Kind Lady (1951)

You won't be disappointed!

Absolutely Fantastic

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Fragile, wealthy, and elderly Ethel Barrymore (as Mary Herries) invites struggling artist Maurice Evans (as Henry Springer Elcott) into her home. A London art collector filled with Christian charity, Ms. Barrymore wants to help Mr. Evans' sickly wife Betsy Blair (as Ada Elcott) recover from a fainting spell. But, the couple turn out to be con artists. Soon, her house-guest has taken over, getting rid of the servants and binding Barrymore in her bed. Moreover, Evans has crooked Keenan Wynn (as Edwards) and shifty wife Angela Lansbury move in as maid and butler, while he pretends to be Barrymore's nephew.They sell Barrymore's valuables and tell inquisitors the "Kind Lady" has suddenly become delusional.This re-make of the 1935 stage play and subsequent film is delightfully well-cast, features fine production values, and good direction from John Sturges with cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg. But, not much done to improve the adaptation. Characters and situations come and go with little or no explanation - some even have no point in being part of the story at all. For example, something sinister could have been done with the cat - or, at least hinted at - and the naughty child "Aggie" (played by Barbara Shields) disappears after quite an entertaining introduction. It's certainly worth watching, but a bit frustrating.****** Kind Lady (6/20/51) John Sturges ~ Ethel Barrymore, Maurice Evans, Angela Lansbury, Keenan Wynn

Ethel Barrymore is the "Kind Lady" in this 1951 MGM suspenser, also starring Maurice Evans, Keenan Wynn, Angela Lansbury, and John Williams. Barrymore plays an elderly woman who falls for a con man's (Evans) ruse of a sick wife living in a cold flat with a baby and invites them to stay in her home. House servants (Lansbury and Wynn) who are actually his cohorts soon move in, and the lady is made a prisoner in her home as it is stripped of furnishings and art work.A marvelous cast is directed by John Sturges in this neat, absorbing drama. Maurice Evans is excellent as a cold beast of a man; Angela Lansbury is Nancy of "Gaslight" grown older - cheap and cunning; Keenan Wynn is okay, but he doesn't seem very British. John Williams, as an insurance man, is very good as always in a familiar role for him.At 72, Ethel Barrymore plays a strong and determined woman, nobody's fool, who is nevertheless compassionate and generous. It's a wonderful performance - she appears both tough and alternately frail in different parts of the film.The set looked an awful lot like "Gaslight." The woman Mrs. Harkey (Moyna McGill) who comes looking for the maid Rose was Angela Lansbury's real-life mother. Talented ladies both.Loved it.

Kind Lady (1951) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Remake of the 1935 thriller has Ethel Barrymore taking the role of Mary Herries, the kind woman who takes in a stranger (Maurice Evans) who turns out to be a psycho. Soon he and his cronies have Herries trapped inside her own home as they plan on taking everything she has. It should be noted that I watched this film less than 24-hours after watching the original one and I must say that both versions are fairly close in quality but I'd probably join a minority in prefering the original one. Both have the same high points as well as some of the same lows but in the end I think the first film did a tad bit more with the material. The one thing that really bothered me here is that the "plot" to show Herries as being crazy struck me as a tad bit unbelievable as I never once believed that many of the supporting players would be so stupid as to believe the story being thrown at them by the Evans character. Both films handle this in the same fashion but here it just struck me as a bit sloppy. With that said, this film does offer up some very good performances with Barrymore clearly stealing the film as the kind woman who begins to suffer for being too trusting. She's quite believable in the role and makes for an entertaining character. Evans, a famous Shakespearean actor who was lured to Hollywood for this film, also manages to be quite good but I'd give this edge to Basil Rathbone in the original. Angela Lansbury, Keenan Wynn and MARTY's Betsy Blair round out the supporting cast. Sturges does a better job in the directing category but he's certainly far off from his greatest work. With that said, both versions of the film are decent thrillers and I'm sure it will be a toss up on which one people prefer. For me, both were worth watching but if I had to sit through one again it would be the original.

Ethel Barrymore, ("The Spiral Staircase"'46), gave one of her greatest performances as an old lady captured in her home with all her favorites treasures along with other film greats like:- Maurice Evans,("Beneath the Planet of the Apes"'s '70, Angela Lansbury,(Mrs. Edwards) "Murder She Wrote",'03 and Keenan Wynn, son of Ed Wynn the veteran comedian of the '30's and 40's. Every film that Ethel Barrymore ever appeared in was a great success because of her great family of actors, John, Lionel and presently Drew.