Crow Hollow (1952)

Pretty Good

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Based on the 1950 novel by Dorothy Eden. A newly wed, young couple move into the husband's large family home, populated by his three dotty aunties and a mysterious maid. Before long the young bride is fearing for her life. Some reviews complain of it being slow but I certainly did not find that to be the case. For a start it's only 70 minutes long, but I found the characters all interesting & well acted. Plenty of atmosphere & some good scenes of suspense. Crow Hollow is my sort of house!

This was made in the day when men were rational and women were either hysterical or dotty. For example, the part of Doctor Robert Amour played by Donald Houston is portrayed as the rational, sane and logical man, against his wife, the irrational hysterical, weak woman. Similarly the doctor's aunts are portrayed as dotty eccentrics with unusual hobbies.Of course these are women's stereotypes, which through the medium of cinema helped to shape attitudes toward women in the public's mind. This is the power of cinema.In the end though the film illustrates that the doctor's wife was indeed perfectly rational and sane, with a lot of guts in a dangerous situation. Everything turns out...... well let's not spoil it.Overall a nice mystery film with a fabulous old house feel. It's full of suspense albeit played through the idea of women stereotypes. Nevertheless it's worth a look for fans of mystery and suspense.

Crow Hollow is home to a somewhat dotty and eccentric family -that belonging to a Doctor who takes his newlywed bride to live there.The home is largely occupied by his Aunts ,an outwardly genial but really rather peculiar breed.One is a devoted spider collector ,having several large poisonous specimens around the house ,another busies herself with "good works"and one is a home maker with an obsessive interest in order and tidiness.Soon the new bride begins to feel unwelcome -not surprising given she has a close encounter with a venomous spider and is fed poisoned drinks .It seems the old dears want rid of her and to see her replaced by a nubile young woman named Willow The acting is okay but the script is too talky and rambling and the direction is slack.Watchable as B movie on a wet afternoon but nothing special

It's pretty slow much of the time, but this is a decent mystery story that has enough atmosphere and suspense to hold your interest. The story starts with a young bride coming to live with her husband at "Crow Hollow", which is dominated by his three aunts, none of whom are ideal in-laws. Gradually she realizes that her situation is not just unpleasant, but hazardous. It has quite a low-budget look to it, but the characters are interesting enough, and one detail that is done well is the presence of the many crows on the family property, whose constant racket parallels the anxiety building up inside the main characters. It might have been better if the first part had moved much more quickly, because they spent a lot more time setting up everything than they did with the actual mystery. But for a low-budget mystery, it's not bad at all.