My Name Is Julia Ross (1945)

Julia Ross secures employment, through a rather nosy employment agency, with a wealthy widow, Mrs. Hughes, and goes to live at her house. 2 days later, she awakens - in a different house, ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph H. Lewis

Writers:

Muriel Roy Bolton (screenplay), Anthony Gilbert (novel)

Stars:

Nina Foch, May Whitty, George Macready

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Nina Foch	...	Julia Ross
May Whitty	...	Mrs. Hughes (as Dame May Whitty)
George Macready	...	Ralph Hughes
Roland Varno	...	Dennis Bruce
Anita Sharp-Bolster	...	Sparkes (as Anita Bolster)
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Mackie

Storyline

Julia Ross secures employment, through a rather nosy employment agency, with a wealthy widow, Mrs. Hughes, and goes to live at her house. 2 days later, she awakens - in a different house, in different clothes, and with a new identity. She's told she is the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Hughes, and has suffered a nervous breakdown. Is Julia really 'Julia', or, is it true that she's lost all memory of who she is?

---

Plot Keywords:

employment | psychopath | cornwall england | rain | boarding house | 

---

Taglines:

Probing deep into a woman's soul!

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a 1988 interview about this movie, Nina Foch said the idea that Dame May Whitty had George Macready as a son was "hysterically funny in a bizarre sort of way."

---

Goofs

When Sparkes calls Mrs. Hughes from the employment agency, she begins dialing the phone with the writing end of her pencil. In the next shot she's dialing with the eraser end.

---

Quotes

Ralph Hughes: Marion, darling. How do you feel? Why, you look better this morning, much better! Doesn't she, Mother?
Mrs. Hughes: Indeed she does!
Julia Ross: My name isn't Marion, and I'm not married to you or anyone. I was engaged as a secretary! Now what does this all mean? Why did we leave London?
Mrs. Hughes: You haven't forgotten us again, have you, Marion?
Julia Ross: I'm not Marion, and you know it.
Mrs. Hughes: All right, dear. Let's not argue. Let's just have our tea, and perhaps another nap, and then you'll feel much better.
Ralph Hughes: I'm afraid it's cold.
Mrs. Hughes: Alice, bring some ...
[...]

---

Connections

Version of Lux Video Theatre: My Name Is Julia Ross (1955)

User Reviews

Swift, scary update on the "Had I But Known..." theme

A toothsome little potboiler whose 65-minute length doesn't seem a second too short, My Name is Julia Ross harks back to an English tradition of things not being what they seem -- Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes is one example. Out-of-work Julia Ross (Nina Foch) finds a dream job at a new employment agency in London, whose sinister representative seems very anxious to ascertain if she has living relatives or a boyfriend. After reporting to duty, she wakes up (Having Been Drugged) in a vast Manderley-like pile on the Cornish coast, supposedly as the barmy-in-the-crumpet wife of George Macready, who displays an alarming interest in knives and ice picks. His doting, enabling mum is the irresistible Dame May Whitty (this time a model of bustling efficiency on the other side of good-vs-evil than she occupied in The Lady Vanishes). The nightmare vision of this tale unfolds claustrophobically; we know what's going on but are powerless to tell poor Julia. This movie, curiously, is regularly accorded a place of honor as one of the earliest (and very few British) films noirs. I think it's closer to the Gothic old-dark-house tradition than the American one of wet cobblestones and urban corruption; it does, however, evince a more modern, psychoanalytic cast of mind. Whatever you call it, it remains a sharply satisfying thriller.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 November 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Woman in Red

Box Office

Budget:

$175,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1