She Waits

Ghost stories were all the rage in the 1970s, but this isn't one of the better entries. Despite having perfectly good hotel reservations, newly-married David McCallum and bride Patty Duke come to stay at his family's manor in the middle of the night. Dorothy McGuire, as McCallum's mother, begs her son to leave, believing the house is haunted by his deceased first wife, but he chalks it up to her fragile mental state. Uninteresting TV-made chiller tries to create scares by having Duke hear a music-box theme that wife #1 was fond of, or feeling a presence in the bedroom when the curtains rustle. She attempts to talk it over with hubby McCallum--who's got a nasty, disgruntled disposition for a successful newlywed--and housekeeper Beulah Bondi, but nobody wants to admit to a belief in the supernatural. Long-faced, solemn scare-movie is too gloomy to be any fun.

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.

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...