dougdoepke A few years later and this 70-minute flick could have been an entry on TV's The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. It's cheaply produced with a bare-bones cast and in b&w at a time when Hollywood was going all out in Technicolor. But the plucky Lupino plugged along with her gritty little programmers that bucked the tide. There's nothing special here, but there's enough ambiguity in Agnes's (Lupino) character and the circumstances to keep viewers engaged. A troubled Agnes (note the unflattering name) seeks escape by signing on as caretaker to a vacant old mansion, perhaps haunted by the missing former resident, Jennifer. Soon she gets involved with locals Hollis (Duff) and Orin (Nichols). At the same time, the mystery of Jennifer's disappearance deepens and we wonder about Hollis and Orin.Oddly, not much really happens. Still, it's a clever screenplay with a number of provocative dark hints. That plus Lupino's superb acting skills provide subtle compensation. I especially like the unexpected hints that goofy kid Orin may not be the innocent he appears. But just why the studly Hollis would be attracted to the rather plain, unstable Agnes remains something of a stretch. Still, it's a measure of Lupino's all-around artistry that, for the sake of the role, she wouldn't flatter her looks. But get out your ear-muffs whenever Agnes starts spinning "Vortex" on the turn-table. It's music-to-go-mad-by, and the last thing wobbly Agnes should glom onto.Anyhow, the results amount to a decent variation on a familiar thriller theme. I just wish the all-around gifted Lupino would get the industry recognition she so richly deserves.

Ripshin First and foremost...this film is not a "noir"! That term is easily the most abused on the IMDb site. Yes, it's black and white. Yes, it's shot on location in the early 50s. NO, it is in NO way a "film noir".This is a suspense thriller, with more than a bit of the haunted house genre thrown into the mix. It's also a well-made "B" flick, with the surprising services of cinematographer James Wong Howe, as a bonus.The film is quite moody, with wonderful location filming. (I hope to find out the location of the mansion, and if it still stands.) Granted, the whole thing falls apart in the final ten minutes...the ambiguity is surprising, for a film of the early 50s. Did Jennfer really die? What's with that weird "college" kid? The opening/closing shot...not sure what to make of it. While I don't mind a film leaving questions unanswered, the ending here is rather pointless.However, I do recommend it. If for nothing else, the locations, the cinematography and Ms. Lupino.

mike173 In 1955 I took an entrance exam at Cambridge University, staying by myself in one of the old stone college buildings. One evening I went out to see a movie, which happened to be Jennifer. It's a classic creepy old house movie. Jennifer arrives to take over from the previous caretaker, who has mysteriously disappeared. She runs into a whole gamut of strange clues and spooky effects, pitched so you - and she -can't be sure if they are real or she's imagining them. Music and optical shock are used to great effect, with all the power that skillfully lit monochrome cinematography can deliver (considerable!!). At the end, she is reassured that it was all in her mind, and she's safe... till the very last shot, which opens up all the questions again, and still raises the hairs on my neck when I think of it. Going back to my room, I had to pass through a long set of dark cloisters - nearly didn't make it!! At least that's how it seemed back then. It would be great if the film were re-released on DVD, to see if its power persists today.

bmacv I first caught up with Jennifer years ago while out of town when it showed up on TV in the middle of the night; I fell asleep before it ended but it stuck with me until I had to track it down. Its appeal is that, though there's not a lot to it, it weaves an intriguing atmosphere, and because Ida Lupino and Howard Duff (real life man-and-wife at the time) display an alluring, low-key chemistry. Lupino plays a woman engaged to house-sit a vast California estate whose previous caretaker -- Jennifer -- up and disappeared. (Shades of Jack Nicholson in the Shining, although in this instance it's not Lupino who goes, or went, mad). Duff is the guy in town who manages the estate's finances and takes a shine to Lupino, who decides to play hard to get. She becomes more and more involved, not to say obsessed, with what happened to her predecessor in the old dark house full of descending stairways and locked cellars. The atmospherics and the romantic byplay are by far the best part of the movie, as viewers are likely to find the resolution a bit of a letdown -- there's just not that much to it (except a little frisson at the tail end that anticipates Brian De Palma's filmic codas). But it's well done, and, again, it sticks with you. Extra added attraction: this is the film that introduced the song "Angel Eyes," which would become part of the standard repertoire of Ol' Blue Eyes.