Ladies in Retirement (1941) User Reviews

Highly intriguing Gothic suspense tale with Lupino in fine form...

[Doylenf · 8/10 · 8 March 2007]

Here we have a very watchable Gothic suspense tale with IDA LUPINO giving one of her most restrained, yet brilliant performances in the leading role as a woman who is willing to commit murder for the sake of keeping her two dotty sisters out of an insane asylum. ISOBEL ELSOM is the foolish, rich English lady living on the moors with a maid (EVELYN KEYES) and agreeing only to a short visit from Lupino's sisters but soon finding herself in the position of having to order them away after a prolonged stay.

Lupino has a stormy confrontation with Elsom in order to convince her that her siblings must stay, but she loses the argument and decides the next day to settle things her own way. LOUIS HAYWARD is excellent as a charming scoundrel, a young nephew who begins to suspect that something has happened to Elsom and prowls around trying to solve the mystery of her disappearance The storyline bears similarities to NIGHT MUST FALL, the Robert Montgomery/Rosalind Russell/Dame May Witty thriller, another psychological tale involving a psychotic who wins over a rich old lady with his charm. But it is IDA LUPINO and her powerful portrait of a woman in jeopardy of losing everything she has worked for, that really stands out here.

And that's quite a compliment considering she is surrounded by expert actresses like ELSA LANCHESTER, EDITH BARRETT, ISOBEL ELSOM and EVELYN KEYES. She is the pivotal character in the grim tale, perhaps a shade too young to be cast as Louis Hayward's aunt, but she inhabits the role with all the force of her personality. The film is really a showcase for her undeniable talent and it's a shame that she never received an Oscar nomination for her role.

Summing up: Chilling atmosphere, superior B&W art direction, and a good score help make it an engrossing experience.

Fantastic Classic Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 9 March 2007]

If you liked seeing Ida Lupino in all her films, this is a must see film with an outstanding director, producer and great acting. Ida Lupino, (Ellen Creed) plays the role of a companion for a rich retired actress who also has a maid named Lucy performed by Evelyn Keyes. The story becomes very complicated when Ellen Creed invites her two sisters to visit with her. However, these two gals are simply loony tunes in their heads and will drive you completely crazy with their great supporting roles. Louis Hayward, (Albert Feather) is a family acquaintance to Ellen Creed and he decides to stay at their home and get away from his banking problems. Elsa Lanchester,(Emily Creed), "Bride of Frankenstein", also gives a great supporting role. This is a great mystery film with a great plot that will keep you guessing just how this film will end. I was also surprised to learn that Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward were husband and wife in real life while this film was being produced.

Where the Fog Never Lifts

[dougdoepke · 15 February 2008]

In 1942, I expect the studios tossed off productions like this like cars on an assembly line. But don't let that fool you. Assembly line product or no, this is an atmospheric and expertly acted 90 minutes from Columbia Pictures, with that great unsung actress of the period Ida Lupino, supported by two of the daffiest character actresses of the day, Elsa Lanchester and the wild-eyed Edith Barrett.

And what a wacky production it is. Adapted from a stage play, everything takes place on a single foggy sound stage. But that's okay because it's a Gothic thriller with lots of shadowy interiors and dark secrets inside a big old house. Lupino's cursed with two ditzy sisters and, by golly, she's going to take care of them come what may. It's this unbending family loyalty that finally lends Lupino's role an uncommon measure of dramatic pathos. Watch her with her tightly wrapped hairdo and stiff-necked manner. It's like she's taken a solemn oath to defend her pathetic sisters, and she's going to do it, no matter the sacrifice, unlike the bounder Louis Hayward who takes advantage of the situation only to enrich himself. But it's really the girlish Barrett, an obscure RKO actress, who steals the show-- all innocence and wide-eyed enthusiasm over the least little thing. No wonder, Lupino takes extreme protective measures.

Stylish director Charles Vidor does a lot with the slender material. Just consider the single, fog-bound set that could have become impossibly static. But Vidor keeps things moving and our attention with it. Then too, he knows how to use the Louis Hayward character to liven up the Gothic solemnity. What's also notable is that neither the screenplay nor Vidor takes the easy way out by vilifying the flighty Mrs. Fiske (Isobel Elsom). She's ultimately as sympathetic as Lupino. I kept wondering what Hitchcock would have done with the material since the theme and characters are right up his alley. Be that as it may, this is one of the many by-passed gems from the studios' golden age, and deserves rediscovery on its own many merits.

good Gothic thriller

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 12 February 2008]

Ida Lupino stars in "Ladies in Retirement," a 1941 film also starring Louis Hayward, Evelyn Keyes, Elsa Lanchester, Isobel Elsom and Edith Barrett. Lupino is Ellen Creed, the housekeeper/companion to a retired actress Eleanora Fiske (Elsom) who "has friends" that send her money besides her pension. Translation: she got around. Ellen's crazy sisters (Lanchester and Barrett) are being evicted from their place in London, so Ellen gets Fiske to agree that they can visit. Of course Ellen doesn't intend that they visit, she intends that they move in. They turn out to be impossible, bringing in branches, shells, dead birds, scratching the funeral and living like coyotes, so after 6 weeks, Fiske tells Ellen that not only is she throwing out her sisters, but Ellen is going with them. The next day, Ellen kills the old woman and tells her sister she's purchased the house.

Complications arise when a relative of the Creeds, Albert Feather (Hayward) who has already been to the house to see Ellen when she was in London and met Mrs. Fiske, shows up again. It doesn't take him long to figure out what went on and what's going on.

Lupino's career would have been better, of course, if she hadn't been stuck at Warner Brothers where the plum roles she might have played went to Bette Davis. She is very good here in a restrained performance as a determined young woman who takes her responsibilities to her sisters very seriously. Lanchester turns in an excellent performance as the willful sister, and Edith Barrett, the more fragile one, is very amusing. Lupino was married to Louis Hayward at the time of his filming. Hayward could look strange, possibly when his weight was up - here he is most attractive and charming as Albert. He was marvelous as Simon Templar, the Saint, and here he brings that same smooth as silk quality to his performance. Evelyn Keyes has a small but showy role as a maid who can't resist Albert. Isobel Elsom is excellent as Mrs. Fiske - distracted, self-involved and somewhat annoying with no coping mechanisms.

The big question is, if Ellen's two sisters are crazy, and Ellen can kill so easily, is Ellen crazy as well? Hard to say but perhaps her obsessiveness over her sisters and her determination to get what she wants are indications that she has a streak of instability.

The sets are very noticeable today as is the fake fog, and I have to add that a title like "Ladies in Retirement" sounds like an early '30s film with Constance Bennett. Nevertheless, it has a good, suspenseful atmosphere and while a little slow moving, it definitely held my interest.

Glorious Gothic camp

[MOscarbradley · 7/10 · 10 April 2015]

Glorious Gothic camp. A seemingly unlikely, yet perfectly cast, Ida Lupino is the stiff-backed housekeeper and companion to fussy actress Isobel Elsom. When she discovers that her two daft sisters, (an excellent Edith Barrett and a superb Elsa Lanchester), are to be evicted from their lodgings she decides to move them in but first she must do something about her employer. Things get complicated when Lupino's scurrilous 'nephew' turns up and is quick to put two and two together.

The setting is one those quaint old cottages on the English marshes that are perpetually shrouded in fog and which one someone in Hollywood could dream up and the source material was a play by Reginald Denham and Edward Percy. By rights it should be terrible but it's actually hugely enjoyable and Lupino's terrific, (she makes for a very sympathetic murderess). It's the kind of film that would sit very nicely next to "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" and "Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice".

Creed Family Values

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 17 October 2014]

Some people get the strangest notions. Take Ida Lupino in Ladies In Retirement. She's served faithfully and well as a companion/secretary to rich Isobel Elsom for many years and when her sisters Elsa Lanchester and Edith Barrett come for a visit Elsom allows them to stay. But when they start taking over the place Elsom says they have to go. Instead it's Elsom who goes rather permanently and the story goes out that the woman has gone away.

Also now squatting at the residence is the nephew of all three of the sisters, son of a fourth sister who was apparently the only one who married. He's played by Louis Hayward and this isolated place on the English moors is ideal for a man who is on the run from the authorities after stealing 100 pounds from the bank he was employed at. He's guilty of embezzlement, but aunt Ida is guilty of maybe something far worse.

Once again Hayward shows his versatility after playing the swashbuckling hero son of the Count Of Monte Cristo now reverts to playing a blackmailing villain. He never had the major studio ties that his two main competitors Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power had, but he also was allowed to vary his roles as he wasn't as big a star as these other two. Hayward was just a fine and versatile actor.

Lupino though is the real star here. A very steely woman with iron self control she sees her world start to crumble around her as people become suspicious. Most suspicious of all is Hayward who even though he's on the run isn't above attempting some blackmail. Impervious to it all are clueless spinsters Lanchester and Barrett.

Those moors which provided so much story inspiration to Charlotte Bronte and Arthur Conan Doyle serve once again as a grand back drop to Ladies In Retirement. The final fadeout of Lupino on those moors is unforgettable.

Ladies In Retirement got Oscar nominations for Art Direction and Music Scoring. Sad that neither Ida Lupino or Louis Hayward were similarly recognized. Though they got each other as prizes as Hayward married the woman who played his maiden aunt in the film.

Definitely a film for Ida Lupino fans and Louis Hayward is an actor waiting to be rediscovered.

Great atmospheric "Victorian Noir"

[mikhail080 · 10/10 · 12 May 2007]

A huge stone bake oven, a curly blonde wig, a dead crow, and an old ink blotter are all elements that propel the drama in Charles Vidor's "Ladies in Retirement". This terrific -- and now largely forgotten -- piece of Victorian noir certainly deserves to find a new audience among classic film buffs.

Actually, "Ladies in Retirement" plays much like a "set piece" with almost all the action occurring inside a British country home. And the dramatic structure of the film is lifted faithfully from the stage play, but like the similar "Night Must Fall", the dialog, the characters, and the plot machinations make it an absorbing and suspenseful, and for those not familiar with the play, fairly unpredictable. Director Charles Vidor manages to keep it vital and visually interesting by setting some action on the dim and dank marshes that surround the house, and certainly the set designer and set dressers did a spectacular job in imagining the marshes of England, in a very subjective and ominous manner. The black and white cinematography makes the most of the foggy mist, the twisted trees and shrubs, craggy rocks, and the myriad birds that enliven the scenery. You can almost smell the mold and stagnant water in these scenes.

What makes "Ladies in Retirement" so terrific is the performances by the expert ensemble cast. First mention should go to veteran performer Isobel Elsom, who recreated her Broadway role in this movie, and certainly hits all the right notes as the retired showgirl Leonora Fiske. She's wonderful and perfectly cast, and lends a depth and sincerity to a character that played by a lesser actress would have seemed buffoonish. But Elsom can appear both flighty and silly, but also steely in her determination and cold and unyielding as a iceberg.

Ida Lupino plays Ellen Creed as repressed woman, desperate, and almost ready to explode at any moment, and she appears in sharp contrast to Elsom's blowzy Miss Fiske . From the first shot in the movie, Ellen's face is dark and tormented, as she reads her mail and then tortuously twists the letter in her hands before stuffing into her apron. She then expertly hides her distress over the plight of her sisters before Miss Fiske and her domestic Lucy, in a scene that showcases Lupino's command of the character. Ellen Creed thinks, plots and even connives at how to keep her family together, and the stress certainly reads in her face as she controls every scene by subtly hinting at her stifled emotions and repressed hostility. Even her affection for her poor sisters seems measured, restrained and qualified.

There's also great entertainment in the supporting performances. The inimitable Elsa Lanchester scowls and grumps, becoming a truly remarkable Emily. She seems to favor her sister Ellen, since she can be decidedly serious and dark, then lighting up only at rare times. Lanchester's persona was perfect for this role, as she can tiptoe the line between pathetic and frightening. She's a formidable presence with her angular features and bellowing voice, certainly enough to cause pause in any sensible person.

As the fragile and flighty sister Louisa, Edith Barrett may come off as a bit too broad and over-played, but she certainly endears herself to the audience. Her character is girlish, flirtatious and also quite wide-eyed and deranged, and her exchanges with a coachman supply great comic relief. Barrett makes her scenes so amusing that you really do care for the fate of her character. This actress is certainly one who should have achieved greater acclaim in supporting roles.

Louis Hayward portrays Ellen Creed's crafty "nephew" Albert Feather. He charms and flirts his way into the Fiske household like a low-rent Cary Grant, with a cockney accent and very winning ways. Hayward and Lupino were married at the time of filming and there scenes are electric with sexual tension. Albert provides a great temptation to Evelyn Keyes' innocent housemaid Lucy, who also deserves mention as an important member of the ensemble. Her accent is perfect, she glows with youthful beauty, and her tiny tantrums and sly flirtations still enliven every scene in which she appears.

"Ladies in Retirement" exemplifies classic Hollywood film-making at its apex of artistry by the great performances of its players, the refined and expert vision of its director, and the wonderful imagination of its designers. From the Columbia Studio fanfare until the end credits roll, classic film enthusiasts should find enjoyment in every frame.

Lupino almost gets old-dark-house thriller stolen from under her nose

[bmacv · 7/10 · 1 July 2002]

Why so many British spinsters took to spending their twilight years in old houses at the edge of the moors, all gnarled trees and lowering skies, remains one of life's enduring mysteries: Didn't they know they were sitting ducks? Those crusty old cruets of malt vinegar weren't averse, however, to the occasional taste of honey to sweeten their vanity, especially if it came from charming young drifters harboring antisocial personality disorders. Emlyn Williams' Night Must Fall remains the classic example, but another is Ladies in Retirement, which also started out on stage before Charles Vidor started the cameras rolling.

Isolbel Elsom takes on the part of the vain old biddy with a theatrical past (and her disappearance comes far too quickly). The beguiling drifter is Louis Hayward, who comes to the door hoping to cadge 12 quid to make up for a shortfall in the teller's drawer in the bank he works for. He gets it from her, though he really hoped to hit up her housekeeper – and his aunt – Ida Lupino (the two were married at the time).

Lupino, alas, was off in London at the time, packing up her two dotty sisters (Elsa Lanchester and Edith Barrett) who were evicted from the last of their lodgings for their shenanigans. They park at Elsom's house `for a day or two,' but after six weeks Elsom comes to the end of her tether and gives them, and Lupino, their walking papers. At which point, Lupino decides that blood is thicker than water and acts accordingly. But her crafty nephew grows suspicious when the old lady's `travels' seem to be coming to no foreseeable end....

Vidor chooses not to ventilate the play, keeping the action squarely in the moldering old homestead – which affords him opportunity for strangely angled and shadowed shots in the rabbit-warren of rooms and staircases. The cast does the piece proud, with Hayward, Elsom, Lanchester and Evelyn Keyes, as the maid, all chewing a good portion of the scenery. Lupino wisely opts to underplay, giving the tight and wary performance of a woman with too many secrets to keep.

Ladies in Retirement shows its age in its conventions and attitudes, but it's still reasonably spry; it's fun to settle into, and offers a preview of the noir style that was just starting to develop. It's a hell of a lot fresher and easier to swallow than the distantly similar Arsenic and Old Lace, that overwrought farce which coaxed out of Cary Grant the worst performance of his career.

There are worse things than stealing...

[MarieGabrielle · 10/10 · 20 June 2007]

Ida Lupino as Ellen Creed cryptically says to her nephew (Louis Hayward). Lupino is in top form here as a housekeeper who must care for her two sisters who are being evicted or sent to an asylum. It is the late 1800's and the weather on the heath is unforgiving and reminiscent of a Bronte novel.

Elsa Lanchester and Edith Barrett portray the two sisters whom Lupino must care for. She lives at Leonora Fiske's (well-portrayed by Isobel Elsom) mansion and at first the sisters are allowed to stay. But Ms. Fiske is an eccentric matron and tires of their company. She informs Ellen Creed (Lupino) they must leave. ..."Have you no compassion, no feeling for the poor?"... Lupino intones this even as she sees the mistress of the house will be throwing her out on the street. Lupino feels obligation to the two wayward sisters, who have some mental issues and would have been (at that time probably) committed to Bedlam state asylum. So she decides what she must do.

Later, Louis Hayward pops up and is the nephew. He becomes suspicious when Ms. Fiske never shows up; He is intrigued that his aunt suddenly owns the house. There is much suspense here and the cinematography is haunting and shadowed; we are not certain at the capabilities of Ellen Creed (Lupino) or what she may do next. I also highly recommend "Road House" with Ida Lupino and Richard Widmark. Excellent and could never be remade today. 10/10.

Bizarre British noir film full of eccentrics and plenty of mist

[robert-temple-1 · 7/10 · 18 November 2007]

This is a weird one, atmospheric, moody, and brooding. It has a script by Reginald Denham based on his play, and although director Charles Vidor makes sure it does not come across as stagey, but makes the confined atmosphere work for him, the action has a kind of mental proscenium arch around it. This was Edith Barrett's first film, and she is superb. Elsa Lanchester does well in another one of her roles as an insane eccentric. What is particularly fascinating is to see the young Evelyn Keyes aged 25 but looking a virginal 18, and the sweetest little thing you ever saw. It is hard to imagine she had already made 15 films, as she looks straight out of the milk parlour. When I knew her in her mid-fifties she was so ultra-sophisticated that the idea of her ever having been innocent seems inconceivable. But she certainly is in this film! I guess that's called acting! She later married the director of this film, before moving on to Artie Shaw and John Huston (and anyone who could survive Huston as a husband was no little girl!). Ida Lupino plays the lead role, but it is a thankless task, because it is her job to look intense all the time, with very little scope for anything else. What a waste of her talents! She kisses the heads of her mad sisters very lovingly, and that's about all the emotion she is allowed to show. This is a claustrophobic story of how crazy people do crazy things. There might be a murder committed, but I'm not telling. It is set in a kind of mythical Essex marshes, and the sun never shines once through the mist. They must have used up all the dry ice in London for this film.

This family has issues...and mighty serious ones at that!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 13 June 2019]

Ellen Creed (Ida Lupino) is the servant and companion of a well to do older woman, Miss Fiske. However, Ellen has a serious problem...she's the sole support for her two mentally ill sisters...and the sisters have been tossed out of the place that was caring for them. You can understand why, as one of the sisters (Elsa Lanchester) is rather surly and the other is quite out of touch with reality. So Ellen maneuver's her employer into letting the pair stay with them a few days. However, the days turn into weeks and the sisters are almost impossible to live with, so Miss Fiske insists that Ellen make other arrangements. With no easy solution to her dilemma, Ellen does something pretty dreadful. Little does she know that her slimy nephew (Louis Hayward) is about to arrive for a visit...and he's NOT mentally ill....just a conniving sociopath! Slowly he puts the puzzle pieces together and he realizes Ellen has done something even he wouldn't do! And, not surprisingly, he plans on taking full advantage of the situation.

This is an excellent and interesting film. I especially like that the plot is quite unique....and because of this it offers many surprises. The acting by Lupino was excellent and I appreciate how she allowed the makeup folks to make her look unglamorous and 'normal'...many actresses would have resisted this. Even more impressive is Hayward's performance...one of his very best. He is wonderful as the slimy nephew...very convincing and fascinating in every scene. My only complaint in the acting was Edith Barrett as one of the mentally ill sisters...as her performance seemed forced and a bit overdone. Subtle it wasn't. Overall, the good very much outweighs the bad...and it's a film lovers of classic cinema need to see.

Ladies in Retirement - Worst title ever?

[gbressack · 6/10 · 27 June 2007]

It surprises me no end that all of the previous comments here have ignored the fact that this title may be the worst movie title ever. "Ladies in Retirement" is not very likely to draw any audience except for, perhaps, ladies in retirement. Besides, it is totally inappropriate. This is a Gothic thriller (and not a bad one). The title sounds like either a drawing room comedy or tragedy about old age. The studio should have come up with a much more interesting and attractive title. I'm sure if they had, the film would have had more attention over the years. I only saw it because I was fascinated by the mediocrity of the title. But don't let the title drive you away. It is definitely worth your while.

Now I'm going to watch "Men in Hats."

Ladies in Retirement-Her Sisters Made Her Do It **1/2

[edwagreen · 5/10 · 31 August 2009]

Macabre film with Ida Lupino once more proving what a great actress she was. With its eerie atmosphere, Ida brings her two completely daffy sisters to stay at the home of the woman she is working for.

Lupino, with that jet-black hair and extremely dark-eyelashes depicts an eerie character if ever there were one. Insanity seems to run in the family, for when the dowager gets disgusted with the 2 loonies-played well by Edith Barrett and Elsa Lanchester, Ida does her in.

While this is going on, "nephew" Louis Hayward shows up and has fled a situation where he has embezzled from a bank. When he puts two and two together, the remainder of the film becomes a cat and mouse game with Ida and real-life husband Hayward really going at it together. Evelyn Keyes plays the maid who is smitten by Hayward's advances and Isobel Elsom portrays the wealthy dowager, a part she plays well but can you imagine Dame Judith Anderson as Miss Fisk?

The film tries to discuss those who have no understanding of the unfortunate in society. Of course, bumping them off is certainly no solution.

Remember in "They Drive By Night," Ida claimed that the doors made her do it. In this one, she is again daffy with Gothic horror ensuing.

A Not-quite perfect crime

[theowinthrop · 10 May 2004]

Ida Lupino was one of the best actresses of the 1940s and 1950s in Hollywood, but she proved to be one of the few (at the time) to be a good director as well. And when she directed, she chose fairly daring topics for the time, like women in prisons with obviously "butch" guards. So while she shown in films her abilities were rarely acknowledged by awards. I'm not even aware if she ever got a deserved nomination for her acting.

In this film, LADIES IN RETIREMENT, she gave a performance that deserved some recognition (such as a nomination). Her character is the only sane (or semi-sane) member of a family of three sisters, who has been keeping an eye on the two mad ones (one of whom is Elsa Lanchester). Unfortunately, she is the employee of Isobel Elsom, who is appalled at the eccentric behavior of the two sisters, and discharges Lupino to get rid of the three. Poor foolish lady. While playing her favorite new music (it is 1885, so she is playing "Tit Willow" - paging "TOPSY TURVEY")the music is suddenly stopped in a crashing way, and Ms Elsom disappears. The three sisters are now mistresses of the Elsom home, and all might succeed peacefully, except for the appearance of Lupino's nephew (Louis Heyward) who is suspicious and greedy. There is also a new maid (Evelyn Keyes) who likes the nephew, and can be decidedly impertinent to Lupino. If the other two sisters could only be a little stronger, then possibly Lupino could overcome the problems of growing suspicions. Unfortunately, they are no help. Eventually Elsom's remains are uncovered in the flower bed in the garden. Lupino is arrested, but she is worried about the two sisters. And here is the final poignant slap at her: The sisters are going to a madhouse, but Lanchester smilingly reassures Lupino that they'll be fine while she is going away. Lupino realizes she could have avoided her fate by putting the mad ones away earlier, and they are so far gone mentally they don't appreciate the horrible hole she put herself into for them.

Lupino could play anything, except (perhaps) straight comedy - at least I can't recall any good one she appeared in. But she played straight drama more intensely but naturally than anyone else: witness her fine work in THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, HIGH SIERRA, or THE LIGHT THAT FAILED. This one, in some ways, is her best one to me - the gradual realization of failure, and of the totally unappreciated nature of her actions by those who benefited is really tragic.

Oddly enough, the film is based is based on a real murder from the mid 1880s, but from France. A woman named Euphresie Mercier (who was barely sane herself) murdered a woman who befriended her, Madame Elodie Minetret in April 1883, and buried her in the garden of her home. This was to give a home to Mercier's mad brother and two sisters. But when she refused to pay blackmail to a nephew, he informed the police of his suspicions. The brother and sisters went to an insane asylum. Euphresie ended up in prison (due to being in her 60s, she was given a 20 year sentence).

Moody Gothic Thriller

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 13 July 2021]

Ida Lupino is just so good at being icy and devious.

She has to be in this film, if she's to save her two daffy sisters from the poor house. Standing in her way is the lady for whom she works, a rich former actress (played wonderfully by Isobel Elsom) who doesn't want the sisters around (and who can blame her really). What's a desperate girl to do?

Well she does what you would expect in a moody, atmospheric thriller set in an isolated mansion on the English moors. The trouble is a troublesome cad is on to her and the noose begins to tighten.

"Ladies in Retirement" is good if lightweight fun. You probably won't remember it much a few days after watching, but I bet you'll have a good time while you are. Elsa Lanchester is in it after all, so what more reason do you need?

The Gothic setting won the art direction team of Lionel Banks and George Montgomery an Oscar nomination, as did the score for composers Morris Stoloff and Ernst Toch.

Grade: B+

Enjoyable Victorian Murder Tale.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 13 March 2012]

The elderly boss lady (Elsom) brings her housekeeper (Lupino), the housekeeper's two loony sisters (Lanchester and Barrett), and the maid (Keyes) to a large cottage in the moors near Gravesend in the far southeast of England. It's a mysterious and haunted place, kind of Tudor style, with heavy beams, load-bearing walls, and brick additions. This being before the Queen adopted electricity, the only lighting is by lamp, candle, or fireplace. Outside, when it's not raining, there are a few hills with scraggly trees. The rest of the ground is covered with studio fog made from frozen carbon dioxide. Who wouldn't want to live there, if he or she were a vampire?

Lupino is a tidy housekeeper but there's one piece of grit she can't get rid of. That's her boss, Elsom, the plump matron who owns the place and keeps playing "Titwillow" on the piano. So -- in a marvelously directed scene -- Lupino strangles the old lady, stuffs her into the capacious wall safe and bricks up the opening. Reginald Denham is the adapter and director. He gets bonus points for his subtle handling of the murder.

Thereafter, Lupino takes over the household and spreads the story that Elsom simply decided to take a trip with some friends. She dominates the two sisters and the maid, which is what I happen to think she was after all along. Women love to run the house.

However, as all of us sneaky murderers know, events always get out of hand. First, Lupino's nephew, the wayward Hayward, shows up on the lam for a bank robbery. He'd like to hunker down for a while in the cottage but, for all his verve and charm, Lupino has never liked him and hardly wants him hanging around now, what with Lupino having to hide that Big Secret.

With the help of Keyes, the maid, the clever Hayward soon has things figured out. And, on top of that, there is a slight problem with Lupino cashing the rent check from the nearby priory. The bank returns the check, saying they are "not acquainted" with the signature and would Elsom please sign it again in her usual hand? All very nicely done.

You'll probably enjoy it. There's virtually no violence but a good deal of intrigue and some agreeable performances. If there's a weakness, it lies in Lupino's acute and inexplicable case of conscience. She surrenders herself to the coppers. With a bit of a stretch we can reckon why she did it. (Hayward would have squealed on her in any case when he was caught.) But we'd best leave it as it is, a mystery within a mystery.

As queer as mice in a cage.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 7 February 2013]

Ladies in Retirement is directed by Charles Vidor and adapted to screenplay by Garrett Ford from the Reginald Denham and Edward Percy play of the same name. It stars Ida Lupino, Louis Hayward, Evelyn Keyes, Elsa Lanchester, Edith Barrett and Isobel Elsom. Music is by Ernst Toch and cinematography by George Barnes.

A housekeeper takes drastic action when the head of the household insists that her two batty sisters be evicted the next day…

Willow, Tit Willow, Tit Willow.

Hee, the title conjures up images of some batty biddy comedy set in a retirement home, but the truth is that Vidor's movie is far from it, even if does have a purposely quaint whiff of eccentric based comedy at times. Based on a true story from the 1880's and made into a popular play in 1940; with Flora Robson in the lead role, it's a story that features insanity, murder and blackmail, all deftly performed within an isolated house out in the misty marsh lands.

With George Barne's black and white photography suitably cold and Vidor leaving some indelible images, it's a tip-top production without fuss and filler. Cast perform well, especially Lupino and Lanchester, and although it's inevitably stage bound and features long passages of dialogue, the eerie mood and potent thematics don't suffer or get lost in the mix. It was remade as The Mad Room in 1968 with Stella Stevens slotting into the lead shoes.

The hook here is that sane people can do insane things if pushed into a corner, and this notion holds the film upright. Yes it could have been more sinister and daring, but there's ample here for the Gothic/thriller crowd to gorge on. 7.5/10

Very involving, atmospheric classic studio piece

[maxwell_hoffmann · 10/10 · 15 September 2000]

Wonderfully moody and atmospheric piece from Hollywood's heydey. Lupino holds her own against Elsa Lanchester, (who nearly walks away with the film with her batty characterisation). An overlooked film, unfortunately not on video. Worth staying up late for.

fog shrouded suspense

[LeaBlacks_Balls · 7/10 · 21 February 2010]

This fog-shrouded Victorian era film stars Ida Lupino as Ellen Creed, the housekeeper to Leonora Fiske, a retired actress in a remote country house. One day she receives a distressing letter from London. Her two eccentric step-sisters, Emily (Lanchester) and Louisa (Barrett) are about to be evicted from their lodgings. Ellen convinces Leonora to let her step sisters stay with her. She agrees, but only for a short time.

When the dark, serious Emily and the flighty, nervous Louisa arrive they do nothing but unnerve Leonora. They're not only eccentric, they're absolutely certifiable. Ellen keeps the fact that the sisters will be committed to an insane asylum if they do not remain under Ellen's care a secret. When Leonora demands that the sisters leave the house, along with Ellen, Ellen must resort to desperate measures to assure that her family stick together. And the desperate measure? Murder.

Throw in Louis Hayward as Albert, a handsome, untrustworthy vagabond, Evelyn Keyes as Leonora's suspicious maid, and two intrusive nuns, and Ellen's problems have only just begun.

This film was clearly adapted from a play. It all takes place in and around Leonora's country house. But the staginess never gets in the way of the witty script and the great performances from Lupino and Hayward. But it's the always wonderful Elsa Lanchester who steals the show.

So if you're in the mood for fun fog shrouded suspense, watch 'Ladies In Retirement.'

A kind lady finds that her night must fall.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 21 February 2017]

Gothic thrillers involving women in peril don't often take a sinister turn like this one does. Of course, it's obvious that the lonely ladies of "Night Must Fall", "Kind Lady", "Angel Street" (aka "Gaslight") and "Love From a Stranger" will be used by men, some of them resulting in grim fates. But this is closer to "Double Door", a forgotten Gothic melodrama about an evil old lady who intends to barricade her enemies alive, no air or food.

The premise of the original "Ladies in Retirement" had an aging spinster killing her employer to give her crazy sisters a home, but the role has been altered with the much younger Ida Lupino playing that part, having proved her ability to play sinister parts only in her early 20's. The sisters are older: the gentle but potentially crazy Edith Barrett and the hot tempered Elsa Lancaster, obviously hiding a violent streak under her claims of religion.

And the poor unfortunate old lady, Isobel Elsom, a down on her luck actress, who hired Lupino as a companion, and agreeing to allow her to bring her sisters for a brief visit sets her household up for misery, and ultimately signs her death warrant. The only ones who could find evidence against Lupino are housemaid Evelyn Keyes and Lupino's crooked cousin, the handsome but low class Louis Hayward.

With a foggy setting in the hinterlands, this is fascinating from the eerie credits down to the finale, and Lupino's finest role prior to her signing on at Warner Brothers. Barrett and Lanchaster are fascinating, with Hayward and Keyes making the most our of the un-showy parts they play. Veteran character actresses Emma Dunn and Queenie Leonard appear as the visiting nuns. There's not a dull moment in the film, a must for fans of anything Gothic.

She is her sisters keeper.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 22 October 2014]

This is an often overlooked black & white directed by Charles Vidor for Columbia Pictures. A meek Ellen Creed(Ida Lupino)takes care of the nineteenth century English countryside home of retired actress Leonora Fiske(Isobel Elsom). Miss Fiske has not given up her theatrical ways and has no problem letting on that she is above everyone else. Ellen gets bad news that the landlady of her two sisters is throwing them out because of their behavior. Ellen does not want her sisters Louisa(Edith Barrett)and Emily(Elsa Lancaster)put in an asylum, so asks Miss Leonora if they could come for a visit. Ellen's intentions all along is to have her sisters stay permanently. When Miss Fiske gets very irritated with the two unruly Creed sisters disrupting her home life, big sister Ellen must remedy the situation. And the solution is not exactly conventional.

Miss Lupino is stellar in this old fashioned movie. Established star Louis Hayward has a pedestrian role as Evelyn Keyes, Queenie Leonard and Clyde Cook serve in support.

Ida's "Thin Ribbon of Intensity"!!

[kidboots · 10/10 · 17 September 2012]

From "vanilla blonde" starlet of the early thirties to startling character actress of the late thirties Ida Lupino should have been a bigger star but she was at the wrong studio. Warners already had Bette Davis who was always given first choice of the plum roles, in fact Ida was only signed by Warners as a threat to Davis, as Davis was being particularly difficult at that time. Even though Ida claimed she was never allowed to pick her own roles, over the coming years she made the movies that she is best remembered for - but not all were for Warners. "Ladies in Retirement" was made for Columbia and not only gave Ida her favourite part but also a chance to work with her husband at the time - Louis Hayward. It had been a successful Broadway play of the previous year and Flora Robson had made the role of Ellen Creed, the determined middle aged housekeeper who resorts to murder to keep her two "pixilated" sisters together, her own. Ida was only 23 but somehow she managed to put together the talent and skill to portray sinister maturity. To get herself in part she wore her hair severely pulled back with as little make up as possible and almost willed herself into the iron willed woman who had to dominate this macabre Victorian melodrama.

Set in England in the late nineteenth century, frivolous, elderly Miss Leonora Fiske (Isobel Elsom recreating her stage role) reluctantly agrees to let Ellen (Lupino) her house keeper companion, have her two "pixilated" sisters (Elsa Lancaster and Edith Barrett) come to stay for a short visit. But the visit turns to permanence and when their behaviour becomes intolerable, Miss Fiske demands they leave. Ellen's thieving "nephew" Albert (Hayward) arrives while she is in London collecting her sisters and he puts Miss Fiske wise about what she is letting herself in for - he describes the sisters as "batty" and "crazy". It doesn't take long for them to disrupt the household and even though Ellen begs and pleads for them to stay, Miss Fiske's mind is made up.

Ellen's is made up as well and after sending her sisters away for the day she calmly and methodically strangles the older woman while she is at the piano, then hides her body in an old wall oven which doubles as a safe. Like a bad penny the charming Albert returns and soon has the pixilated sisters eating out of his hand. Emily confesses to him that Ellen told them that she has bought the house from Miss Fiske but that they have been sworn to secrecy. Between Albert and Lucy (Evelyn Keyes), a parlour maid he has been stringing along, Ellen's icy demeanour finally cracks and realising that her sisters will be looked after she walks out to meet the police.

I do not see how Ida Lupino could have been better in the part, from stubborn patience to almost maniacal determination in her quest to look after her sisters. She was given strong support from Louis Hayward as the sinister, calculating Albert and Elsa Lancaster as the far more dangerous sister, Emily - "the sea has got to be cleaned". The New York Times thought Ida deserved the most praise for her "thin ribbon of intensity that makes the film hair raising".

Interesting early noir set in the marshes

[dfloro · 7/10 · 14 April 2021]

The reason this movie is not better known is probably its sleep-inducing (and misleading) title, and the fact that it was withheld from release for several years while the studio tried to figure out how to market it as actually being a sort of dark comedy, like the wildly popular "Arsenic and Old Lace," which it most definitely is NOT. Instead, it is a dark, atmospheric noir thriller that's not for everybody, but has several outstanding performances to recommend it. The 23-year-old Ida Lupino, as Ellen (written for the stage as the eldest, 60-year-old sister!), is a ball of nerves and pent-up hostility, desperate to protect her two odd sisters, Louisa and Emily, played memorably by Edith Barrett (who would eventually marry Vincent Prince) and Elsa Lancaster (long married to Charles Laughton). At the time of the making of the movie, Lupino was married to Louis Hayward, who while miscast here plays the character of Albert; by the time of the movie's eventual release, its director, Charles Vidor, would be married to Evelyn Keyes, who plays the maid, Lucy. In the "it's sure a small world" category, Keyes would go on to marry a more famous director, John Huston, who had directed a much more famous and successful noir the same year as this movie, titled "The Maltese Falcon." This movie may not quite rise to its heights, but it has its unexpected moments.7/10.

Said To Be Ida's Personal Favorite ...

[Handlinghandel · 5/10 · 27 June 2007]

But I cannot imagine why.

This movie is attractively shot but not overly well directed. It's over-the-top in a somewhat unpleasant way.

Ida Lupino is one of my very favorite actresses. She's good here, too. She plays the prim companion of a wealthy woman.

But that woman, Isobel Elsom, is very charming. She's well off now but she's a showgirl who married well. She's bawdy and, though self-absorbed and silly, she's generous.

She's much more likable than the Lupino character's sisters, who come to stay at her house. They are eccentric in the extreme. Elsa Lanchester is always a delight but I don't quite buy her in this role. And, as the other sister Edith Barrett widens her eyes and does little else.

Lupino's real-life husband at the time, Louis Hayward, is best in the role of a local scoundrel. His character is pivotal but his part is relatively small.

Things take an unpleasant turn. And for me, it ends up neither funny nor touching.

Lupino was in many marvelous movies. My favorites are "The Man I Love" and "Road House." She isn't miscast here, as she sometimes was. But it's a movie oddly at the same time trivial and disagreeable.