Bachelor Harry Quincey, head designer in a small-town cloth factory, lives with his selfish sisters, glamorous hypochondriac Lettie and querulous widow Hester. His developing relationship wi... Read allBachelor Harry Quincey, head designer in a small-town cloth factory, lives with his selfish sisters, glamorous hypochondriac Lettie and querulous widow Hester. His developing relationship with new colleague Deborah Brown promises happiness at last...thwarted by passive, then incr... Read allBachelor Harry Quincey, head designer in a small-town cloth factory, lives with his selfish sisters, glamorous hypochondriac Lettie and querulous widow Hester. His developing relationship with new colleague Deborah Brown promises happiness at last...thwarted by passive, then increasingly active opposition from one sister. Will Harry resort to desperate measures?
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Ben
- (as Harry VonZell)
- Biff Wagner
- (as Coulter F. Irwin)
- Neighborhood Boy
- (uncredited)
- Joe the Greek
- (uncredited)
- Joan Warren
- (uncredited)
- Matron
- (uncredited)
- Child
- (uncredited)
- Stationmaster
- (uncredited)
- Child
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
The Quincy family, a brother (Sanders) and two sisters (Macgill and Fitzgerald) live in an big, old house - all that was left to them by their parents. Harry is the head designer of patterns in a cloth family; his sister Lettie (Fitzgerald) is a professional invalid; and his other sister, Hester (Macgill), is a rather silly, complaining woman who feels unappreciated.
When a New York firm comes to town to look at the cloth factory, Harry meets and falls in love with Deborah (Raines) and announces they are going to be married. Hester is thrilled beyond belief for him; Lettie, on the other hand, is very upset. Deborah has her number immediately and is determined not to allow Lettie to break up her relationship with Harry.
Lettie and Hester are supposed to move into another house, but that doesn't happen. On the day Harry and Deborah are to leave for Boston to be married, Lettie has one of her "attacks" and Harry refuses to leave town. Deborah realizes that he will never leave his sisters and walks out of his life. When Harry finds out that Lettie's inability to find a suitable house after six months and her illness were just manipulations to drive Deborah away, something in him snaps.
Based on a play, this film proved somewhat controversial. Censorship would not allow the original ending, so five different endings were filmed and shown in preview. The ending that was chosen is derivative, drawing on a device used successfully in the past.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I really loved the way it ended, in spite of some people seeing it as a cop-out. I liked it because of my sympathy for Harry, so well portrayed by George Sanders, who was cast against type here.
Geraldine Fitzgerald gives a fantastic performance as the awful Lettie, an unbelievable shrew. Fitzgerald was perfect. Macgill is excellent as well, likable because she sincerely wants the best for Harry, and annoying because she's a whiner. Ella Raines made a lovely Deborah.
Very entertaining - I loved it!
Whether intended by the makers or not, this audience found some hilarious double entendres (e.g. George Sanders showing off his 9-inch telescope).
A scene with inappropriate dubbing of Mr. Sanders' singing voice brought groans. I would have liked to hear him sing. (Audrey Hepburn's real voice should have been used in 'My Fair Lady', too!)
The older sister of the main character looked so much like Jessica Fletcher that my husband suspected a relationship and we looked her up. The actress was Moyna MacGill, the mother of Angela Lansbury... it was fascinating to see the similarity in motions and gestures.
The family's cook was played by Sara Algood. One of her other roles was as the matron Morton in 'Roxie Hart', the forerunner to 'Chicago'.
There was something very charming about seeing George Sanders without the cynicism.
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.
A good film driven by the character development and strong performances from Saunders and Fitzgerald
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.
Did you know
- TriviaThe film was previewed with five different endings and the existing one (a complete departure from the play) was selected for reasons of popular response and censorship, prompting the resignation of producer Joan Harrison from Universal Pictures. She left with two more pictures left on her contract.
- GoofsThe town's 'Civil War General' is listed as having been born in 1845. That would make him 15 at the war's start and 20 at its end. He could not have been a Civil War General at that young age.
- Quotes
Lettie Quincey: I died months ago. Tomorrow will be just routine.
- Crazy credits"In order that your friends may enjoy this picture, please do not disclose the ending."
- ConnectionsReferenced in Let There Be Light (1980)
- SoundtracksAbide With Me
(uncredited)
Music by William H. Monk (as William Henry Monk)
Lyrics by Henry F. Lyte (as Henry Francis Lyte)
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
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- Also known as
- Uncle Harry
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- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $886,100 (estimated)
- Runtime
- 1h 20m(80 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1