UNCLE SILAS

UK, 1947, 103 minutes, Black and white.
Jean Simmons, Derek de Marney, Katina Paxinou, Derek Bond, Esmond Knight, Sophie Stewart, Marjorie Rhodes.
Directed by Charles Frend.

Uncle Silas is an old-fashioned British Gothic thriller. The screenplay was written by playwright Ben Travers and adapted from a novel from Sheridan Le Fanu, author of the vampire novel, Camilla.

The film is an early star vehicle for Jean Simmons who plays a young woman going as a ward to live with her old Uncle Silas, played by Derrick de Marney. He lives, of course, in an old mansion which is full of creaks and groans. With this kind of atmosphere, superb black and white photography and a supporting performance by Katina Paxinou (who won an Oscar for best supporting actress in For Whom the Bell Tolls), the film is one of those shuddery thrillers - which invite audiences to suspend disbelief and enjoy for its British chills and thrills.

1. A British period film of the '40s? The dramas of the period and the re-creation of the 19th century? Melodramas?

2. Black and white photography, studio processes?

3. The title, the focus on Uncle Silas - and the perspective of Caroline?

4. Caroline, Jean Simmons' screen presence, her age, 16, her father? The maids, her lifestyle? Her fascination with Silas? The desire for a reconciliation between him and her father? Her father's death? The governess, the clash, ousted?

5. Her going to Silas? His genteel appearance, pleasant manner? His son? The signature? The contrast with Richard and his family, background? The ball? Illness and recovery? The trip and the collage? The rooms - and the governess, her relationship with Silas, with his son? The confrontation and fights? The rescue? Her future?

6. Silas and his hypocrisy, his relationship with his brother, gambler, a villain? Smooth appearance? His relationship with his son, promoting his son? His illness and cantankerousness? The governess and their relationship? The final confrontation and his death?

7. The portrait of the son, like his father, his evil, approaches to Caroline? Their trapping Caroline, the signatures, the forgeries, her money?

8. The contrast with Richard, Caroline's perceptions of Richard? His rescuing her?

9. The governess, her background, sinister appearance, her control over Caroline, her being ousted, in plotting with Silas, their relationship?

10. Tom, his father?

11. The doctor, the friendship?

12. A melodramatic drama, the atmosphere of the early Victorian period?