Guest in the House (1944)

Little Saint Cecilia! Guest in the House is directed by John Brahm and adapted to screen by Ketti Frings from the play written by Hagar Wilde, Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert. It stars Anne Baxter, Ralph Bellamy, Aline MacMahon, Ruth Warrick and Scott McKay. Music is by Werner Janssen and cinematography by Lee Garmes. The Proctor family take on more than they bargained for when Evelyn Heath (Baxter) comes to stay with them. Given the quality of cast and with the strength of Brahm and Garmes on the camera side of things, this really should have been a top tier psychological thriller. Sadly, in spite of much to keep it above average, it ends up as a melodramatic pot boiler that never quite comes to the boil. Essentially the pic is framed around Baxter's troubled Evelyn, who is up to no good, where mischief making is the order of the day. Her motives are sketchy and her neurotic kinks are never fully formed except to give us some closure at pic's denouement. Things aren't helped by the fact Evelyn is just not a character to either sympathise with, or to even feel unnerved by since her shenanigans are not gripping and even come off as a little daft. The male leads are poorly written, chauvinistic leanings boorish in the grand scheme of "outing" Evelyn as the sexual aggressor. While some of the histrionics on show from Baxter are hard to buy into. On the plus side the pic looks great, with Garmes (Nightmare Alley) managing to create moody ambiance in what is a stage bound play, and although I found Janssens' music score to be too jaunty at times, there's no denying the quality of arrangement (Oscar Nominated). You have to look to the supporting players for quality (MacMahon and Warrick), and admire some technical craft for comfort. But ultimately it's a missed opportunity for potency, whilst some of the contrivances and character portrayals date the story badly. 6/10