Lady Possessed

Lady Possessed is a 1952 American mystery film noir directed by William Spier and Roy Kellino and starring James Mason and June Havoc. Mason and his wife Pamela, Kellino's former wife, produced and wrote the film based on Pamela's novel Del Palma (originally published as A Lady Possessed in the United Kingdom in 1943).^[1]

The film's sets were designed by the art directorFrank Arrigo.^[2]

While barely conscious, Jean Wilson, a patient in a London hospital, overhears Jimmy Del Palma berating hospital staff for their treatment of his wife, who dies shortly afterward. To recuperate following a miscarriage, Jean coincidentally rents the former country home of Del Palma, a famous pianist, and his wife. She falls in love with Del Palma and dreams of taking his dead wife's identity. With the encouragement of her friend Sybil, Jean arranges a séance with a medium in an attempt to contact the dead woman.

• James Mason as Jimmy Del Palma
• June Havoc as Jean Wilson
• Stephen Dunne as Tom Wilson
• Fay Compton as Mme. Brune
• Pamela Mason as Sybil (as Pamela Kellino)
• Steven Geray as Dr. Stepanek
• Diana Graves as medium
• Odette Myrtil as Mrs. Burrows
• Eileen Erskine as Violet
• John Monaghan as Dave
• Vivian Bonnell as Calypso Singer (as Enid Mosier)
• Judy Osborne as Secretary
• Alma Lawton as Nurse

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called the film "a bleak little drama of neuroses" and wrote: "This dreary and meaningless twaddle is based, we are candidly told, upon a novel entitled 'Del Palma,' by Pamela Kellino, who is Mr. Mason's wife. She also appears at odd moments in a pseudo-Noel Cowardish role. And since Miss Kellino and Mr. Mason take credit for writing the script, the much celebrated English couple have only themselves to blame. That goes double for Mr. Mason, who also produced the film."^[3]

El crítico Herb Michelson de Variety escribió: "Hay pocos indicios en 'Lady Possessed'... de la virtuosa habilidad actoral que Mason ha demostrado en el pasado. Desempeña el papel con poca expresividad y prácticamente no recibe apoyo de la señorita Havoc en su superficial interpretación de un papel difícil que requeriría la habilidad y sensibilidad de la mejor actriz dramática que el cine o el teatro pudieran ofrecer para hacerlo creíble". ^{[ 4 ]}

La película fue un fracaso de taquilla, lo que hizo que los Mason perdieran gran parte del dinero que habían invertido en ella. ^{[ 5 ]}

• Sweeney, Kevin. James Mason: Una biobibliografía . Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999.

• Lady Possessed en IMDb
• Lady Possessed en el catálogo de largometrajes del AFI.
• Lady Possessed en la base de datos de películas de TCM (archivada)