Kind Lady (1935)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Decent drama has a kind, rich recluse (Aline MacMahon) inviting a stranger (Basil Rathbone) into her home. Everything starts off fine but soon the stranger takes the woman hostage and invites his strange "friends" into the house. This is an extremely bizarre little film that has been outlived by the 1951 remake but this film here manages to be quite effective even though the directing is highly lacking. The biggest problem with the film is its rather timid direction, which really doesn't deliver a very good pace or enough tension. The tension is one thing that's really lacking and it's a shame because the story itself is so good as are the performances. Rathbone clearly steals the film as the maniac who has to come off so charming to get into the house and then slowly lose it as the more psychotic side comes out. Rathbone never gets enough credit for being such a good character actor, which is a real shame because most people just remember him as Sherlock Holmes. While he was masterful in that role, he did just as impressive work outside of it. The snake like charm makes this a must see for fans of his. MacMahan also delivers a great performance as she perfectly fits the role and the kindness she does display is quite touching yet she also brings a naive touch that makes it easy to understand why someone could take advantage of her. Mary Carlisle, Frank Albertson and Nola Luxford add nice support. Donald Meeks has a brief role as well. In the end, due to the great performances, you can't help but feel a bit letdown that the final film isn't as great as the cast but there's still enough here to make this one worth seeing at least once.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Decent drama has a kind, rich recluse (Aline MacMahon) inviting a stranger (Basil Rathbone) into her home. Everything starts off fine but soon the stranger takes the woman hostage and invites his strange "friends" into the house. This is an extremely bizarre little film that has been outlived by the 1951 remake but this film here manages to be quite effective even though the directing is highly lacking. The biggest problem with the film is its rather timid direction, which really doesn't deliver a very good pace or enough tension. The tension is one thing that's really lacking and it's a shame because the story itself is so good as are the performances. Rathbone clearly steals the film as the maniac who has to come off so charming to get into the house and then slowly lose it as the more psychotic side comes out. Rathbone never gets enough credit for being such a good character actor, which is a real shame because most people just remember him as Sherlock Holmes. While he was masterful in that role, he did just as impressive work outside of it. The snake like charm makes this a must see for fans of his. MacMahan also delivers a great performance as she perfectly fits the role and the kindness she does display is quite touching yet she also brings a naive touch that makes it easy to understand why someone could take advantage of her. Mary Carlisle, Frank Albertson and Nola Luxford add nice support. Donald Meeks has a brief role as well. In the end, due to the great performances, you can't help but feel a bit letdown that the final film isn't as great as the cast but there's still enough here to make this one worth seeing at least once.