La Maison vous Attend

I'm only giving this 5 stars because of the old-timers who appeared in this cheesy TV movie: Sylvia Sidney, Joan Blondell, John Carradine, and Dorothy Lamour.

Robert Wagner and Kate Jackson play a married couple researching a book on a silent old film star, Lorna Love, and her affair with Wagner's father.

This is a little like The Shining in that the spirit of the house takes over Wagner like five minutes after their arrival.

The actress playing Lorna Love, Marianna Hill, looked like something out of Charlie's Angels, not a '20s film star. After hearing for the entire film how irresistible she was, I still didn't get it.

Campy TV movie.

Cheezy but kinda fun, this low-budget TV movie is set mostly in and around a 36-room Hollywood mansion, dark and sinister, wherein long ago lived a silent movie goddess named Lorna Love, but who now is entombed in a glass "shrine" on the mansion's grounds. Into this creepy world comes husband and wife writers researching Lorna Love for a book. The plot is simple and straightforward, but very campy. Subtle clues in the dialogue and visuals point to the twist at the end.

Color cinematography is terrible. The images, grainy to begin with, seem blurred or out of focus, which conveys the impression that the producers used cheap film stock. Or maybe the transfer to DVD made the visuals look bad. Sound quality is even worse. For insertion of TV commercials, each plot sequence fades to black, which makes the plot choppy. And background music is your typical nondescript, off-the-shelf elevator music.

Probably the best element is the casting of several older actresses including animated Joan Blondell, and wonderful Sylvia Sidney, whose gruff voice and thick red lipstick give her a unique, one-of-a-kind image. As husband and wife, Robert Wagner and Kate Jackson have minimal chemistry together. Jackson tries hard, maybe a little too hard. Wagner seems bored.

This film looks and feels very 1970s. The story's underlying premise isn't bad at all. Indeed, pick any fairly young deceased Hollywood celebrity. With major changes in the film's plot, geared to realism, might we envision the film's premise about Lorna Love being applied to that deceased person?

Attractive husband and wife writing team Robert Wagner (as Joel Gregory) and Kate Jackson (as Donna Gregory) arrive at the spooky mansion of actress "Lorna Love" (actually, silent film star Harold Lloyd's house). Mr. Wagner and Ms. Jackson are contracted to write the silent movie star's biography. Wagner has a personal interest in the project, since his father was once the famed star's lover. Mysterious events unfold, and Jackson must fight to save her husband from the spirit of the beautiful blonde, who is "perfectly preserved" in a crypt on the estate; moreover, the evil woman seems bent on possessing her husband, and murdering Jackson!

This is very much a "Night of Dark Shadows" variation, co-starring genuine "Dark Shadows" alumni Kate Jackson, who knows and plays her part well. Robert Wagner lacks David Selby's intensity. Sylvia Sidney (as Mrs. Josephs) sidesteps Grayson Hall. Marianna Hill is not a match for Lara Parker (or Diana Millay). Bill Macy (as Oscar Payne) is good in a part that would have been played by John Karlen (in a Dan Curtis production).

There are smooth cameos by Joan Blondell, John Carradine, and Dorothy Lamour. Ms. Lamour's delivery resembles Joan Bennett, which begs the question: why didn't producer Aaron Spelling get more of the original "Dark Shadows" regulars?

Director E.W. Swackhamer was Bridget Hanley's husband; he worked with Ms. Blondell on "Here Come the Brides", and with Jackson on "The Rookies". "Death at Love House" has, arguably, a tighter storyline than the "Night of Dark Shadows" film; it differs in the movie star angle; and, in its "Father Eternal Fire" ending, it more closely resembles the TVseries' "Laura the Phoenix" storyline.

**** Death at Love House (9/3/76) E.W. Swackhamer ~ Robert Wagner, Kate Jackson, Sylvia Sidney

Although broadcast on Sept 3 1976, "Death at Love House" carries a 1975 copyright, an indication that, for once, producer Aaron Spelling figured he had a real loser on his hands (this wasn't "Crowhaven Farm"). It works to some extent as nostalgia, aided by some expert casting and shooting on the fabulous Harold Lloyd Greenacres estate. What doesn't work is just about everything else, in particular the poorly filmed footage meant to be from the 1920s, which looks as modern as actress Mariana Hill, whose unspectacular career would end sooner than veteran costars Sylvia Sidney and Dorothy Lamour. Robert Wagner also looks out of place in the flashbacks, and not too well in the current storyline, leaving the dependable Kate Jackson to do all the heavy lifting, with an assist from MAUDE's Bill Macy. Wagner and Jackson are not only married, they are also collaborating on a biography of the mysterious Lorna Love (Mariana Hill), a Clara Bow-type silent screen siren adored by all, except for the few who really got to know her well before her untimely death. As movie director Conan Carroll, who had actually been in love with Lorna before she betrayed him for another, John Carradine is able to share some of his bitterness with the would-be authors before expiring near Lorna's shrine of beauty. Dorothy Lamour gets good mileage as Lorna's greatest screen rival, and ever vivacious Joan Blondell displays her darling dimples yet again as the president of Lorna's now defunct fan club. The prime cast member turns out to be Sylvia Sidney, her career actually dating back to the 20s, as the longtime caretaker of Lorna's estate, who knows just how deeply the star truly loved her departed Joel, lookalike father of Robert Wagner's character. Had there been more meat in the script we might have had reason to fear as Kate Jackson does, but Wagner's writer comes off as a cold fish, hardly worthy of any women's eternal devotion. As weak as the whole thing plays out (nothing supernatural or ghostly goings on) the climactic twist is actually worth the wait, though DARK SHADOWS veteran Kate deserved better, and had shared the screen with Carradine in one episode of her earlier triumph THE ROOKIES, just before CHARLIE'S ANGELS took off.

Joel and Donna Gregory (Robert Wagner and Kate Jackson) move into the huge mansion of late silent film star, Lorna Love. Researching a book about her, the Gregory's are quite taken with the old place, complete with a shrine containing a perfectly preserved Lorna Love!

Upon perusing her library, Joel discovers some tomes concerning witchcraft. Enter Mr. Conan Carroll (John Carradine), who attempts to shed some light on Lorna's... dark side. Let's just say that this could be Carradine's shortest role, ever! Diabolical chicanery unfolds. Will Joel and Donna survive long enough to write their book?

DEATH AT LOVE HOUSE is another made-for-TV horror / suspense film from the wondrous 1970's. The fiendish fun begins almost immediately, blending both supernatural and occult elements. No, there's not a large body count, or shambling ghouls, but there is a nice, haunting atmosphere of mystery. Wagner and Jackson are great, as are the cameo appearances by Dorothy Lamour and Joan Blondell!...