Uncle Silas *** (1947, Jean Simmons, Derrick De Marney, Katina Paxinou, Derek Bond, Esmond Knight) – Classic Movie Review 5700

Jean Simmons stars in the 1947 British locked-room mystery drama Uncle Silas, a properly creepy and eerie film adaptation of the J Sheridan Le Fanu classic chiller novel.

Jean Simmons stars in the 1947 British locked-room mystery drama film Uncle Silas as teenage Victorian sweetie Caroline Ruthyn who is forced to live with her evil Uncle Silas (Derrick De Marney) after her father dies. She is soon spooked by wickedness and greed of Silas, who of course wants her dead to inherit her wealth, and by the equally rotten housekeeper Madame de la Rougierre (Katina Paxinou), her former governess now working with her uncle.

Director Charles Frank’s 1947 film adaptation of the J Sheridan Le Fanu classic chiller novel is properly creepy and eerie. An acute sense of doom hangs over the piece, leading up to a suspenseful finale.

The sickly Silas becomes Caroline’s guardian on the death of her father. He is penniless as well as greedy and she is the heir to her father’s vast fortune. Her mounting fears increase when she meets Silas’s brutal son, her cousin.

Thanks to the sterling (if sometimes exaggerated) performances, steady direction, Robert Krasker’s atmospheric black and white cinematography and stage farce expert Ben Travers’s literate screenplay, it is all rather well done. But toning down some of the lip-smacking in the acting and fleshing out of the characters would have made it even better.

Also in the cast are Derek Bond, Esmond Knight, Sophie Stewart, Manning Whiley, Reginald Tate, Marjorie Rhodes, John Laurie, Frederick Burtwell, George Curzon, O B Clarence, Frederick Ranalow, Patricia Glyn, Robin Netscher, Guy Rolfe, John Salew and Patricia Dainton.

It was known as The Inheritance in the US.

It was remade for TV as The Dark Angel.

It was shot at Denham Studios with sets designed by Ralph Brinton and costumes designed by Elizabeth Haffenden. The score is by Alan Rawsthorne, played by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Muir Mathieson.

It had a bigger budget than usual of over $1 million.

It was released on 8 October 1947.

Uncle Silas is directed by Charles Frank, runs 103 minutes, is made by Two Cities Films, released by General Film Distributors, is written by Ben Travers, from the novel by J Sheridan Le Fanu, is shot in black and white by Robert Krasker, is produced by Josef Somlo, Laurence Irving, and is scored by Alan Rawsthorne.

The cast are Jean Simmons as Caroline Ruthyn, Katina Paxinou as Madame de la Rougierre, Derrick De Marney as Uncle Silas, Derek Bond as Lord Richard Ilbury, Sophie Stewart as Lady Monica Waring, Esmond Knight as Doctor Bryerly, Reginald Tate as Austin Ruthyn, Manning Whiley as Dudley Ruthyn, Marjorie Rhodes as Mrs Rusk, John Laurie as Giles, Frederick Burtwell as Branston, George Curzon as Sleigh, O B Clarence as Victor Clay, Frederick Ranalow as Rigg, Patricia Glyn as Mary Quince, Robin Netscher as Tom Hawkes, Patricia Glyn, John Salew and Patricia Dainton.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (28 August 1814 – 7 February 1873) was a leading ghost story writer of the Victorian era. His best-known works are Uncle Silas, the lesbian vampire novella Carmilla, and the historical novel The House by the Churchyard.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5700

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