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My Name is Julia Ross
USA 1945
produced by Wallace MacDonald for Columbia
directed by Joseph H. Lewis
starring Nina Foch, May Whitty, George Macready, Roland Varno, Anita Sharp-Bolster, Doris Lloyd, Queenie Leonard, Leonard Mudie, Evan Thomas, Joy Harington, Olaf Hytten, Harry Hays Morgan, Ottola Nesmith, Charles McNaughton, Reginald Sheffield, Marilyn Johnson, Leyland Hodgson, Milton Owen
screenplay by Muriel Roy Bolton, based on the novel The Woman in Red by Anthony Gilbert, musical director: Mischa Bakaleinikoff
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Julia Ross (Nina Foch) has just learned her neighbour Dennis (Roland
Varno) whom she was almost romantically involved with got married, and
with her needing a job anyways, she jumps at the first opportunity to work
as a secretary for Ralph Hughes (George Macready) and his mother (May
Whitty) - especially since she can also live there and thus doesn't have
to run across Dennis anymore. Thing is, when she's just about to leave her
old home for good she runs across Dennis, who didn't get hitched after all
and who suggests to rekindle their flame - and she promises to go on a
date with him the next night. But after going to bed at the Hughes' place
in London, whe wakes up two days later at a mansion in Cornwall, in one of
the master bedrooms, and soon she runs across Ralph and his mother, who
both insist she's actually Ralph's wife Margret, who suffers from some
sort of mental condition and has had this sort of memory distortion
before. Their servants all confirm what they say, but of course she knows
she's being played, she just has not the slightest idea as to why Ralph
and mum are orchestrating this charade. Fact is though, she's pretty much
cut off from the outer world as the premises are fenced, and whatever she
tries to get out seems to explode in her own face and helps Ralph and mum
to convince staff and locals that she really suffers from the condition
they say she does. Then she secretly overhears a conversation of Ralph and
his mum that reveals everything, she's to be a stand-in for Ralph's actual
wife he murdered a few years ago, but can't get on her inheritance since
he had to hide the body as it would reveal him as the killer. So they need
somebody to take her place - Julia, who is to be driven into a mock
suicide ... a few days from now. Julia makes some desparate attempts to
save her life, including somehow sending off a letter to Dennis (that's
intercepted though) and faking her suicide, but Ralph and mum aren't
stupid and apparently prepared for everything, so time's slowly but surely
running out for Julia ... A by today slightly forgotten crime
drama that might not break too much new ground storywise, but its slow but
sure build-up of tension and suspense is up with the best of them, as is
its directorial effort that's heavy on atmosphere, as is its sharp
dialogue that hardly wastes a word, its well fleshed out characters, and
of course a first rate cast. Definitely worth a look, and not just for
those into a trip down memory lane, as this movie proves the timeless
power of expert filmmaking!
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