UNCLE SILAS (1947) is the big-screen adaptation of the gothic novel by J. Sheridan Le Fanu and it's an atmospheric and engaging little gothic thriller, typical of the era which saw a number of similarly gloomy, madness-obsessed movies coming out. Not supernatural, but very much in the mould of Hitchcock's REBECCA, with dark and sinister characters scheming their way through a plot involving the usual murder and gaslighting. Jean Simmons is the fresh-faced Caroline who's packed off to stay with creepy old Uncle Silas after a bereavement, and even worse than him are his sinister associates including a French governess. Of course, an inheritance is crucial to the story. It's a good example of the gothic film from the late 1940s, slow and stately at times, but with the kind of evocative and cobwebby set-dressing that would go on to propel the genre in later decades, and building up a good head of steam as it develops.
Review of The Inheritance
