MovieChat Forums > The Haunting (1963) Discussion > I so wanted to like this, but...

I so wanted to like this, but...

posted 8 years ago by ScaryMary123
3 replies | jump to latest

I've seen The Haunting at least a dozen times over the years, with the most recent being tonight (dvr'd from Turner). It has a great prologue, a great set-up, and then we meet the main character--played by Julie Harris--who is, in my opinion, THE most annoying, shrill and unlikable character in the entire film.

We're supposed to "empathize" with her, I suppose. She's spent eleven years caring for an invalid mother and is guilt-ridden because she didn't answer the old bat's last "banging on the wall with her stick." As a result, mama died, and now Eleanor is tormented. This torment is shown through audible thoughts that oftentimes make no sense and spoken words usually delivered in a shrill, nails-on-chalkboard manner.

She's invited to Hill House for an "experiment." There, we meet Dr. Mackway (sp?), who's conducting this experiment; Theo, a worldly single girl who just might be a lesbian (shocking for the day), and Luke (I think that's his name), the playboy nephew of the woman who owns the house. It doesn't take long for supernatural phenomena to happen, and it's done extremely well. Don't get me wrong, the film is beautifully mounted and efficiently directed (by Robert Wise). And the cinematography is stunning, as is the moody black and white. I enjoy most of the performances, especially Claire Bloom as Theo, who is absolutely stunning.

It's just Eleanor, aka Julie Harris, who I hate.

Unfortunately, the emphasis is all on her. For one, she's the only character given any sort of concrete backstory that we're shown. For another, her thoughts are often shared with the viewers, and once we realize that this prim and proper middle-aged virgin has the hots for Dr. Mackway, the entire thing goes into the crapper. The Haunting would've been so much better if it concentrated on being a haunted house movie, instead of a psychological study of a sad, lonely woman--which it really is.

So, this is a flawed movie. Scary, yes, but there's too much Julie for my tastes. It's funny about her--I've seen filmed stage plays of her performances and was bowled over. But I think she's made for the stage, where her voice can carry. On film, she's oftentimes just too shrill. I saw "Member of the Wedding" years ago, and she was so annoying and shrill in that one, too!

[–] puplover 8 years ago

It's on TCM now, and I can't help but agree with you.

[–] catbookss 8 years ago

Aw, it's too bad Julie Harris's Eleanor spoiled the film for you, or made you feel it was flawed and decreased your enjoyment.

The first time I saw it, I was only a kid, left alone one night while my parents went out for the evening. I made the mistake of watching it with all the lights off, and it scared the bejeezus out of me. I empathized with Eleanor even then, being the scapegoat of her dysfunctional family, and on top of that, having some kind of unusual "psychic" abilities, which further alienated her from her family.

It's been years since I've read Jackson's novel, and a few since I last saw the film, but it struck me that Eleanor was an emotionally (if not physically) abused child, with a strong case of learned helplessness as a result. Her younger sister escaped into marriage, and by all appearances was treated better than Eleanor, because she was stronger. However, she was also emotionally abusive to Eleanor, who felt her only way out was to participate in this experiment and get the hell away from her abusive sister, and brother-in-law.

Like you, I've now seen it many times. Initially I noticed no particular shrillness in Harris's performance, (I do, however, notice a shrillness in Deborah Kerr's performances, which can put me off.) In later viewings, I can see what you mean to a point, but to me this is an intergal part of Eleanor's character. She's been emotionally abused by both her demanding mother and younger sister. Because her younger sister married, and she did not, she was expected to be a slave to their ailing mother, for 11 years, while the sister was free to live her own live.

You say Eleanor was a sad and lonely woman, yet can't manage to empathize with her. I don't understand this, Perhaps you can eludicate so I can. I don't understand not having empathy for such a damaged, sad, and lonely character, although you're hardly alone in that. Many others have and do feel the same.

I have no problem with Eleanor falling for the doctor. It makes complete sense to me, far from making the plot fall apart. She is, unfortunately, a victim, with a victim's mentality, which was not infrequently the case at the time, as well as with good reason. He was, as far as we're shown, the only person who showed her any compassion and understanding. Certainly her sister didn't, nor her brother-in-law, and definitely not her mother. (We don't know anything about her father, as far as I recall.) Why WOULDNT she fall for the first man who was kind to her, and showed any belief in the odd events that had happened to her, when apparently her own family didn't?

I'm going to go watch A Member of the Wedding now, having never seen it before, but a great fan of Carson McCullers' The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, both in film and novel versions.

[–] butaneggbert 8 years ago

Scary Mary can speak for herself - and I hope she does - but if I may - I can see where she's coming from.

At our best, humans can empathize with and embrace all our fellow beings. But all kinds of things can strain that. I came around the corner in a supermarket a couple weeks ago, and the most ungodly smell hit my nose. It was a street guy, and - okay, I'll spare you the details, but breathing within a yard of him was impossible.

I wish I'd had the character to approach him with a smile and maybe a word of conversation. But I couldn't get past my other senses.

Obviously not a direct parallel! But it exaggerates the same point: you can feel for someone and still find them impossible to bear. My reaction to Harris' performance isn't as strong as SM's, but I get it: my sympathy gets tripped up by her non-stop nerves and her vocal tone.

I'm a fan of Harris, too, but at least with the interpretation she gave this character, she's a weak note. And I agree with Mary that part of the problem might be in the story structure. Taking some of the focus off Eleanor to give us a more rounded view of the others might have made for a better movie.

I haven't read the book. Maybe the story focused on Eleanor successfully, and it didn't translate well?

But I watch it every couple years, so they must have done a lot right. ;)

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