The Woman in the House

"The Woman in the House" is from the 'Passing Parade' series hosted by John Nesbitt. It's VERY unusual because it deals with a mental illness that you almost never hear about--even today. The film is about a woman with anthropophobia--a disorder which "The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual" (aka, "DSM) now labels 'social phobia'. Apparently, following the death of her boyfriend (for which she blamed herself), she was so worried about being criticized for it that she never left her home for 40 years! And, this was only disrupted when her home was evacuated during the Blitz in WWII. And, fortunately, this turned out to be the best thing for the woman--being forced to leave and interact with others. Now according to the film, this is a true story--and a very interesting one at that. While not exactly a must-see film, it's sure one that folks might enjoy--particularly those who work in the mental health field.

Woman in the House, The (1942)

*** (out of 4)

Entry in John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series takes a look at Catherine Starr (Ann Richards), a woman who got into an argument with her fiancé who then left and eventually died. The woman was so grief stricken that she became fearful of people so she stayed inside her home for the next forty-years until a Nazi bombing forced her out. The final couple minutes of the movie turns into a message film but that's to be expected considering it was a time of war. With that said this is another winning entry in the series that manages to tell an interesting story about an interesting woman. Richards does a very good job in her role and we also get to see a young Peter Cushing but fans of his shouldn't expect a new credit as his scenes here were edited in from an earlier movie. Lee does a good job in the directing department as he keeps the film moving at a good pace.

Ann Richards suffers from a type of agoraphobia which this episode of John Nesbitt's THE PASSING PARADE calls 'anthropophobia'. A quarrel with her fiance, a letter announcing his death, and for the next forty years, this big-eyed beauty remained in her house, filled with guilt and the fear of mockery of others.

Nesbitt was the writer-producer-narrator of this MGM series for a dozen years, from 1937 through 1949. In that period he discussed, and the actors portrayed mostly through dumb show, little tales of the ordinary and the macabre, nostalgia and humor.... and three or four times, Nostradanus, This one seems almost unique in that we hear actors' voices: her dead lover, and the woman come on a sympathy call, whose imagined voices on the porch she hears as mockery. The series was derived from Nesbitt's radio feature of the same name. It ran during the same period.

John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series were generally very well done, and very entertaining. This is certainly one of the strangest of them. some of the reviewers were skeptical about some of the details. One wondered how a "thatch roof" could last 40 years without maintenance. Well, the cottage shown in the film of course was probably not the real one, and in any event the one shown has a SLATE roof, which could easily last 40 years without repairs. What some people take for thatch only covers an irregular part of the roof and is probably really leaves which have accumulated over time. As far as plumbing and electricity, it is likely that the cottage had no electricity,since it hadn't been changed since 1901, and MANY people in 1901(and much later) still relied on gas. Being England, plumbing was probably minimal, especially in a rural area. Very likely an outhouse instead of a toilet. As far as "how she paid for the food"all those years, it is likely that when people realized the condition she was in, she received it via charity, probably from the parish. Of course Nesbitt didn't want to bog down the story by going into all of these details. But he is definite in stating that it was basic on actual case records, so apparently it is a true story.

"John Nesbitt's Passing Parade" film short, episode #31, deals with fear; the technical term is anthropophobia, or "fear of people." In a small village on the coast of England, reclusive Ann Richards (as Catherine Starr) remains locked in a cottage she has not left in 40 years. Food is left at a back door and nothing is revealed about any human contact. We guess Ms. Richards had some personal wealth and did not have any plumbing or electoral problems. Her general health must be good. Plus, schoolteachers are very resourceful. We flashback to 1901 and discover a foolish quarrel with lover John Anderson, and his sudden death, led to Richards' problem. In September of 1941, World War II finally frees Richards from her fear...

**** The Woman in the House (5/9/42) Sammy Lee ~ Ann Richards, John Nesbitt, Mark Daniels, Peter Cushing