RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Tockinit not horrible nor great

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

HEFILM With Barrymore seemingly so sure of herself it just isn't convincing that she crumbles so quickly under the genteel home invaders. The set up is quite good but once they supposedly have her under their control there are too many ways she could escape, and yet never does, that it loses reality. There are also too many characters who have to vanish, like the young daughter and even a baby, in order for the plot to work.Evans is good but the stand out is Wynn--very convincing as a heavy and as a Brit. Good score, and carefully placed as well--though the otherwise good print shown on TCM has a distracting warble to the soundtrack that distorts the music.Sturges direction is slick, but he's no Hitchcock. One off camera death is nicely done and the film keeps moving despite limited locations it doesn't feel dull, nor does it bristle with excitement.But the unbalanced script can't convince us the jeopardy is real despite good acting all around. Perhaps the original play worked better.

RanchoTuVu Ethyl Barrymore plays a collector of antique furniture and paintings, with a distinguishing eye for art but she's somewhat of a failure as a judge of character. The movie leaves that up to the viewer who knows right off that the character played by Maurice Evans, a second-rate artist who ingratiates himself to Barrymore, is up to no good. It's not easy to believe that Barrymore's character could be so easily taken in by Evans, but once she is under his control, watching her paintings and furniture as they are methodically removed from the house to be sold, is impressively well-done. In that light, it's almost too bad his caper veers into violence, but it's necessary to reveal the truly evil side of the character Evans portrayed. With Keenan Wynn and Angela Lansbury as a married couple equally bad who assist in the kidnapping of Barrymore (even though she never leaves her own house), the violence and the threat of it that make it imperative that Barrymore be rescued because she symbolizes upper-class kindness and virtue towards unfortunate losers, lead into a well-done escalation of danger as Evans's character reveals one of the more evil screen characters ever.

bkoganbing In the last period of her life when the First Lady of the Theater decided to join her brothers finally in Hollywood, Kind Lady was the only time Ethel Barrymore played the lead role. Parts were not readily available then and now for 72 year old leads. In addition Ethel's health was not the best. Margot Peters study of the Barrymore clan says that Ethel was not in the best of shape during the making of Kind Lady and production was halted a few times before it was completed. She was never again asked to carry a film, henceforth her parts would be supporting ones.Her regal theatrical training stood her in good stead for the part of a genteel Edwardian widow who lives comfortably, but not ostentatiously in London at the turn of the last century. Still she's got some valuable paintings and antiques which arouse the interest of Maurice Evans.Evans plays a ne'er do well artist who insinuates himself together with his gang in her home. They take the place of her real home staff and proceed to gradually strip the place and terrorize the old woman. Probably Ethel's real life frailties stood her in good stead in playing the part.As for Evans he's one crafty villain, the rest of his gang consist of Keenan Wynn, Angela Lansbury, and Betsy Blair. This was Evans American screen debut. During his career Maurice Evans did not do much big screen work, preferring the stage and small screen. A lot of people consider his the best MacBeth ever done. But film audiences remember him best as Dr. Zaius in two Planet of the Apes films and television audiences know him as Samantha's father in Bewitched.Evans and Barrymore are a well matched duo of classically trained stage performers who knew what to do in film as well. Kind Lady is well worth a look.

MartinHafer At the outset, I must point out that this movie is very similar to the later movie, THE SERVANT, starring Dirk Bogarde. Both concern a person bringing someone into their homes who turns out to be an evil sociopath who threatens and dominates and exploits the master of the house.In this film, sweet old Ethel Barrymore lives alone in a big house. She meets a struggling artist (Maurice Evens) and naively offers to let him stay with her until he becomes an established artist. However, over time, it becomes more and more obvious that Evans is much more interested in Barrymore's fortune and invites in a group of "caretakers" to lock away the old lady as they loot her estate.The acting is superb and the movie is genuinely scary and well made. A wonderful old film that is rarely seen today.