She Waits

I've just watched this movie twice; gorgeous visuals, really moody soundtrack. And this from a cheap TV movie starring Patty Duke! The story concerns a new bride arriving at her husband's family abode, to be unnerved by the possibility that she might be in danger of being possessed by the spirit of his deceased former wife. Patty Duke and "The Man From UNCLE" (McCallum) do a great job of acting, given the bad lines they have to deliver.

And there's the problem = the dialogue is stunningly trite and obvious, no better than a daytime soap-opera. Pretend the characters are speaking a foreign language you can't understand, and you'll get a good frisson as the mood of this drama envelopes you. Don't turn off the sound, the music works perfectly.

I Rate it at eight stars = two being deducted because of the dialogue.

I'm sure 90% of us watched it for Patty Duke and Dorothy McGuire. This TV movie was pretty bad even by 1972 standards. It is like a bad Night Gallery padded with pointless dialogue just to fill the time.

Oh well we only lost a little over an hour of our lives and it only took the actors a few weeks to make. I guess they got their SAG dues paid and maybe a car trade in out of it.

Newlyweds, Laura Wilson (Patty Duke) and her husband, Mark (David McCallum) stay at Mark's family estate, in spite of his mother's (Dorothy McGuire) protests. Mark's first wife, Elaine had died there, and he's very touchy about the subject.

Then, Laura starts hearing a tune found on Elaine's music box, to the point of being haunted by it. She also hears voices, and screams like a banshee sitting on a porcupine! Laura becomes curious about how Elaine died. Mark doesn't want to discuss it, so Laura talks to his mother, who tries to get her to leave the house. She also tells her the truth about Elaine's death. This sends Laura into a mega-tizzy! She screams and screams.

The next thing we know, Laura's entire personality changes into a major meany pants. Has Elaine returned from the dead to possess her, or is Laura cracking up?

SHE WAITS is a tale of family secrets, murder, and possible vengeance from beyond the grave.

BONUS POINTS FOR: Ms. Duke's final scream, that could peel a bunch of bananas from 100 yards away!

EXTRA BONUS POINTS FOR: The music score, which is sort of Bernard Herrmann meets Bach...

Mostly, "She Waits" is your average woman-goes-to-house-and-strange-things-start-happening story, but it's kept afloat by the good performances. Patty Duke plays Laura Wilson, who goes with her husband Mark (David McCallum) to his childhood home, where his first wife died. His mother Sarah (Dorothy McGuire) contends that his first wife never left the house and is waiting to get him back. You can probably guess what starts happening thereafter.

Overall, the movie has everything that we would expect in such a movie, namely the eerie house and overpossessive mother. Most of the dialog is routine, but there are some good lines. For example, housekeeper Mrs. M (Beulah Bondi) says of Los Angeles: "What self-respecting ghost would want to live here?" Lew Ayres (yes, the "All Quiet on the Western Front" star who later became a conscientious objector) plays the doctor.

Nothing new, but innocuous.

A wealthy man, whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances, brings his perky but insecure new bride to his family home, which is dominated by a crazy old woman. Yep, it's deja vu all over again! But to avoid being sued by Alfred Hitchcock or Daphne du Maurier, the filmmakers give the second wife a name, make the old housekeeper sensible while assigning the husband's mother the eccentric-crone role, and hint at real supernatural involvement in all the strange goings-on. But all the cosmetic changes can't mask the basic structure of "Rebecca," although this is an above-average ripoff thanks to the presence of an Oscar-winning actress, Patty Duke, in the Mrs. De Winter role, and an Oscar-winning director, Delbert Mann ("Marty," "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs"), who wrings as much atmosphere as he can out of an over-orchestrated soundtrack, a wind machine and an oft-recycled set (I believe this particular house was reused in "The Devil's Daughter" and might have served as "The House That Would Night Die," appropriately enough). Throw in slumming Hollywood vets Beulah Bondi and Dorothy McGuire as the requisite old women, ever-earnest Lew Ayres as the requisite crusty old doctor, and aging pretty boy from U.N.C.L.E. David McCallum as the requisite moody, mysterious husband and you've got an adequate low-rent chiller, although most of the people involved deserved better.

As our film opens, kooky old McGuire is wandering her dark, empty house, calling out for a ghost named "Elaine" until older but stabler Bondi ushers her back to bed. Not long after, the newlywed McCallum and Duke show up unannounced. Omigosh, you wonder, is Patty going to start acting funny? Well, duh. But since Patty Duke could act, it's actually kind of compelling to watch, and the transitions imposed upon her character give her the chance to show off some range and depth. But while we buy Patty's transformation, we never buy McCallum's love for her since he lets his floppy hairstyle do most of the acting for him. The old folks are along for the ride and royalties and it's nice to see them getting some work. You know where it's going, but you don't mind the ride.