MovieChat Forums > The Uninvited (1944) Discussion > Mary Merideth + Lady Hollaway - Lesbians...

Mary Merideth + Lady Hollaway - Lesbians?

posted 15 years ago by rock_bustin
77 replies | jump to latest

The word itself could NEVER have been uttered in any movie of the time but
there is no doubt that Hollaway is completely captivated by Mary. Just look
at the size of the portrait she keeps in her study. Also, Mary is clearly the
Evil one of the house - any "perversion" by the standards of that time would've
been seen has the mark of evil character. I'm not down on diversity, I just felt
this was an unspoken theme of the relationship between Lady Hollaway and Mary
that was pretty obviously unheathly as seen by the movie. Thoughts?

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Joan_of_Snark 14 years ago

Actually it has been pretty much confirmed by everyone involved that the implication was clearly that Mary & Ms. Holloway were in a lesbian relationship.

Not sure why this upsets you, especially given that they were portrayed as appropriately perverse given the time time period in which the film was made.

[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

I wasn't sure of a 'relationship', but by the end of the movie, I DEFINITELY got the vibe that Ms. Holloway had a thing for Mary...

[–] scott-1441 13 years ago

Yes, brownish33, it's you with an agenda - this is obviously a lesbian relationship written in a subtle way to pass the censors and other narrow minded people.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] katzzmeow 13 years ago

I'm a liberal and I love our scum - whatever the heck that means. If IMDB is so liberal, then why read it?
I love this movie I watch it every year. The special effects are amazing given the year it was made. Its gloomy and spooky. Yes they-well at least Lady Hollaway was a lesbian and a loon, I think Mary was just a witch. Whether they were or weren't it doesn't distract from the movie. I can see why it was rated one of the top 100 Ghost Stories.

[–] SirFrancisBeaverhausen 13 years ago

Holloway---definitely a repressed lesbian. Mary--no. I think Mary was utterly sociopathic. Others only existed to benefit and worship her.

Don't sit up all night thinking of ways to get rid of me--it makes wrinkles.

[–] beverlym-76105 9 years ago

I always imagined that they were both lesbian, but you may be correct! Like Brandon and Phillip in Hitchcock's "Rope," the total psychopath uses the sexuality of the other to manipulate her/him. Mary uses Hollaway's interest to manipulate her. Great insight! :)

[–] JustEs 8 years ago

OOO, never thought of it that way, but I believe you're absolutely right!

I agree - fantastic insight!

It just makes Mary Meredith seem that much more evil.

I wonder if Hollaway knew that Stella was't Mary's...

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] Munstrum_Ridcully 14 years ago

Dorothy Macardle's novel, before Dodie (101 Dalmations) Smith toned it down and added a lot of comic relief was full of implied sexual perversity.
Miss Holloway and Mary were lesbians, Miss Holoway had a ladies only policy at her rest home and used mesmerism to control her patients for her own purposes, hence Miss Birds astonishment at the presence of a gentleman, Comander Beech had an incestuous relationship with his own daughter, The Fitzgeralds had a more than close fraternal relationship, which is why Mary's spirit was willing to accept them all of which is to say nothing of the Merediths kinky relationship with their model/surogate.
Stella is actually the only relatively normal one out of the lot of them.

I'd love to see a modern remake of this classic

Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.

[–] ajprice-1 14 years ago

I have an original copy of this book and don't see anything stated quite as blatantly as all you say (though you are so right about the "darker" aspects.) I've always seen a connection between Miss Holloway and Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca." There's no denying an unhealthy hero-worship that is definitely exploited by the object of the obsession. It's not hard to imagine that it was physical, but I didn't "get" that when I first saw this movie on the late show when I was a kid in the late 1950's. It did, however, scare the bejezzus right out of me!
I'd hate a modern remake of this story...they'd computer-graphic it from a haunting ghost story to a horror flick.

[–] BoomerMovieFan 14 years ago

I think you got the oblique lesbian theme exactly right. That's the way it was handled in those days --- obliquely.

Two bits from the movie come to mind. One is the overall way in which the Nurse Holloway/Mary Meredith relationship is portrayed.

The other is the dialogue from the doctor, where Mary is said to have a morbid fear of giving birth.

In 1944-speak, that's practically accusing them of being card-carrying lesbians.

It's very reminiscent of the First Mrs. DeWinter and Mrs. Danvers relationship in REBECCA. I'm not the first person who's noticed the similarities between the two stories.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Patrick_Bateman718 14 years ago

Re: Kate Family Guy reference..helped spielberg commit adultery
by brownish33 (Fri Jan 25 2008 10:54:41)
Ignore this User | Report Abuse Reply
omg capshaw did a lesbian scene? WHAT MOVIE! thats hot!

[–] brookwriter 14 years ago

You'd have to be quite dunderheaded (think Sarah Palin) not to surmise that Holloway and Mary Meredith had a lesbian relationship. There are more than a few clues, and all of them have been mentioned in this thread.

Yes, I got my daily Sarah Palin dig in today. Yes, I did. Sadly, it's so easy.

[–] cwente2 14 years ago

"Sadly, it's so easy."

Well . . . nonsense is always easy. Ah, the "digs" that is -- not Ms. Palin.

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin888 14 years ago

Netflix doesn't appear to have this.

When the chips are down... these "Civilized" people... will Eat each Other

[–] will-694 12 years ago

Be more likely to think Debbie Wasserman Schultz than Palin, but then Palin is smarter than you and far more successful and popular than you as well. Have a nice envy-filled life.

[–] jbaker1-2 8 years ago

Well, Palin is probably smarter than you, I'll give her that much...

[–] jctennant55-892-30458 11 years ago

I may be wrong but I don't remember any hint that the Commander had an affair with his own daughter but the lesbian relationship between Mary and Halloway was as subtle as you could get due to the strict censorship code that existed in Hollywood at that time. It did not dawn on me until later that all the patients at Holloway's retreat was for women only and it took me awhile to wonder why the resident lady with the rocks mentioned it was so unusual to see a man.

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin888 14 years ago

I wouldn't put making 2 characters Lesbian into the category of Trash.

When the chips are down... these "Civilized" people... will Eat each Other

[–] Kd5000 14 years ago

The wikipedia article on this film calls Mrs Holloway a lesbian caricature. Yep, alot of similarities between her and Mrs. Danvers in REBECCA.

I wonder what happens to Holloway next. Does she get "committed" or charged with manslaughter? She doesn't go up in flames like Mrs. Danvers.

Here is the excerpt from Wikipedia

"Miss Holloway, as portrayed by Cornelia Otis Skinner, is often cited as a Lesbian caricature. For a detailed study, see Patricia White’s book Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability (Indiana University Press, 1999; ISBN 0253213452)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Uninvited_(1944_film)

[–] Harold_Robbins 13 years ago

Definitely has undertones of Mrs. Danvers' obsession with REBECCA.

"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."

[–] Bree_33 11 years ago

Definitely has undertones of Mrs. Danvers' obsession with REBECCA.

Even more implicit than in Rebecca???

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[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

I didn't notice it at all.

~~
Jim Hutton: talented gorgeous hot hunk; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

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[–] pauline49 12 years ago

Apparently "The Uninvited" developed a cult following of gay women in the 1940s, when they had precious little else to go on to reflect their lives. Breen's office of censorship and the Catholic league of Decency disapproved of its cult following, but there was nothing they could do about it. The movie had already passed the censors, but lesbian women detected something that went under the radar!

[–] tobian85 11 years ago

I have no trouble imagining Mrs. Holloway as a (repressed) Lesbian, but Mary Meredith always struck me as completely asexual. I can imagine her complete disgust with "marital relations" as being part of the reason that her husband sought comfort elsewhere--with Carmel.

The gifts we offer the future are the choices we make today. (Laura Baum)

[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

Mrs. Queen, usually you and I agree on these older movies (and on Mr. Hutton), and I often find the supposed homosexual references in these older films a stretch. I think that what brought it to mind for me was the Scarlett O'Hara-esque and sized portrait in Miss Holloway's office. She seemed a bit obsessed with Stella's Mom, which seemed odd... but the picture put it over the top.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 9 years ago

Perhaps. I guess I just didn't give it much thought.

~~~~~
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen 🎇

[–] Andy44 10 years ago

One of the reasons I desperately want to read the book is to see how the Holloway/Mary relationship was told.

Apparently, it's an out of print collector's item-expensive!

I think the confirmation of their love affair is in Holloway's monologue with Mary's portrait, especially "They'll never find out our secret".

One might speculate that the cause of Mary's sociopathy was being "trapped in the closet"

It won't chip, peel, blister, crack, flake or rust in any way.