Pretty Good

Just what I expected

Absolutely the worst movie.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

"The Lodger" is not a history lesson and is based very, very loosely on Jack the Ripper. I say this because as a retired history teacher, I've noticed that a lot of folks think many film characters are real...and Mr. Slade and his odd proclivities are based on some real events as well as a lot of fiction.When the film begins, London is all in a panic due to the murders by Jack the Ripper. During all this hubbub, the ever-odd Mr. Slade (Laird Cregar) arrives at the home of two folks (Sara Allgood and Cederic Hardwicke). He wants to rent a room and seems like a pretty normal guy...initially. However, through the course of the film, you see more and more of the weird and peculiar aspects of Slade and folks start to add up all the weird details and think he might just be that serial killer.This film works pretty well because it sets an excellent creepy mood and Laird Cregar really was terrific as the creepy lodger. Too bad he died so young, as he sure had a great screen presence! Worth seeing.

This is a fictional tale of Jack the Ripper. It takes place in London in 1888. Jack the Ripper (Laird Cregar) is hiding out under the name Mr. Slade. He kills actresses only. He's renting two rooms from an elderly couple. Then he meets their young niece Kitty (Merle Oberon) who happens to be a dance hall girl. Will he kill her or can he be stopped? VERY atmospheric with excellent direction by John Brahm. He makes great use of light and darkness and shoots this almost like a film noir. It looks great even though it was made on a low budget. The acting is great. Cregar is tall, imposing and menacing as the Ripper...but you also feel sorry for him. Oberon is excellent as Kitty. It's short (84 minutes) and well-done. Only one complaint (and it's minor)--You know Cregar is the Ripper from the very beginning so it robs any sense of mystery the story might have had. Still it's well worth seeing.

Jack the Ripper is at it again in last century England and there is fright throughout the land as depicted in this nice 1944 film.While it becomes quite obvious who the culprit is, it is amazing that the owners of the house where the fiend lived didn't realize it instantaneously.This is also a psychological thriller in that it attempts to explain why the Ripper began his evil pursuit of women involved with being on the stage so as to justify the deterioration of his brother by such a woman and this resulted in his first murder.Was that really Merle Oberon singing? Cedric Hardwicke is completely unrecognizable as her uncle. If it weren't for his voice, I'd never know that this was him. Sara Allgood as her aunt is caught up in this, but she never attained the greatness she achieved in her 1941 supporting Oscar nomination bid for "How Green Was My Valley."

Mr Slade (Laird Cregar) takes up a temporary residence in the home of Robert Bonting (Cedric Hardwicke). It is Victorian London and Jack The Ripper is murdering his victims. Ellen Bonting (Sara Allgood) suspects that Mr Slade might be the Ripper, while her niece Kitty (Merle Oberon) tries to make it as an actress in the theatre halls. What is Mr Slade's business.....?...The film is set in a smoggy London where Jack The Ripper is at large and it has a claustrophobic atmosphere to it. The cast are good, especially Sara Allgood as the suspicious Ellen. Laid Cregar's character is definitely a misfit - no way would I have agreed to let him share a house with me. Merle Oberon is slightly naive to this complete freak while George Sanders as Inspector Warwick cruises through the film in his usual slick style. The film gets moving from the beginning and Laird Cregar succeeds in making it quite creepy as the Ripper's victims are continually discovered.