''Ladies in Retirement'' is a 1941 American film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

and

Louis Hayward Louis Charles Hayward (19 March 1909 – 21 February 1985) was a Johannesburg-born, British-American actor. Biography Born in Johannesburg, Louis Hayward lived in South Africa and was educated in France and England, including Latymer Upper Scho ...

, who were married at the time. It is based on a 1940

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

play of the same title by

Reginald Denham Reginald Denham (10 January 1894 – 4 February 1983) was an English writer, theatre and film director, actor and film producer. Biography Reginald H. F. Denham was born in London, England, in 1894. He spent a good part of his career dire ...

and Edward Percy that starred

Flora Robson Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from q ...

in the lead role.

Plot

Ellen Creed, a proud spinster fallen on hard times, has spent the past two years as housekeeper and companion to her old friend Leonora Fiske, a wealthy retiree who in her youth had been a chorus girl "of easy virtue". Ellen receives a letter threatening that unless she can tame her two peculiar sisters, the police will be called and the sisters will be evicted from their lodgings for outlandish behaviour. Leonora allows Ellen to invite her sisters to visit. One day when Ellen is away, handsome young stranger Albert Feather appears, claiming to be Ellen's nephew. Leonora lends him money, but Albert makes her promise not to tell Ellen about either his visit or the loan. Ellen returns with her sisters, who quickly wear out their welcome, proving to be a burden to Leonora and her maid Lucy. Leonora complains to Ellen, pointing out that two days have turned into six weeks and that the sisters are destroying her possessions and fraying her nerves. Leonora finally orders them out but Ellen pleads with Leonora, afraid that her sisters will be sent to an institution. In a rage, Ellen then strangles Leonora to death. Ellen tells visitors and Lucy that Leonora is traveling. She tells her sisters that she bought the house and makes them swear that they will never talk about Leonora or that she sold the house. Some nuns living nearby visit the house in a terrible storm to borrow something. After Ellen sends Lucy to the shed, Lucy is surprised there by Albert, with whom Lucy had a flirtation the first time that he was at the Fiske home. He flirts with her again and asks her to promise not to tell Ellen that he has been there before or that he is in the shed. Instead, he visits through the front door, telling Ellen that he needs help and a place to stay because he is a wanted thief. Ellen refuses to allow Albert to stay and buys him a boat ticket out of the country and says that she will give him some money to make a new start. Albert and Lucy find evidence that Ellen is hiding something about Leonora. They find Leonora's wig, wondering why she did not travel with it. Albert intercepts a letter from the bank asking why Leonora’s signature on a check is much different than the one that they have on file. Albert reads the blotter after Ellen writes back to them about a "sprained wrist." Lucy is not able to figure out what is happening, but Albert is putting the pieces together. Albert seduces Lucy and tries to steal the hidden money, but fails to find it. He has Lucy sit at the piano, playing Leonora's favourite song and wearing a wig with her back to Ellen, who screams at the sight of her and faints. Albert forgoes his trip in order to stay and blackmail his aunt so that he can have an easy life in the country. He confronts Ellen and she confesses, and he talks about his own crimes. Lucy overhears them and flees the house, and the neighbour nuns come to the door and Albert hides. The nuns tell Ellen that the police are looking for a man who fits Albert's description. Albert comes out of hiding and takes the ticket and money from her and leaves. Ellen's sisters return from their walk and tell her that they saw Albert playing tag with two men. Ellen smiles, dons her coat and hat, tells the sisters she’s going to see some men, kisses them goodbye and departs into the fog.

Cast

as Ellen Creed *

as Albert Feather *

Evelyn Keyes Evelyn Louise Keyes (November 20, 1916 – July 4, 2008) was an American film actress. She is best known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film ''Gone with the Wind''. Early life Evelyn Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, to Omar Do ...

as Lucy *

Elsa Lanchester Elsa Sullivan Lanchester (28 October 1902 – 26 December 1986) was a British-American actress with a long career in theatre, film and television.Obituary '' Variety'', 31 December 1986. Lanchester studied dance as a child and after the F ...

as Emily Creed *

Edith Barrett Edith Barrett (born Edith Barrett Williams; January 19, 1907 – February 22, 1977) was an American actress. She was a romantic star on Broadway and in the Little Theatre Movement in New England summer stock from the mid-1920s to the late 1930s ...

as Louisa Creed *

Isobel Elsom Isobel Elsom (born Isabelle Reed; 16 March 1893 – 12 January 1981) was an English film, theatre, and television actress. She was often cast as aristocrats or upper-class women. Early years Born in Chesterton, Cambridge, Elsom attend ...

as Leonora Fiske *

Emma Dunn Emma Dunn (26 February 1875 – 14 December 1966) was an English actress. After starting her acting career on stage in London, she became known for her works in numerous films and Broadway productions. Career Emma Dunn appeared onstage in ...

as Sister Theresa *

Queenie Leonard Queenie Leonard (born Pearl Walker; 18 February 1905 – 17 January 2002) was a British actress. She was the last surviving cast member of ''And Then There Were None'' (1945) until her death in 2002. Biography She was born as Pearl Walk ...

as Sister Agatha * Clyde Cook as Bates

Casting

The film is based on a Broadway play that starred

, a forty-year-old actress playing a 60-year-old character, while Ida Lupino was only 23 at the time. Studio boss Harry Cohn fumed, "you're out of your mind choosing this child to play that role." Director Charles Vidor did everything he could to make Lupino look 40, including severely limiting makeup, pulling her hair back in a severe style and getting cinematographer Charles Barnes to light her face in a harsh light to wash out her skin's softness. Barnes told her that "I'll do what I can with my camera, but nearly everthing depends on your performance."

reprised her Broadway role as Leonora Fiske.

Reception

Critical response

In a contemporary review, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called the film "... an exercise in slowly accumulating terror with all the psychological trappings of a Victorian thriller. ... It has been painstakingly done, beautifully photographed and tautly played, especially in its central role, and for the most part it catches all the script's nuances of horror quite as effectively as did the original play version ... Despite all its excellence, however, it must be added that ''Ladies in Retirement'' is a film for a proper and patient mood. It doesn't race through its story; it builds its terror step by step." Writing for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', critic Edwin Schallert called the film "a dramatic and somber portrayal" that "discloses no end of pictorial interest." He praised Lupino's and Hayward's performances, writing "... the film's feminine star appears young for the role but this in many ways makes her interpretation especially interesting and requires the utmost of skill from Miss Lupino in her acting. This is a demand that she meets ably, as does Louis Hayward, who succeeds logically and ingeniously in unmasking her as the killer." In the '' Hollywood Citizen-News'', reviewer Carl Combs called ''Ladies in Retirement'' "a mighty fine movie ... eerie, atmospheric, and charged with melodrama, not to mention a half a dozen performances of considerable dramatic voltage. Its creepy qualities arise not from blood and thunder so much as from a sort of painful tenseness bred by insanity and murder."

Academy Award nominations

* Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White: Lionel Banks and George Montgomery * Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture:

Morris Stoloff Morris W. Stoloff (August 1, 1898 – April 16, 1980) was a musical composer. Stoloff worked with Sammy Davis Jr., Dinah Shore, Al Jolson and Frank Sinatra. Life and career Stoloff worked as music director at Columbia Pictures from 1936 to 1962. ...

and

Ernst Toch Ernst Toch (; 7 December 1887 – 1 October 1964) was an Austrian composer of classical music and film scores. He sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music. Biography Toch was born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family ...

References

External links

* * * *
''Ladies in Retirement''
information site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)

Streaming audio

''Ladies in Retirement''
on

Theater Guild on the Air ''The United States Steel Hour'' is an anthology series which brought hour long dramas to television from 1953 to 1963. The television series and the radio program that preceded it were both sponsored by the United States Steel Corporation (U. S. ...

: March 30, 1947 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ladies In Retirement 1941 films 1941 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures films Film noir Films scored by Ernst Toch American films based on plays Films directed by Charles Vidor Films set in England Films set in the 19th century 1940s historical drama films American historical drama films 1940s English-language films Films with screenplays by Garrett Fort Films about sisters 1940s American films