The Unseen (1945)

A secretive widower hires a governess for his children, a willful boy and impressionable girl. Strange occurrences and the governess's curiosity lead her to unlock the secrets of the mysterious and uninhabited brownstone next door.

Director:

Lewis Allen

Writers:

Ethel Lina White (novel), Hagar Wilde (adaptation)

Stars:

Joel McCrea, Gail Russell, Herbert Marshall

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joel McCrea	...	David Fielding
Gail Russell	...	Elizabeth Howard
Herbert Marshall	...	Dr. Charles Evans
Phyllis Brooks	...	Maxine
Isobel Elsom	...	Marian Tygarth
Norman Lloyd	...	Jasper Goodwin
Mikhail Rasumny	...	Chester
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Mrs. Norris
Tom Tully	...	Sullivan
Nona Griffith	...	Ellen Fielding
Richard Lyon	...	Barnaby Fielding

Storyline

Governess Elizabeth Howard fears that David, both her widowed employer and the man she loves, could be the strangler that's stalking women in the small New England town where they live. So does the police. His little son Barnaby knows who the killer is but won't tell. Elizabeth becomes convinced that the killer is now stalking her as well.

---

Plot Keywords:

governess | new england | curiosity | strangler | employer employee relationship | 

---

Taglines:

Menace More Deadly Than "The Uninvited"!

---

Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1945 (Peru)

Also Known As:

Fear

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. A popular local favorite, it was first telecast in Omaha Thursday 4 December 1958 on KETV (Channel 7), in Philadelphia 6 January 1959 on WCAU (Channel 10), in Los Angeles 7 January 1959 on KNXT (Channel 2), in Chicago 8 January 1959 on WBBM (Channel 2), in Minneapolis 10 January 1959 on WCTN (Channel 11), in New York City 27 January 1959 on WCBS (Channel 2), in Phoenix 7 February 1959 on KVAR (Channel 12), in Milwaukee 20 April 1959 on WITI (Channel 6), in Seattle 6 May 1959 on KIRO (Channel 7), in Detroit 23 September 1959 on WJBK (Channel 2), in Asheville 19 November 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13) and in Johnstown 27 November 1959 on WJAC (Channel 6).

---

Connections

Features North West Mounted Police (1940)

---

Soundtracks

Poet and Peasant Overture
(uncredited)
Music by Franz von Suppé

User Reviews

THE UNSEEN (Lewis Allen, 1945) **

Despite having a bunch of notable credits (novelist Ethel Lina White, screenwriters Raymond Chandler and Hagar Wilde, associate producer John Houseman, actors Joel McCrea, Herbert Marshall, Norman Lloyd and Tom Tully) and an excellent prototype in one of Hollywood's finest ghost stories, THE UNINVITED (1944) – not to mention reuniting director Lewis Allen and tragic star Gail Russell from that same film – it is no surprise to me now that THE UNSEEN has remained unseen {sic} for so long. In fact, I only managed to score a hazy-looking, VHS-sourced copy of it which does the film's only true trump card – the atmospheric lighting – no favors at all. At any rate, despite being hurriedly put into production following the success of that earlier Ray Milland classic, there are no ghosts to be seen or heard anywhere this time around; instead we have a surprisingly unsatisfying combination of "The Turn Of The Screw" (typified by the obnoxious antics of McCrea's elder son to scare newly-installed governess Russell away) and GASLIGHT (1944; by way of the mysterious comings-and-goings in the supposedly abandoned house next door). Marshall is the outwardly benign family doctor who openly despises prospective property purchaser Lloyd, Phyliis Brooks is the dishy former governess who still exercises a strange hold over McCrea's boy and, as a mere red herring, Isobel Elsom is the inquisitive sister of the suspiciously-deceased inhabitant of the house next door!! Apart from the fact that, for the most part, there are no scares or even thrills to be had here, the film also commits the cardinal sin of making its male lead (a hot-tempered Joel McCrea!) unsympathetic for the duration but, then, have him predictably fall for the doe-eyed governess at the very end.