Ardel Wray inspired by the life of the notorious English pirate Edward Teach and set to star Boris Karloff. Remarried and living in Hollywood, Wray left RKO shortly before she gave birth to her daughter in May 1945. Her last produced screenplay for Lewton, "Isle of the Dead", was released in September of that year, a few days after Japan surrendered, ending WWII. Lewton's films had played a major role in returning RKO to profitability during WWII but, when the war ended, audiences lost interest in horror movies. When Bedlam lost money, RKO did not renew Lewton's contract and his group disbanded.
When Marnie Was There Caroline Sheldon sold the rights of the book to 10 countries, including Japan, Italy, Spain and China. The book was also re-released in English by HarperCollins Children's Books as part of its classics range. "When Marnie Was There" received positive reviews. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 90%, based on 94 reviews, with an average of 7.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""When Marnie Was There" is still blessed with enough visual and narrative beauty to recommend, even if it isn't quite as magical as Studio Ghibli's greatest works." On Metacritic, the film has a