Kind Lady (1935)

Such a frustrating disappointment

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Accidentally ran across this--awesome, with Aline MacMahon so good and gracious and Basil Rathbone at his skin-crawling best. I enjoyed the evil personalities of the confederates, too. No one seemed ready to help this lady but her courage won the day. This story takes place all inside the lady's house, outdoor scenes only by reference, so it did come across rather like a play than a movie.Rather dated, of course, but a great little thriller to root for the "good guys". And, of course, I enjoyed the costumes and room decorations. I recognized "Mr Wiggs" at the very end. All the players were very convincing.

Kind Lady (1935) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Decent drama has a kind, rich recluse (Aline MacMahon) inviting a stranger (Basil Rathbone) into her home. Everything starts off fine but soon the stranger takes the woman hostage and invites his strange "friends" into the house. This is an extremely bizarre little film that has been outlived by the 1951 remake but this film here manages to be quite effective even though the directing is highly lacking. The biggest problem with the film is its rather timid direction, which really doesn't deliver a very good pace or enough tension. The tension is one thing that's really lacking and it's a shame because the story itself is so good as are the performances. Rathbone clearly steals the film as the maniac who has to come off so charming to get into the house and then slowly lose it as the more psychotic side comes out. Rathbone never gets enough credit for being such a good character actor, which is a real shame because most people just remember him as Sherlock Holmes. While he was masterful in that role, he did just as impressive work outside of it. The snake like charm makes this a must see for fans of his. MacMahan also delivers a great performance as she perfectly fits the role and the kindness she does display is quite touching yet she also brings a naive touch that makes it easy to understand why someone could take advantage of her. Mary Carlisle, Frank Albertson and Nola Luxford add nice support. Donald Meeks has a brief role as well. In the end, due to the great performances, you can't help but feel a bit letdown that the final film isn't as great as the cast but there's still enough here to make this one worth seeing at least once.

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!

An excellent thriller in which an artist tries to take over a woman's life to get the fabulous 10 paintings she owns, worth a fortune. Surprisingly, five years ago I saw the 1951 remake with Ethel Barrymore and Maurice Evans in the leads, but that in no way diminished my enjoyment of this film, despite my knowing the ending. I found Aline MacMahon a bit too young for the title role in this film, but I relished Basil Rathbone as the evil artist. He's such a convincing villain. Dudley Digges and Eily Malyon are also excellent as Rathbone's accomplices, although I wondered how such a cultured man as Rathbone got involved with these lowlifes. And why is Murray Kinnell, as the doctor also in cahoots with Rathbone, involved in such a nasty undertaking? He's a real doctor, as we find out after he murders the maid he catches trying to call the police; he fills out a death certificate. Doris Lloyd, playing a friend of MacMahon in this film played the maid, Rose, in the remake. The critics liked the remake better, but I felt both films are on par with each other. See both films and you decide.