The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry

Robert Siodmak directs this psychological film noir that is based on the Broadway play Uncle Harry by Thomas Job. It stars George Sanders, Ella Raines, Geraldine Fitzgerald & Moyna MacGill. The story follows Harry Quincey (Sanders) a shy clothes designer in small town New England. He lives with his two sisters, the pretty but manipulative Lettie (Fitzgerald) and the more scatty and care free Hester (MacGill). Into his life comes the gorgeous Deborah Brown (Raines) who quickly brings colour to his otherwise dull existence. But Lettie is far from impressed and sets about doing all she can to stop the couple getting married and living together. Her actions will have dire consequences for all of the Quincey family.

Though falling some way short of the noir standards of Siodmak's best genre efforts ("The Killers"/"Criss Cross"), this none the less is a dandy piece dealing in various forms of obsession. Finding that it's produced by Joan Harrison gives weight to the notion that this is more a "Hitchcockian" small town thriller than an overtly film noir piece. Harrison of course wrote a number of screenplays for "Hitchcock", and sure enough as the film unfolds one feels like we are involved in something the big director would have revelled in. Quite what "Hitch" would have made of the palaver surrounding the ending of the film, one can only imagine, but yet again a nifty 40s thriller is saddled with an ending that has caused division across the decades.

Because of the Hays Code, five different endings were tested for the film, with the one chosen vastly different to the one in the play. So while I personally find the existing ending quirky, and certainly not film destroying, it's sad that the incestuous elements of the source have been jettisoned and therefore taking away a crucial dark edge to the turn of events in the last quarter of the film. Harrison was incensed and promptly quit Universal Pictures in protest. With hindsight now, they could have ended the film about ten minutes earlier and it would have worked better. But cest la vie and all that.

Sanders is superb, very touching as the shy, naive designer pushed to his limit by sibling suffocation. Fitzgerald is glamorous and nails the devious side of her character with much conviction. While Raines, a touch underused due to the story, has a hard quality that puts one in mind of a certain Lauren Bacall, and that to my mind is very much a good thing. Some food for thought though, I couldn't help wonder about if the roles had been reversed. Raines playing manipulative bitch and Fitzgerald the love interest definitely cries out as a winner me thinks.

It's a conventional story, but one that has depth and boasts a director capable of crafting the right sort of itchy mood. There's no technical trickery exactly, but attention to detail exists and between them the makers have produced an intelligent and gripping film, that, in spite of some foregoing of dark emotional undercurrents, is very recommended to noir and "Hitchcockian" supporters. 7.5/10

From Malton and earlier comments it seems that the ending was changed. I read that there were 5 separate endings filmed and shown to test audiences over at 10 day period. Being unfamiliar with the stage play ending I can only say that this ending is excellent and highly effective.

The performances are excellent. The minute facial expressions are superb. There is also quite a bit of black humor in the performances. It is truly a work of art. Initially I was not expecting such a fine movie. It had been selected by the Austin Film Society. But I was very pleasantly surprised.

The story centers around Harry Quincy, played by George Sanders. His younger sister, Lettie, is deeply in love with Harry and feels she knows what is best for him. The whole situation changes when a beautiful young lady from New York enters the small New England town where they live, and she and Harry fall in love and decide to marry. Lettie must act to maintain the status quo. Harry is torn between his family obligations and his new found love.

The ending lead down one path only to discover that all is not as it seems. It is an excellent film.

Harry Quincey is a bachelor who lives with his two sisters and is head designer in a small town cloth factory. When a New York colleague comes into town to design new fashions early in the production process Harry falls for her and soon it is evident that his relationship with Deborah is going somewhere in the longer term. This is seen as a threat by Harry's sisters, specifically the glamorous hypochondriac Lettie who selfishly guards her brother as her own and has no intention on ever losing him to another woman.

The title of this film and the early tone suggests an enjoyable if standard romantic comedy with some light wit, however it becomes much more dramatic and interesting with some good character development and themes. Harry's romance is indeed quite light and enjoyable but it gives way (well, produces) tension between the women in his life – specifically Deborah and Lettie, who is a wonderfully acerbic and possessive character that leads the film into darker territory towards the end. The film is driven by the characters and I was taken by Harry while enthralled by his relationship with Lettie. The ending is a bit of a cop out as it was selected to be the least controversial and meet the requirements of the moral code of the time; the fantasy ending suggests a dark conclusion but really it is a nonsensical cop out that didn't do the film justice.

With this the case it was important that the cast be able to produce the goods or else it may not have worked, fortunately the cast are roundly good. Saunders is best known to me as the Falcon and the Saint, perhaps roles that aren't the most demanding for an actor, but here he shows good touch and a subtly that works well with his character. He is more than matched by a wonderful Fitzgerald, who is convincing and complex with a performance that could so easily have hammy and OTT but one that she gets spot on. Support is good from Raines, MacGill and others but really the film belongs to the lead two and it is there strong performances that drives the film.

Overall this is a fine piece of drama that moves from a standard romance into a much more interesting character piece that draws out great performances from Saunders and Fitzgerald. The direction is good and the story drew me in well to produce a film that is well worth seeing if you can track it down.

The setting is a small New England town where the residents are, according to the disembodied narrator, "not much different from yourselves", which means, of course, that they're perfectly willing to contemplate murder when a loved one becomes an insufferable nuisance. George Sanders plays an otherwise kindly bachelor forced to take drastic measures after a too-possessive younger sister spoils his plans to wed a beautiful, sophisticated big city girl. His plot backfires, naturally, and the consequences proved to be so downbeat that a bogus Little Nemo epilogue had to be added by studio censors. It never was a major motion picture, but when seen today is certainly an enjoyable and well-crafted diversion.

I think that when we think of George Sanders we tend to see him doing some dirty business. He's cheating his nephew Tyrone Power out of a noble title and estate (SON OF FURY), or he's leading a pack of Nazi agents in London to track down Walter Pidgeon and Joan Bennett (MANHUNT), or he kills poor Nelson Eddy in a hopeless sword duel (BITTERSWEET). But there was always something more in his characters (even his villains). Take his Oscar performance (Addison De Witt in ALL ABOUT EVE). Yes, he puts his powers to the benefit of Eve Harrington, with an eye to her being his permanent partner (I don't think marriage is necessary - he doesn't look like he'd like a family, or domestic arrangement). But if you follow Joseph Mankiewicz's dialogue carefully, Addison is more complex and acceptable than Eve. He is in her corner because as a theatre critic he realizes that she is talented, and can bring back a youthful vigor to the parts that Margo Channing is constantly playing. Look at the scene where he tells Margo and Karen what a wonder Eve's performance is when she reads for the understudy position. It's not just sexual allure, but he really likes her talent. Moreover, Addison is a realist about himself and theatre people in general. He admits he has limitations (he's not a people person), but he does love good art. Actually, in some respects he is a better person than he admits. Karen goes to speak to him (we are told by Addison in his famous scene with Eve in the Hartford hotel) to find out what he knows about her husband and Eve. While he makes a snide comment about Karen telling more than learning, it's obvious Karen does consider Addison a friend - even an ally. And actually, by putting Eve into her place finally (Addison appears to be the only one with brains who could) he does save Karen's marriage as well.

It comes as a pleasant surprise to movie goers that Sanders could (given his talent and a good script) appear as a nice guy. He does so in this film. Uncle Harry is a decent man who lives with two sisters, and who keeps the family household going. The younger of the sisters, played by Geraldine Fitzgerald, is too attached to him - and for a 1940s film the clutching of Ms Fitzgerald spells out incest more than was usual (interesting to think that this 1945 film comes only two years after Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT, where "Uncle" and "Niece" Charlie are very close - until Theresa Wright begins to wonder how Joseph Cotton makes his living). The arrival of Ella Raines as a love rival sparks all out warfare from Fitzgerald, with Sanders befuddled about which way to turn. Raines seems to leave town, and Fitzgerald seems victorious and Sanders is morose when he finds a bottle of poison in the house, and begins to reconsider his options.

It is hard to see now what ending could have been tacked on to the film to make it satisfactory to everyone in the audience. The moral code of the 1940s made it imperative that if a villain kills someone, no matter how lively, likeable, or sympathetic the villain was he or she had to pay. Fitzgerald could only pay if she were defeated by Raines. If Sanders died that would not have defeated Fitzgerald. If Sanders lived in despair after Fitzgerald's death that would not help either. I think the film's "trick" ending here is as good as it could be. But that is only my opinion.