CROW HOLLOW

UK, 1952, 69 minutes, Black and white.
Donald Houston, Natasha Parry, Patricia Owens, Esma Cannon, Nora Nicholson, Susan Richmond, Meadows White, Melissa Stribling.
Directed by Michael Mc Carthy.

Crow Hollow is a British B-feature of the early 1950s. It is something of a murder mystery.

The title refers to a country home where the hero of the piece, Bob, played by Donald Houston, grew up, his mother having died, and his being cared for by three aunts. His now a successful doctor, meets and, falls in love with Ann and they marry very quickly – though the mother of Ann’s friend wanted never to go to Crow Hollow.

When Ann arrives at the house, she is introduced to the three aunts, each eccentric in their way. One, Judith (Australian Esma Cannon) collect spiders and specimens. Another aunt, Opal, manages the house. The third, Hester, making soups to help people all around the countryside.

At first they welcome Ann and all is happy, Bob going on his rounds, very good with his patients. But, Ann has very little to do. Living with the three aunts, she becomes somewhat paranoid, especially when she is ill and wants to move away from Crow Hollow.

The other person at Crow Hollow is a young woman, Willow, who works as a servant but is considered a daughter – and is in fact a daughter of one of the aunts.

When Ann is dressing to go to a dance, one of the deadly spiders is found in the dress but it is discovered and destroyed before it bites Ann. Later she becomes ill, with possibilities of poison in the soup. When Willow is found stabbed dead, the police investigate but Ann is convinced that she was the target. When she realises among the clothes she had given to Willow was a cap and that Willow was wearing it and the dress sitting at Anne’s mirror, it proves that she was the target.

Of the three aunts, Judith with her spider, Hester with her soup, it is in fact Opal who is the killer and would hope that Willow, her daughter, would marry Bob.

And, of course, Ann is now happy to stay at Crow Hollow.