Olivia Grayne (Rosalind Russell), a prim-looking, bespectacled young woman in tweed skirts, twinsets, and sensible shoes, lives in a country house with her crabby aunt Mrs. Bramson (Dame May Witty) and suffers the indignity of being treated like a servant while employed as her aunt's companion. She is ardently pursued by her aunt's lawyer Justin Laurie (Alan Marshal, a ringer for Laurence Olivier), who is handsome and good. Frankly, I would have left with him long ago. He asks her to marry him and says, "Even if you don't love me, aren't I better than the old lady?" Indeed!! Olivia longs for some adventure or excitement in her life of drab monotony, but doesn't think it's ever going to happen.
That changes when Dora, one of the maids, confesses tearfully to being "in trouble" by a messenger from another house. Mrs. Bramson agrees to see him to make him do right by the girl. Into their lives comes Danny (Robert Montgomery), a strutting Irish charmer whose silver tongue so enchants the old lady, she offers him a job. He nonchalantly agrees to marry the maid, like many sociopaths who toss off the answer they know needs to be said without any intention of actually doing so. Indeed, soon enough Danny is taking dinner with the ladies of the house and being served by the maid presumably carrying his baby.
Olivia sees right through Danny from the start. She becomes interested in him, though, because he's good-looking, different, and has that dangerous bad-boy vibe going on. But she's also repulsed my his servile attitude to the old cantankerous battle-axe and his facile way with the truth. Nonetheless, after he tells her she would be prettier "without them glasses on," we don't see her wearing them much.
When the lady of the house from his previous employment turns up dead, nude, and decapitated in the woods, Danny seems to know her far too intimately to have been just her servant. Olivia twigs onto this immediately, and has her suspicions. Olivia wonders what is in the hatbox under the bed that is much too heavy for a hat and why he's never unpacked his things.
Nonetheless, Olivia saves his bacon when the police inspector wants to look through his things and she claims his hatbox as her own. She feels a little sorry for him and we guess that even she doesn't know quite why she did this.
There's a lot of sexual tension between Danny and Olivia. This is played out in quite a charged fashion in the kitchen scene. Olivia goes to make tea because she can't sleep. Danny is also awake, troubled by something. He hears someone in the kitchen, goes to investigate, and scares the bejesus out of Olivia. He pegs her spot on, telling her, "You want adventure, don't you? It's right here in this house, right here in this kitchen, with the two of us, alone here, at this time of night. It's exciting, isn't it?" He tells her, as she is breathing hard and blushing, that she's never been alone with a chap like him but she likes it, and it's a secret part of her she never knew existed. He comes closer to her, close enough to kiss It's true, she is excited. But it's dangerous too, and she knows it. I won't spoil the scene for you; you'll have to see it for yourself.
This was the first performance I had seen Montgomery give. I went back and saw his romantic comedies and then saw this again. He is wonderful in it, and indeed was nominated for an Academy Award. His Irish accent is very good. His demeanor as the insouciant servant who starts out mouthing platitudes to all and sundry and by the end of the story is displaying his contempt of them is very well-played. His good looks worked for him in this role, as who would believe someone so handsome would be a killer? Indeed, would many women have cuddled up with Ted Bundy had he looked creepy and frightening? That's just how sociopaths work; and Montgomery pretty much nails it. Russell is good as well in the kind of role that would be left in the dust as she moved on the screwball comedies in just a few years. Dame May Witty, as the malingering old biddy, is too perfect with her complaints of palpitations, bosom-clutching, and rattling around in a wheelchair she clearly doesn't need. Her hysterics late in the film, when everyone has left her alone and she has the "jitters," is classically comical.
The story holds up but some of the film's flaws include staginess and talkiness (over two hours long). You can tell it started life as a play because most of the action takes place in one room from which all others open off. I also found heavy-handed the device of using threatening music when Danny enters the room. Also, mention is made that the body has not been found yet and promptly there is a scream from offstage and a policeman rushes in to use the phone to report that the body has indeed been found. Stagy! It doesn't quite hold up to thriller standards by today's viewpoint but still atmospheric, and the set design is beautiful and the performances, especially Montgomery's, are well worth seeing. In fact, this role was not given to Montgomery as some sort of punishment by MGM, as suggested by another post. Louis B. Mayer was astounded Montgomery wanted to play this type of role at all, and Bob had to fight for it. If all you know of him is the fluffy romantic movies where he waltzed around pretty women and said things like, "I love you, and you love me too, admit it," do see him acting quite differently in this film.
That changes when Dora, one of the maids, confesses tearfully to being "in trouble" by a messenger from another house. Mrs. Bramson agrees to see him to make him do right by the girl. Into their lives comes Danny (Robert Montgomery), a strutting Irish charmer whose silver tongue so enchants the old lady, she offers him a job. He nonchalantly agrees to marry the maid, like many sociopaths who toss off the answer they know needs to be said without any intention of actually doing so. Indeed, soon enough Danny is taking dinner with the ladies of the house and being served by the maid presumably carrying his baby.
Olivia sees right through Danny from the start. She becomes interested in him, though, because he's good-looking, different, and has that dangerous bad-boy vibe going on. But she's also repulsed my his servile attitude to the old cantankerous battle-axe and his facile way with the truth. Nonetheless, after he tells her she would be prettier "without them glasses on," we don't see her wearing them much.
When the lady of the house from his previous employment turns up dead, nude, and decapitated in the woods, Danny seems to know her far too intimately to have been just her servant. Olivia twigs onto this immediately, and has her suspicions. Olivia wonders what is in the hatbox under the bed that is much too heavy for a hat and why he's never unpacked his things.
Nonetheless, Olivia saves his bacon when the police inspector wants to look through his things and she claims his hatbox as her own. She feels a little sorry for him and we guess that even she doesn't know quite why she did this.
There's a lot of sexual tension between Danny and Olivia. This is played out in quite a charged fashion in the kitchen scene. Olivia goes to make tea because she can't sleep. Danny is also awake, troubled by something. He hears someone in the kitchen, goes to investigate, and scares the bejesus out of Olivia. He pegs her spot on, telling her, "You want adventure, don't you? It's right here in this house, right here in this kitchen, with the two of us, alone here, at this time of night. It's exciting, isn't it?" He tells her, as she is breathing hard and blushing, that she's never been alone with a chap like him but she likes it, and it's a secret part of her she never knew existed. He comes closer to her, close enough to kiss It's true, she is excited. But it's dangerous too, and she knows it. I won't spoil the scene for you; you'll have to see it for yourself.
This was the first performance I had seen Montgomery give. I went back and saw his romantic comedies and then saw this again. He is wonderful in it, and indeed was nominated for an Academy Award. His Irish accent is very good. His demeanor as the insouciant servant who starts out mouthing platitudes to all and sundry and by the end of the story is displaying his contempt of them is very well-played. His good looks worked for him in this role, as who would believe someone so handsome would be a killer? Indeed, would many women have cuddled up with Ted Bundy had he looked creepy and frightening? That's just how sociopaths work; and Montgomery pretty much nails it. Russell is good as well in the kind of role that would be left in the dust as she moved on the screwball comedies in just a few years. Dame May Witty, as the malingering old biddy, is too perfect with her complaints of palpitations, bosom-clutching, and rattling around in a wheelchair she clearly doesn't need. Her hysterics late in the film, when everyone has left her alone and she has the "jitters," is classically comical.
The story holds up but some of the film's flaws include staginess and talkiness (over two hours long). You can tell it started life as a play because most of the action takes place in one room from which all others open off. I also found heavy-handed the device of using threatening music when Danny enters the room. Also, mention is made that the body has not been found yet and promptly there is a scream from offstage and a policeman rushes in to use the phone to report that the body has indeed been found. Stagy! It doesn't quite hold up to thriller standards by today's viewpoint but still atmospheric, and the set design is beautiful and the performances, especially Montgomery's, are well worth seeing. In fact, this role was not given to Montgomery as some sort of punishment by MGM, as suggested by another post. Louis B. Mayer was astounded Montgomery wanted to play this type of role at all, and Bob had to fight for it. If all you know of him is the fluffy romantic movies where he waltzed around pretty women and said things like, "I love you, and you love me too, admit it," do see him acting quite differently in this film.