effortlessly plays beyond her years and even suggests an inner life--you can see her past regrets, her essential goodness, and her cunning, all in her eyes. The rest of this ungainly comedy-suspense melodrama, adapted from a musty stage play, is boilerplate and frequently illogical; the compressed "stage time" is overused to skirt plot implausibilities, the ending is rushed, and leave it to the callow American (Frank Albertson) to get the dumb Brits out of their scrape, MGM-style. Hitchcock could have made the material work, and George B. Seitz is decidedly not Hitchcock. But it's a handsome programmer, told economically, with two great cinematic supporting players being given unusual chances to strut their stuff.

I enjoy watching a lot of older movies. Most suspense films that have caught my eye are in part comedies. This one has an intensity that I seldom see in this period. The other reviews have done a super job of describing the performers, so no more here. The story is so well done that it is almost painful to experience -- the feelings are .. don't do that .. how can they treat her the way they do .. why isn't someone helping .. etc, etc. Whether you will be able to 'enjoy' this production, may be part of your own preference, but everyone that has selected movies to watch from this period needs to watch this one.