My Name is Julia Ross
| My Name Is Julia Ross | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Joseph H. Lewis |
| Produced by | Wallace MacDonald |
| Screenplay by | Muriel Roy Bolton |
| Based on |
The Woman in Red 1941 novel by Anthony Gilbert |
| Starring |
Nina Foch Dame May Whitty |
| Music by | Mischa Bakaleinikoff |
| Cinematography | Burnett Guffey |
| Edited by | Henry Batista |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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65 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
My Name Is Julia Ross is a 1945 film noir, having also some elements of Gothic fiction, directed by Joseph H. Lewis and based on the novel The Woman in Red by Anthony Gilbert. This drama is the first in a series of films noir directed by Lewis and features Nina Foch, Dame May Whitty and George Macready.
In London, Julia Ross (Nina Foch) goes to a new employment agency, desperate for work. When Mrs. Sparkes (Anita Sharp-Bolster) learns that she has no near relations, she recommends Julia for a job as a live-in personal secretary to a wealthy widow, Mrs. Hughes (May Whitty). Mrs. Hughes approves and insists that she move that very night into her house. Two days later, Julia awakes as a prisoner at an isolated seaside estate in Cornwall.
All her possessions have disappeared and the young woman is told she is really Marion, the wife of Ralph Hughes (George Macready), Mrs. Hughes's son. The staff have been told that she has suffered a nervous breakdown; as a result, they ignore her seemingly wild claims and her attempts to escape are all foiled.
Julia writes a letter to her only close friend and admirer, Dennis Bruce (Roland Varno), and cleverly leaves it where it can be found. The Hughes substitute a blank sheet of paper and allow her to post it, unaware that Julia has anticipated them and written a second letter. Even so, when a "doctor" comes in response to a fake poisoning attempt, she blurts out her plan to him, only to discover that he (along with Mrs. Sparkes) is in on the scheme. He is dispatched to London to intercept the letter. When the real doctor shows up, Julia thinks he's also a fake and refuses to see him. The doctor recommends she be taken to a hospital immediately, but Mrs. Hughes persuades him to come back in the morning.
That night, Julia discovers a secret passage to her room and overhears Ralph admit to his mother that he murdered his real wife in a fit of rage and disposed of her body in the sea. Julia's captors have to make it appear that she has committed suicide before the doctor can take her away.
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Wikipedia