An apparently friendly young woman named Evelyn (Anne Baxter) is invited to stay in the family home of her doctor and boyfriend named Proctor(Scott McKay). The female patient Evelyn is really a selfish young , a manipulating babe who hates the birds and with malignant objectives . The-not-so-innocent girl becomes at the beginning an enjoyable guest but she ruthlessly uses everyone in his goals. She skillfully tries to break the familiar harmony. Then , Evelyne falls in love with Douglas Procter (Ralph Bellamy) . He's a good man married Ann(Ruth Warrick) and with a daughter, Douglas dedicates artistic labors painting his model Miriam (Marie McDonald).
The pictures features exceptional work by Anne Baxter , she's magnificently hateful as the insidious Evelyne who attempts to dissect the harmonious group . Her acting result to be a phenomenal precedent to the character she played in ¨All about Eva¨ by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Special mention to Margaret Hamilton , the famous witch from ¨The wizard of Oz¨ as a snooper maid and of course Aline MacMahon as the spinster aunt Martha , she's also worthy in a razor-sharp performance. Furthermore, a beautifully cinematography in subdued black and white by Lee Garmes, Atmospheric and appropriate musical score by Werner Janssen.
The motion picture is well directed by John Brahm (1893-1982). He was a German-born director who worked in the theatre for nearly 20 years before attempting his hand at movies. Later on, he had an initial work in England and after that he went to Hollywood where Brahm converted himself an efficient filmmaker of variety of routine mid-budget movies until 1944/45 when he directed two magnificent suspense movies with Laird Cregar : ¨The Lodger¨and ¨Hangover square¨ and a splendid drama ¨Guest in the house¨, the three full of atmosphere, intrigue and a sense of imminent tension. Later on he continued working almost entirely in TV but never again finding his previous inspiration .Rating : Better than average , worthwhile seeing.
