A Place of One's Own

James Mason and Barbara Mullen have "A Place of One's Own" in this 1945 film also starring Margaret Lockwood and Dennis Price. The only problem is, someone else owns it, too - the ghost of the former owner, which Mr. and Mrs. Smedhurst (Mason and Mullen) discover when they move in. When they hire a companion for Mrs. Smedhurst, the beautiful Annette, things become very strange indeed. The more they learn about the former owner, the stranger it gets.

Mason for some reason, at the age of about 36, plays an elderly man; Barbara Mullen was a little older, but not by much. I immediately thought the story would be told in flashback, with Mason playing a younger man, but no. He does an excellent job. He has the walk and the voice of an old man. Lockwood creates a wonderful character, very sweet and genuine. She had a very wide range as an actress, as she proved in one of her best roles,in Wicked Lady, and years later, in Cast a Dark Shadow.

"A Place of One's Own" is slow and, for this writer anyway, totally predictable. If I had seen it in 1945, I might have felt differently. Despite good performances, it didn't really hold my attention. If you're not familiar with this genre, you will undoubtedly enjoy it more than I did. I came away feeling it was just okay.

I enjoyed this the latest addition to my Margaret Lockwood collection of films.It was filmed the same year,(1945) , that she produced her most famous role of the evil, beautiful, Lady Barbara Skelton in "The Wicked Lady".In "A Place of Our Own" she looks her dark, ravishing best in the "good" role of Annette, the lady companion to Mrs Smedhurst, (Barbara Mullen).

It is a pity that in the eyes of the general public "The Wicked Lady" has crowded out from their conscience her other "good" roles.Most notably, apart from this film, was "The Lady Vanishes" and "Bank Holiday" both from 1938 and "Girl in the News" and "Night Train to Munich" both from 1940 also "Love Story" (from 1944).James Mason for once puts aside his usual sophisticated and sadistic role (such as he played in "The Man in Grey"(1943) with Margaret, Stewart Grainger and Anna Neagle) and plays a sympathetic man twice his age at the time.He plays a plain speaking Yorshireman, Mr Smedhurst, who has spent his entire working life as a draper and now wishes to settle into retirement living in an old house the estate agent had difficulty selling.This role presumably caused James Mason no problems seeing as he was born in Huddersfield.("We're plain speaking folk up there").This is the third film where I've seen Margaret Lockwood "play" the piano well.For other films see "Love Story" and "Inspector Trent's Last Case" (1952).Was that devine music I heard a Chopin prelude? Being a period piece and ghostly it is quite interesting and held my attention to the end.I agree here with another reviewer, it could have been directed with slightly more tension and hence it has only a touch of Gothic suspense.I wonder what Hitchcock would have done with the direction but he was firmly established in Hollywood at the time.I gave it a rating of 6/10.

It's a little quaint by today's standards, but the writing is witty and the cinematography is excellent. More than that, it's an opportunity to see a 36 year old James Mason acting in a role where he ages 25 years. This was the one Gainsborough film he actually wanted to make, although he had hit the top of the charts with other Gainsborough Gothics such as The Wicked Lady and The Man in Grey. I was rather astonished at his ability to transform his extraordinary brooding good looks into those of a kindly, elderly gentleman with a twinkle in his eye. His gait, voice, and body movements so fitted the role of the elderly man, I believe he could have fooled me without all the makeup.

Although it could have done with a larger dose of atmosphere, and much less comic relief and romance, this is still a highly engaging classic film, with a number of thrilling moments and interesting ideas to keep it moving along. James Mason is excellent, even if sometimes a bit over-the-top, convincingly playing a character twice his age in real life. The photography is quite magnificent, with glides and pans effectively distributed throughout. The characters are generally good too, and in fact, there is little to complain about with this production. Lockwood's performance does lack conviction though, but almost everything else is great in this film about life, death, superstitions and more.

An old house, which has a terrible story behind it. Is taken over by an elderly couple, and the spirit of a murdered girl possesses the mistress's young companion from time to time. But it takes awhile for the occupants of the house to pick up on it, as they think that the strange happenings are caused by their staff and don't think too much of it. That's until they learn more about the tragic history of the house and come to accept that they share the estate with a depressed spirit.

RKO studios turn out a nicely made ghost story, which holds a certain amount of charm, and on show is a beautifully elegant production. Although saying that, it not terribly thick in depth. A lot of things are totally glazed over, with certain plot details being pushed aside or briskly concluded. Meaning it does lack tension in parts and the mystery of the house does get rather bogged down to be totally effective. It leans more towards drama/mystery and adds a romance story, than really showing anything horrifying or drumming up suspense. Although there's one scene that stands out from the rest towards the end… it's a neat twist to end it off with. But nonetheless it's a family drama with light touches of horror, where the awkward love sub-plot seems to make the ghost story play second fiddle to it. Which is too bad, as there's a mystery around every turn with the strange occurrences building up slowly from our mysterious ghost. I just wished it shared a bit more focus on it.

Overall, it's a polished effort with the house being the centrepiece, (sometimes you could easily tell it was small model) and the disquieting nature of the building fills the atmosphere. There's no real score other than for the thriving one in the intro and ending credits. Well, you got one of your characters playing the piano in the film. But I thought it benefited from not having one run throughout the film. The photography was rather outstanding, especially the moving angles throughout the house.

Bernard Knowles directs a simple, but yet slightly engrossing picture that has a solid plot (if rather slow going), with a tight script and exceptional performances from the likes of James Mason and Barbara Mullen.