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Guest in the House
Guest in the House
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Brahm; Lewis Milestone (uncredited)
Screenplay by	Ketti Frings
Story by	Katherine Albert
Based on	the play Guest in the House; by Hagar Wilde; Dale Eunson
Produced by	Hunt Stromberg
Starring	Anne Baxter; Ralph Bellamy; Aline MacMahon
Cinematography	Lee Garmes
Edited by	Walter Hannemann; James E. Newcom
Music by	Werner Janssen
Production; company	Hunt Stromberg Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	December 8, 1944 (United States);
Running time	117 or 120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	over $1 million
Box office	$1,450,000

Guest in the House (re-release title Satan in Skirts) is a 1944 American film noir directed by John Brahm starring Anne Baxter and Ralph Bellamy.

Lewis Milestone began directing the film in April 1944, but was stricken with appendicitis in May 1944 and collapsed on the set. John Brahm then stepped in to direct.^[4]

Plot

Martha Proctor believes something evil has come to her home. Her nephew Dr. Dan Proctor arrives with his betrothed, Evelyn Heath, who is a frail invalid. Evelyn is introduced to Aunt Martha as well as Dan's older brother, Douglas, an illustrator, along with Douglas's wife Ann and his model, Miriam.

The women sympathize with Evelyn, knowing of the hard life she has had. Evelyn has bouts of hysteria, involving her fear of birds, and also keeps a secret diary in which she mocks Aunt Martha for her spinsterhood status, scorns her fiancé Dan, and expresses a desire for Douglas instead.

While plotting to seduce Douglas, and accusing Dan of jealousy to make him leave, Evelyn sets out to rid the house of Miriam, whom she sees as a rival. Her gossip succeeds in getting back to Ann, and turning everyone's suspicions to Miriam, who departs.

Douglas then quarrels with Ann, driven apart by Evelyn's diabolical schemes. Ann and her child leave to catch the train. Evelyn destroys the goodbye note Ann has written to him.

Evelyn believes she has finally secured Douglas's love, but when Douglas realizes he's been manipulated, he runs to stop Ann. They return to the house and confront Evelyn, telling her that if she ends her marriage plans with Dan, they will agree to send her to an asylum for care. Instead, Evelyn fools Dan into returning home to marry her right away.

As Ann and Douglas take Dan aside to try to persuade him from marrying Evelyn, Martha plays on Evelyn's terror of birds, and pushes her into an hysteria. Evelyn flees from the house, screaming, and plunges to her death over a cliff.

Cast

Anne Baxter as Evelyn Heath
Ralph Bellamy as Douglas Proctor
Aline MacMahon as Aunt Martha
Ruth Warrick as Ann Proctor
Scott McKay as Dr. Dan Proctor
Marie McDonald as Miriam
Jerome Cowan as Mr. Ernest Hackett
Margaret Hamilton as Hilda, the Maid
Percy Kilbride as John, the Butler
Connie Laird as Lee Proctor

Reception

The film earned a profit of $50,000.^[5]^[6]

Critical response

Bosley Crowther, the film critic for The New York Times, gave the film a mixed review when it first opened, writing, "For a more cracked and incredible tale than this quaint one of a mischief-making female has not lately disturbed the screen. As a play by Hagar Wilde and Dale Eunson, it had a moderate run, we understand, but as a film it is openly in peril of being laughed into a quick decline. The fault is as much in the story as it is in the handling by all concerned, for the story is cheaply synthetic and about as logical as a crooner's song...Nor is any help rendered by Anne Baxter, who plays the wrecker with so much coyness that anyone, shy of a blind man, could see that she was up to tricks. And Ralph Bellamy is equally ridiculous as a middle-aged Byronic beau who tries to be boyish and amorous and also solemn and wise. Miss MacMahon remains in the background, which is a happy place for one in this film, while Ruth Warrick, Scott McKay and Jerome Cowan get entwined with the torturings up front. Mr. Stromberg is an eminent producer, but his grip certainly slipped on this job."^[7]

Accolades

Nominations

Academy Awards: Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture; Werner Janssen; 1945.

References

^ Guest in the House at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
^ "Indies $70,000,000 Pix Output". Variety: 3. 3 November 1944. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
^ "Variety (January 1947)". 1947.
^ Guest in the House at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films.
^ Scott Eyman, Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer, Robson, 2005 p 339
^ Balio, Tino (2009). United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-23004-3. p203
^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, February 16, 1945. Last accessed: February 9, 2010.