Un bienfait dangereux

I woke up one morning about 3:00 with the TV was still on, I go to sleep watching TCM, I love the old black and whites. A movie called Kind Lady was playing, and although I was still sleepy, I couldn't stop watching this incredibly disturbing movie about a lovely kind woman played beautifully by Aline MacMahon and the most unlikable despicable character, played to the hilt by Basil Rathbone! I missed the very beginning so don't know why or how he got invited in the first place but the premise is that she's wealthy and generous and invites him, a starving artist, for some reason into her home. She's a collector and has some very famous and expensive paintings hanging in her living room, and after a few visits and a scam involving a pretend wife and starving baby, this horrid man manages to take over her entire life.. I just hated him, he played this character so well that the only thing I can say is that I found it disturbing! Of course it was made in the 30's so it's reasonably naive by today's standard, but a great movie nevertheless!

"Kind Lady" is based on a stage play. This version stars Aline MacMahon, Basil Rathbone, Nola Luxford, Mary Carlisle, and Donald Meek. It was remade with Ethel Barrymore and Maurice Evans in 1951.

"Kind Lady" is the story of Mary Herries, a wealthy British woman who takes pity on a starving artist, Henry Abbott (Rathbone), his wife, and baby and take them in. Her home and life are soon taken over by Abbott and his gang, and Mary is a prisoner in her own home while she is gradually robbed.

Somehow, with a younger Mary and Henry, this film has a different and better dynamic, although the denouement in the 1951 film is more interesting than the ending here. Here, Mary still has the possibility of romance in her life, and though it isn't explored (or, given the class distinctions, probably not even a thought), there is some chemistry in the beginning between Mary and the debonair, dashing Rathbone.

Aline MacMahon, normally in character roles, is excellent as Mary, a formal though generous and honest woman who cares for the less fortunate. Rathbone is dastardly and smooth as silk as Henry, whose aggressiveness becomes apparent almost immediately as he pressures Mary into buying one of his ugly paintings.

This version is a little less cruel in its treatment of poor Mary, who seems to have the freedom to move around; in the '51 version, she doesn't, and Henry actually does her portrait.

Both films are very good, as it's a strong story, but the '51 comes out as slightly superior. I did love this cast, though.

1935's "Kind Lady" may be held in less regard than its 1951 remake, but comes off better by casting Aline MacMahon and Basil Rathbone in the leads, both younger and more effective than Ethel Barrymore and Maurice Evans. The widowed Mary Herries still pines for the husband she lost during the Great War, and meets impoverished artist Henry Abbott in front of her door on Christmas Eve, inviting him in for a short visit. She banishes any thoughts of romance with the suave handsome stranger upon learning he has a wife and child, and resolves never to see him again. She sadly fails to reckon with his persistence however, enabling him to move in his family and 'friends,' driving all but the maid (Nola Luxford) out of the house, filled with valuable paintings and artifacts, now targeted by Abbott and his despicable entourage. Dependable players such as Murray Kinnell (as the murderous doctor), Dudley Digges, Frank Reicher, E. E. Clive, and Donald Meek make a terrific ensemble, as Mary feigns illness in seeking to regain the upper hand, an uphill struggle without outside help. Having debuted opposite Edward G. Robinson and Boris Karloff in 1931's "Five Star Final," Aline MacMahon enjoys one of her few starring roles, while Rathbone was only solidifying the villainous reputation he so richly deserved, until Sherlock Holmes succeeded in making audiences forget how deliciously wicked he could be (he'd already played Philo Vance in 1930's "The Bishop Murder Case").

I suspect that most film fans are familiar with Ethel Barrymore's portrayal of the rich spinster woman whose house is taken over by a gang of grifters. This earlier version with Aline McMahon in the title role is not that often shown. That is a pity because McMahon is just wonderful in the role. It also apparently set a pattern for her playing woman older than herself.

In the tradition of no good deed goes unpunished McMahon finds a starving a pitiful artist on the doorstep of her London townhouse. That is Basil Rathbone who presents such a pitiful figure that she takes him in. Pretty soon he's got himself a wife and baby there and gradually takes over the running of the house. A whole bunch of others move in to take over the various servant positions including Dudley Digges, Murray Kinnell, Eily Malyon, Justine Chase, and Barbara Shields.

It's alluded to, but never rightly said that this group has worked this game before of systematically looting a place and then moving on. We know that these people are not above murder to achieve their ends.

The women of the group are a low class group of scavengers, the men however Rathbone, Digges, and Kinnell exude an air of menace in their performances. They've really covered all bases, keeping McMahon a prisoner in her own home with no contact with the outside world. To the outside world the story was given out that she had gone to America.

Sometimes a film like this even with no unearthly creatures in the story can step over into the horror film genre. This is what Kind Lady does, these grifters are not lovable con artists, they are more frightening than any kind of ghoul because they are real.

Fans of Aline McMahon and Basil Rathbone should catch this one.

I enjoy watching a lot of older movies. Most suspense films that have caught my eye are in part comedies. This one has an intensity that I seldom see in this period. The other reviews have done a super job of describing the performers, so no more here.

The story is so well done that it is almost painful to experience -- the feelings are .. don't do that .. how can they treat her the way they do .. why isn't someone helping .. etc, etc. Whether you will be able to 'enjoy' this production, may be part of your own preference, but everyone that has selected movies to watch from this period needs to watch this one.