Harry Plotter

Sis Lettie will not let him go

She mettles and plots don't you know 

She'll keep and enjoy him

Or bleeping destroy him
She's getting the hots for her bro. 

Geraldine Fitzgerald gives a chilling performance as Lettie, controlling sister of Harry (George Sanders) in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945). 

Crappy Ever After

They struggled a lot with the ending
Some mugs thought the plot needed mending
From the stalls came a scheme
"Let it all be a dream!"
With a shrug, this was shot. Condescending.

David Cairns

George Sanders and Ella Raines pretend to be thrilled that the studio changed the ending to The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945). From David Cairns: "Test audiences of TSAOUH were offered six endings to choose from, and opted for perhaps the worst. The best solution is to pretend the last scene isn't there. The penultimate one is the true climax to the story." Not only did they run the above admonishment over the end, but in the new closing scene someone made Raines wear that ridiculous hat.

The Trouble With Uncle Harry

Consider the strings on this mope
From a sister who clings to a hope
She's a brat and he blames her
For fratricide frames her
And insists that she swings from a rope.

In The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945), George Sanders feels trapped by his sister Geraldine Fitzgerald.

Say Uncle

The sister, conniving and cruel
The miss, so alive and so cool
At stake is the brother
One will make him, one smother 

There's a twist: who survives this film duel?

Geraldine Fitzgerald and Ella Raines in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945).

I'm Just Wild About Uncle Harry

No fella can hope to resist her
He fell at the moment he kissed her
To cherish and wed
And share a warm bed
With Ella, you dope, not your sister!


Ella Raines, George Sanders, and Geraldine Fitzgerald form a twisted triangle in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak; 1945). Title by wild man David Cairns.

Western Schwing

When Ella, her guns drawn, is winking
The swells in this one-horse get thinking
Her shorts have such shape
They down quarts as they gape 
This belle star's hot buns lead to drinking.

David Cairns

Ella Raines in a publicity shoot for Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin; 1944).

Calamity Raines

Where she dwells there's no Gucci or furs
No rich swells there to smooch, no monsieurs
Just musty old garments
On crusty old varmints
So Miss Ella goes butch and wears spurs. 

David Cairns and Surly Hack


Ella Raines plays Arly Harolday in Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin; 1944).

Even Cowgirls Get to Choose

With each kick of her heels sharply spurring
The depiction of 'female' she's blurring
In plains drifter gear
Miss Raines would appear
And wicked strange feelings start stirring. 

Ella Raines portrays a very sexy tomboy in Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin; 1944).

Hard Raines

In boots and chaps dressed no gal's greater
Galoots way out West want to date her
"Can't stand 'em!" she'll say
"Ride tandem? No way!"
First shoots and asks questions much later.

Ella Raines comes out shooting in Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin; 1944).

Wife Sentence

Uxoricide! Something is rotten
Abhorrent, and coming from Laughton
His wife is downstairs
Sans life, but who cares?
He adores this new chum that he's gotten.

David Cairns

Henpecked Charles Laughton falls in love with Ella Raines in The Suspect (Robert Siodmak, 1944).

Prim Suspect

Though her love is exceedingly strange
Seems this husband is needing a change
Their "affair" is platonic
So it's fairly ironic
Wife-murder he speeds to arrange.

Edwardian noir? Why not. Henpecked by his wife, bank teller Charles Laughton falls in love with Ella Raines in The Suspect (Robert Siodmak, 1944). Like he needed an excuse to fall for Ella Raines.

Casting Grouch

The brush-off: some studio bore
When rushes are viewed, starts to roar
Seems the Paramount "brains"
Find their star, Ella Raines
Too lush to exude "girl-next-door."

David Cairns

Ella Raines and Eddie Bracken in Hail the Conquering Hero (1944). From David Cairns: "Director Preston Sturges put up with pressure to recast Raines' role in Hail the Conquering Hero. Luckily for us, he refused."

Ella Raines Supreme

This knockout surprises on screen 

An ocular prize in each scene 
When Ella's in color
All else will seem duller
Her sockets hold eyes vivid green.

Above: Ella Raines in Singing Guns (John Sturges; 1950). Top: A glamour publicity photo. August 6th, 2020, marks the centennial of the birth of actress Ella Raines.