MOVIE OF THE DAY: "THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY" (1945)

By the time George Sanders committed suicide in 1972, he had become easy to take for granted, and even easier to forget how good he really was. Usually in supporting roles, Sanders got one of his few A-list leads in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry, allowing him a side he rarely, if ever, got to show: a humble, shy, middle-aged man experiencing the pangs of first love -- and familial hatred. Happens to the best of us!

Adult siblings Harry, Lettie, and Hester Quincy live in the quaint, dull New England town of Cornith, where gossip and woman's baseball appear to be the only forms of entertainment. As a former New Englander myself, I can attest to this.

Once Cornith's most prominent family, the Quincys have fallen on hard times, with Harry working as a designer at the local fabric mill, while the sisters do nothing except snarl at each other -- when they're not mothering and smothering Harry to within an inch of his life. Ahh, family!

C'mon, Lettie, drink up!

Harry's routine life is turned upside down when when a New York designer, Deborah, starts working at the mill, leading them to fall in love. Lettie, perpetually faking illness, doesn't want Deborah to steal Harry away, and over time successfully breaks up the romance. 

Simultaneously coming to and losing his senses, Harry decides he's had enough of Lettie, and slips some poison into her cup of cocoa -- the same cup she accidentally gives to Hester before trying it herself. In a rare case of justice deserved, Lettie is put on trial for murdering Hester.

Often described as a film noir -- probably because it was produced by Joan Harrison, known for the genre -- The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry is closer to a very dark comedy mixed with romantic drama and family horror. Had it been directed by Alfred Hitchcock rather than Robert Siodmak -- who was responsible for his fair share of excellent noirs -- it might have been a classic rather than almost-not-quite great.

Sister or wannabe girlfriend? I leave it you.

Uncle Harry, in fact, is worth seeing solely for its three leads. Geraldine Fitzgerald makes Lettie Quincy someone you want to see, well, unjustly convicted of murder. Her obsession with Harry crosses the line from "loving sister" to outright incestuous, which appears to have gone straight over the heads of 1945 audiences and censors alike. Thank God.

 

 

It wouldn't be a 1940s movie without
a conversation between two people
who aren't looking at each other.

Ella Raines, as Deborah, goes toe to toe with Lettie over the affections of Harry
as if they were romantic rivals -- which, of course, they are, even if the guy in question is too clueless to realize it. Eyeing and circling each other like tigresses, the two women know that only one of them is going to win the heart of the man they both love -- although Lettie's kind of love is illegal north of the Mason-Dixon line.

 

 

Von Zell is so shocked to be in a scene with George
Sanders that he can't even sing.

Their catfight isn't surprising when you know that Harry is played by George Sanders. Usually known for roles more artful than awkward, Sanders plays Harry minus his usual cynical detachment. It's actually a welcome surprise how easily he makes you root for him when he was better known for playing scoundrels rascals, and cads.

I mean, he's actually  sympathetic for once. And in a small New England town! Never would I have thought Sanders convincing as a guy whose idea of a good time is playing piano for a barbershop quartet -- one member of which is radio stooge Harry von Zell, co-star of the harebrained PRC comedy How Do You Do!!!. Just the idea of Sanders playing a friend of von Zell's is worthy of an Academy Award.

 

Harry finally gets to show his 9-inch
telescope to a woman.

It's hard to believe Sanders could believably be torn between the two women, but such is his talent that he not only pulls it off, you feel sorry for him for being raised in a sick family. (And take it from someone who knows from a sick family.) When he finally decides to poison Lettie, you want to scream, Why didn't you do this ten years ago?!

Deborah's not taking crap from her man's
crazy sister.

Despite my brushing off of director Robert Siodmak, he does a more than decent job with Uncle Harry, particularly in setting up the shots of the lead characters when they're being eyed by somebody else (usually Lettie). And the final 15 minutes are so good that it almost makes you forget how sluggish the previous 65 minutes occasionally felt. 

 

 

Even when Harry visits Lettie on death row,
they do the "talk to the back" routine.

Plus, you get to enjoy Lettie being sentenced to hang for a murder she didn't commit, even if Harry has a change of heart the night before the execution. I'd tell you what happens, but there's a message during the closing credits requesting that you keep the (studio-imposed) climax a secret. Let's just say Harry gets what he deserves.

Oh, and Harry's sister Hester is played by Angela Lansbury's mother. No kidding.

                                       

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To fulfill your Harry von Zell needs, here's a link to my piece on How Do You Do!!!