# The Uninvited (1944 film)
**The Uninvited** is a 1944 American supernatural horror film directed by Lewis Allen, in which a brother and sister buy a cheaply priced clifftop house in Cornwall and discover it is haunted. It stars [Ray Milland](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-milland), Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, and [Gail Russell](https://www.edgepedia.org/gail-russell), and was produced by [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures) from Dorothy Macardle's 1942 novel *Uneasy Freehold*, published in the United States under the title *The Uninvited*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) • [2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27964-the-uninvited)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | Lewis Allen, his feature directorial debut[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) |
| Source | Novel *Uneasy Freehold* by the Irish writer Dorothy Macardle (London, 1942); US edition titled *The Uninvited*[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) • [3](https://drb.ie/article/no-homes-to-go-to-2/) |
| Screenplay | Dodie Smith and Frank Partos; associate producer Charles Brackett[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27964-the-uninvited) |
| Principal cast | Ray Milland (Roderick Fitzgerald), Ruth Hussey (Pamela Fitzgerald), Gail Russell (Stella Meredith), Donald Crisp (Commander Beech), Cornelia Otis Skinner (Miss Holloway)[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27964-the-uninvited) |
| Release | Washington, D.C. premiere 10 February 1944; New York opening 26 February 1944[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) |
| Format | 99 minutes, black and white, 1.37:1[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27964-the-uninvited) |
| Recognition | Academy Award nomination for Charles Lang's cinematography; Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% from 22 reviews[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1038526-uninvited) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
In May 1937, the London composer and music critic Roderick "Rick" Fitzgerald and his sister Pamela are ending a vacation on the Cornwall coast when they discover an uninhabited cliffside mansion and buy it at a suspiciously low price from its owner, Commander Beech.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1038526-uninvited) Soon after they move in, doors open and close by themselves and sobs are heard late into the night.[5](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-uninvited-1944) The Commander associates the house with the tragic death of his daughter Mary Meredith and is willing to part with it despite the objection of his granddaughter Stella, a young woman inexplicably linked to the house.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1038526-uninvited) • [5](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-uninvited-1944)
As Rick falls in love with Stella, the Fitzgeralds investigate the house's history, which the [Commander](https://www.edgepedia.org/commander) refuses to discuss and will not let Stella visit.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037415/faq/) The supernatural activity increases as they uncover what happened years before, and the siblings, with Stella's help, find themselves contending with two ghosts.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037415/plotsummary/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1038526-uninvited) The house in the source novel is Cliff House on the Devon cliffs; the film's setting is the Cornish coast, and the house is named Windward House.[8](https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Uninvited.html?id=JSK60QEACAAJ) • [9](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/dvd-review-the-uninvited-1944/)
## Production
Paramount shot the film between 16 April and mid-June 1943, with background scenes on location along the coastline near San Francisco, California, and in [Phoenix, Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/phoenix-arizona); the opening coastline shots were filmed at Elk, California.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037415/) [Veronica Lake](https://www.edgepedia.org/veronica-lake) and Helen Walker were tested for lead roles.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED)
**Casting notes.** Although Gail Russell was "introduced" in this film, her actual screen debut had come in Paramount's 1943 film *Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour*; she withdrew from the cast of *Henry Aldrich Haunts a House* to appear in *The Uninvited*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) The role made her a star, and her performance as Stella is generally regarded as among her best.[11](https://www.framerated.co.uk/uninvited-1944/) For the stage actress and author Cornelia Otis Skinner, who had appeared briefly as herself in *Stage Door Canteen* (1943), the film marked her dramatic screen debut.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) Elizabeth Russell posed for the portrait of "Mary Meredith" that figures in the story, with Lynda Gray as the body for the portrait.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED)
The production team included cinematographer Charles Lang Jr., editor Doane Harrison, art directors Hans Dreier and Ernst Fegté, costume designer [Edith Head](https://www.edgepedia.org/edith-head), and composer Victor Young.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27964-the-uninvited)
## Reception and significance
The film is remembered for the seriousness with which it treated its subject. The [British Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-film-institute)'s program notes describe it as "famously, Hollywood's first authentic ghost story," and the critic Keith Phipps called it one of the first films to treat the supernatural seriously rather than as fodder for comedy.[12](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/in%20dreams%20are%20monsters/2022/12/01/uninvited/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1038526-uninvited) It was a relatively lavish Paramount production, a studio not usually associated with horror films, and was plainly influenced by Val Lewton's cycle of low-budget chillers.[12](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/in%20dreams%20are%20monsters/2022/12/01/uninvited/) • [13](https://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/the-uninvited-1944-2/) Critics have noted its stance part way between psychology and the supernatural, and its lesbian subtext centered on Skinner's character Miss Holloway, material the Toronto Film Society notes describe as having been inserted alongside a droll sense of humor.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1038526-uninvited) • [13](https://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/the-uninvited-1944-2/)
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 95% Tomatometer score from 22 reviews and an 80% audience score.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1038526-uninvited) [The Criterion Collection](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-criterion-collection) issued a 2K restoration on Blu-ray and DVD, with two radio adaptations from 1944 and 1949, both starring Ray Milland; Milland had performed in a radio broadcast of the story as early as 18 November 1946, hosted by Lewis Allen.[2](https://www.criterion.com/films/27964-the-uninvited) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED) Directors including Martin Scorsese and [Guillermo del Toro](https://www.edgepedia.org/guillermo-del-toro) list it among the greatest haunted-house films.[11](https://www.framerated.co.uk/uninvited-1944/)
## Music
Victor Young's score spun off the popular song "Stella by Starlight," heard in the film as a main theme and played on piano by Milland's character.[12](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/in%20dreams%20are%20monsters/2022/12/01/uninvited/) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037415/) In 1947 [Frank Sinatra](https://www.edgepedia.org/frank-sinatra) recorded the song with lyrics added by composer-lyricist [Ned Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/ned-washington), and it became a popular hit.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED)
## The source novel and its author
Dorothy Macardle (1889–1958) was an Irish novelist, journalist, and political activist; *Uneasy Freehold*, her first novel, became a bestseller in the United States during World War II under the title *The Uninvited*.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037415/faq/) • [14](https://www.atthemac.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/The-Uninvited-Study-Guide-College-Theater.pdf) In the novel, Roderick Fitzgerald is a London journalist rather than a composer, and the story is set in Devon.[11](https://www.framerated.co.uk/uninvited-1944/) • [8](https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Uninvited.html?id=JSK60QEACAAJ) Macardle's friend Eamon de Valera, the Irish leader, saw the film at the Savoy cinema in Dublin in the summer of 1944; asked for his verdict on the adaptation, he replied, "Typical Dorothy."[3](https://drb.ie/article/no-homes-to-go-to-2/) • [14](https://www.atthemac.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/The-Uninvited-Study-Guide-College-Theater.pdf)
## References
1. [The Uninvited (1944), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/24231-THE-UNINVITED)
2. [The Uninvited, The Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/films/27964-the-uninvited)
3. [No Homes To Go To, Dublin Review of Books](https://drb.ie/article/no-homes-to-go-to-2/)
4. [The Uninvited, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1038526-uninvited)
5. [The Uninvited (1944), Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-uninvited-1944)
6. [The Uninvited (1944), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037415/faq/)
7. [The Uninvited (1944) - Plot - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037415/plotsummary/)
8. [The Uninvited: By Dorothy Macardle, Google Books](https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Uninvited.html?id=JSK60QEACAAJ)
9. [DVD Review: The Uninvited (1944), Starburst Magazine](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/dvd-review-the-uninvited-1944/)
10. [The Uninvited (1944), IMDb main page](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037415/)
11. [The Uninvited (1944), Frame Rated](https://www.framerated.co.uk/uninvited-1944/)
12. [The Uninvited, BFI Southbank Programme Notes](https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/in%20dreams%20are%20monsters/2022/12/01/uninvited/)
13. [The Uninvited (1944), Toronto Film Society](https://torontofilmsociety.com/film-notes/the-uninvited-1944-2/)
14. [The Uninvited Study Guide, College Theater](https://www.atthemac.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/The-Uninvited-Study-Guide-College-Theater.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Gothic horror films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license