Film of the Week: Kind Lady, 1951

A wealthy art collector, Mary Herries, leads a quiet life in her large townhouse. She’s alone most of the time, that’s true. However, she is not lonely. Aside from her loyal maid, she’s kept company by the many gorgeous, priceless paintings and sculptures which fill her lavish home. She’s a gentle soul—a truly kind lady. When she meets a struggling artist, Henry Elcott, she is moved by his sad tale of the poverty in which he, his ailing wife and their baby live. She takes pity on the man, and soon, she finds that he and his whole family have moved into her elegant London house.

Soon, however, Mary discovers that her kindness has been repaid in a peculiar fashion. She’s locked in her room—held prisoner—while Elcott and his faix family systematically rob her. Posing as Mar’s nephew and styling his criminal friends as her new maid an butler, Elcott tells people that Mary has gone mad and that if they hear screams from her bedroom to ignore them because they’re just the rants of insanity. Not only is Mary held hostage, but her maid, Rose, is as well. The two women struggle to break free. However, many days pass, and they’re trapped. There is, indeed, madness in the house. But, it isn’t Mary who’s gone insane. It’s Elcott. The true depth of his depravity becomes clear when he paints a portrait of Mary. His thievery is nothing compared to the sinister plan he has concocted. Will Mary and Rose manage to escape? You’ll have to watch the film to find out.

1951’s Kind Lady is a remake of a film by the same name from 1935 which is itself based on a play (of the same name) by Edward Chodorov who found his inspiration in a short story by Hugh Walpole entitled, “The Silver Mask.” This version stars Ethel Barrymore as Mary Herries and Maurice Evans as Elcott (Maurice—pronounced “Morris”—is best known to American audiences as Samantha Stephens’ father Maurice—pronounced “Mohr-ise”—on Bewitched and as “Hutch” in the film version of Rosemary’s Baby.” Angela Lansbury and Keenan Wynn play Elcott’s conspirators, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards. Doris Lloyd plays “Rose.”

It’s a chilling, taut thriller which is really quite disturbing. It makes one reconsider showing any kindness to strangers and cautions us to think with our heads and not our hearts.