FILM · 1944 · USA
The Uninvited
17 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
17 Interesting Facts About The Uninvited
Interesting Facts (13)
- #001
When Stella enters a trance and speaks Spanish during the séance, she says: "Listen, listen! It's not her! It's not her! Don't believe anything! Don't listen to her, because she's lying! You thief! Thief of my love!"
- #002
Paramount decided at the last moment to emphasize the film's supernatural basis and added special effects. When the film was distributed in Britain, the effects were removed by censors.
- #003
Director Lewis Allen wanted the ghosts to remain off-screen and to leave all supernatural imagery to the imagination. Paramount, however, vetoed this, and near the end of the film a ghost appears, curling like opium smoke with an indistinct face at its top. British censors blocked the film's release in the United Kingdom, and the director was congratulated by British critics for his tasteful restraint.
- #004
Paramount contract player Elizabeth Russell posed for the portrait of Mary Meredith. She and the actress who played the ghost, Lynda Gray, looked very much alike. At the time the portrait was painted, Gray was not well enough to pose.
- #005
Some of Windwood House's interior sets, such as the main staircase and the drawing room, were redressed sets from I Married a Witch (1942).
- #006
There are many instances in this film where the screenplay adaptation lifts dialogue word for word from Dorothy Macardle's 1941 novel on which the film is based. The most extensive such scene comes early in the film, when Rick visits the tobacconist's shop.
- #007
Although Windward appears to have no electricity, since the light comes from candles and lamps, the use of a radio makes it possible that the house is wired. In the novel, the characters turn on the lights, showing that the house does have electricity. (The radio could, however, also have been battery-powered: such sets were common at the time, with batteries supplying both high voltage for the valves and low voltage for the heaters. The handle on top also indicated that it was portable.)
- #008
Fitzgerald's car is a 1937 Ford Ten Tourer (also known as the Model C) built in the United Kingdom, and it is very rare in the United States.
- #009
Gail Russell (Stella) appears alongside Cornelia Otis Skinner, who plays Miss Holloway. That same year, Russell portrayed Cornelia Otis Skinner in Our Hearts Were Young and Gay (1944), a film based on Skinner's real-life memoirs. Russell played Skinner again in the sequel Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946).
- #010
Three actors in the studio records/cast call sheets did not appear in the film or could not be identified. They are (with their character names): Norman Ainsley (Chauffeur), Ottola Nesmith (Mrs. Carlton) and George Kirby (Gas Station Attendant). Ainsley was probably driving the car that drops off the Commander. Beech and Stella, and presumably Mr. and Mrs. Carlton, were in the back seat after the church. However, none of these actors appear. Yet Mr. Carlton speaks before the car moves.
- #011
The radio Rick keeps beside his bed on his first night at Windward House is the same as the one Trudy dances to in her room early in The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943), apart from its color (shot six months earlier, also at Paramount). (It is probably battery-powered, since Windward House has no electricity.)
- #012
Despite the filmmakers' efforts to avoid mentioning World War II elements, the small Ford Model C that Ray Milland drives appears to have an air raid warning and partially blacked-out headlights. They are visible in the scenes where Roderick takes Stella to the church.
- #013
Although the cast draws heavily on Hollywood Britons, Ruth Hussey and Gail Russell, who play English characters, speak with normal American voices that are never explained.
Behind the Scenes (1)
- #014
Shy and lacking in self-confidence, Gail Russell lost 20 kilos during filming and had to take a break of several months from acting.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #015
The film drew some criticism for the lesbian implications in the character of Miss Holloway, played by Cornelia Otis Skinner. In a 1944 letter to Hollywood's chief censor Will Hays, Father Brendan Larnen of the Legion of Decency said that unusually large audiences of doubtful character were attending the film at the unusual hours it was shown, drawn by certain erotic and esoteric elements, and warned that such subjects should be handled with care on screen in the future.
Deeper Meaning (1)
- #016
Mrs. Holloway is said to have killed Carmel by exposing her to the cold while she was ill with pneumonia. Unusually for a film of the Production Code era, the film does not clearly show the killer being brought to justice. Its final scene, however, implies that she has gone mad, so viewers may conclude that she has been sent to a sanatorium.
Career & Awards (1)
- #017
The exterior village scenes were shot at M.G.M. Up to the time Ruth Hussey made this film, she had been under contract to MGM throughout her entire career. Ray Milland and Gail Russell were also shooting there, and Hussey, who had moved from MGM to Paramount Studios, must have felt nostalgic returning to her former home studio where she had been a big star.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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