Beware of Pity

Last updated

Beware of Pity
"Beware of Pity" (1946).jpg
Directed by Maurice Elvey
Written by Elizabeth Baron
W. P. Lipscomb
Marguerite Steen
Based on Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig
Produced byMaurice Elvey
W. P. Lipscomb
Starring Lilli Palmer
Albert Lieven
Cedric Hardwicke
Gladys Cooper
CinematographyDerick Williams
Edited by Grace Garland
Music by Nicholas Brodszky
Production
company
Distributed by Eagle-Lion Films
Release date
  • 22 July 1946 (1946-07-22)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Beware of Pity is a 1946 British romantic drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Lilli Palmer, Albert Lieven and Cedric Hardwicke. [1] It is based on the novel of the same name by Stefan Zweig. A paraplegic young baroness mistakes compassion for love. The film's costumes were designed by Cecil Beaton. It was made by Two Cities Films at Islington Studios. The film was not a great popular success outside the Soviet Union. [2]

Contents

Plot

The film opens with a framing device set in post-Second World War Britain. When a young man comes to aged Anton Marek (Albert Lieven) for romantic advice, Marek tells him a story from his own past, which leads to a flashback.

In the days leading up to the First World War, Lieutenant Marek is assigned to an Austro-Hungarian cavalry regiment stationed in a small town. There he meets Baroness Edith de Kekesfalva (Lilli Palmer), a young woman who is a paraplegic as the result of a horse riding accident. Noticing how the young man has cheered up his depressed daughter, Baron Emil de Kekesfalva (Ernest Thesiger) asks him to spend time with her. Marek finds her company pleasant enough and agrees.

The baron has consulted many renowned doctors in vain; none hold out any hope for his daughter's recovery. Finally, in desperation, he has turned to hardworking, dedicated Dr. Albert Condor (Cedric Hardwicke), who at least refuses to give up. Condor notices a great improvement in Edith's attitude, which he accurately ascribes to her falling in love with Marek. Marek remains unaware of Edith's feelings for him.

One day, Marek tells the family about a promising treatment in Switzerland, despite Condor's warning to wait until he has had a chance to investigate. Condor later informs him that it cannot help Edith, but by then the damage is done. With the hope of being able to walk again unassisted, Edith reveals her love for Marek. Guilt-ridden, the young man pretends to love her and agrees to marry her after she is cured.

However, when rumors of the engagement leak out, Marek angrily denies them to his questioning, disapproving fellow officers. When he is confronted by his commanding officer, Marek admits the truth. To minimize the scandal, his commander immediately arranges his transfer to another unit far away.

Marek goes to see Condor before he leaves, but the doctor is away. Instead, Condor's blind wife Klara (Gladys Cooper) speaks with him. She gets him to recognize that he may love Edith after all. He tries to telephone Edith, but the lines are barred from civilian use because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that same day. Marek must take the train to report for duty with his new unit, but Klara assures him she will see Edith and clear things up.

When Klara visits Edith, she finds her alone on the rooftop terrace of her family's mountainside mansion. Edith has heard about Marek's public denial of their engagement and no longer trusts anyone. With Klara powerless to stop her, she wheels herself to the edge and flings herself over to her death.

Cast

Reception

In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther concluded, "the interminable backing and filling and huffing and puffing that goes on in this film adds up to modern-day tedium". [3] Radio Times wrote, "having learnt his trade in the silent era, director Maurice Elvey can't resist overplaying the melodrama, but the cast - particularly doctor Cedric Hardwicke and his blind wife, Gladys Cooper - keeps things on track". [4] Leonard Maltin called it "maudlin but effective." [5]

TCM wrote, "the film was a failure at the box office in England and stateside critics like Bosley Crowther described it as "tortured" and "tedious". The poor reception nearly permanently stalled Elvey's career: he didn't work again until The Third Visitor (1951)." [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cedric Hardwicke</span> English actor

Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and his film work included leading roles in several adapted literary classics.

<i>Love Letters</i> (1945 film) 1945 film by William Dieterle

Love Letters is a 1945 American film noir. The screenplay was adapted by Ayn Rand from the novel Pity My Simplicity by Christopher Massie. It was directed by William Dieterle and stars Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ann Richards, Cecil Kellaway, Gladys Cooper and Anita Louise. The plot tells the story of a man falling in love with an amnesiac woman with two personalities, who is supposed to have killed his soldier friend.

<i>The Pumpkin Eater</i> 1964 film by Jack Clayton

The Pumpkin Eater is a 1964 British drama film starring Anne Bancroft as an unusually fertile woman and Peter Finch as her philandering husband. The film was adapted by Harold Pinter from the 1962 novel of the same title by Penelope Mortimer and was directed by Jack Clayton. The title is a reference to the nursery rhyme "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Thesiger</span> English actor (1879–1961)

Ernest Frederic Graham Thesiger, CBE was an English stage and film actor. He is noted for his performance as Doctor Septimus Pretorius in James Whale's film Bride of Frankenstein (1935).

<i>Helen of Troy</i> (film) 1956 film directed by Robert Wise

Helen of Troy is a 1956 Warner Bros. WarnerColor epic film in CinemaScope, based on Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. It was directed by Robert Wise, from a screenplay by Hugh Gray and John Twist, adapted by Hugh Gray and N. Richard Nash. The music score was by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr.

<i>It Should Happen to You</i> 1954 film by George Cukor

It Should Happen to You is a 1954 American romantic comedy film starring Judy Holliday, Peter Lawford and Jack Lemmon; it was Lemmon's first major film appearance. The film was directed by George Cukor, and partly filmed on location in New York City. Screenwriter Garson Kanin originally intended the script as a vehicle for Danny Kaye, but Kanin's wife, Ruth Gordon, suggested casting Judy Holliday instead. The title was initially A Name for Herself.

<i>Nobody Lives Forever</i> (film) 1946 film by Jean Negulesco

Nobody Lives Forever is a 1946 American crime film noir directed by Jean Negulesco and based on the novel I Wasn't Born Yesterday by W. R. Burnett. It stars John Garfield and Geraldine Fitzgerald and features Walter Brennan, Faye Emerson, George Coulouris and George Tobias.

<i>The Green Glove</i> 1952 film by Rudolph Maté

The Green Glove is a 1952 French-American international co-production film noir directed by Rudolph Maté and starring Glenn Ford, Geraldine Brooks, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and George Macready.

<i>Salome</i> (1953 film) 1953 film

Salome is a 1953 American drama Biblical film directed by William Dieterle and produced by Buddy Adler from a screenplay by Harry Kleiner and Jesse Lasky Jr. The music score was by George Duning, the dance music by Daniele Amfitheatrof and the cinematography by Charles Lang. Rita Hayworth's costumes were designed by Jean Louis. Hayworth's dances for this film were choreographed by Valerie Bettis. This film was the last produced by Hayworth's production company, the Beckworth Corporation.

<i>Kiss Me Kate</i> (film) 1953 film directed by George Sidney

Kiss Me Kate is a 1953 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film adaptation of the 1948 Broadway musical of the same name.

<i>The White Tower</i> (film) 1950 film by Ted Tetzlaff

The White Tower is a 1950 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring Alida Valli as a woman determined to fulfill her father's dream by conquering the mountain that killed him, and Glenn Ford as the mountaineer who loves her. It is based on the 1945 novel of the same name by James Ramsey Ullman. She assembles an unusual climbing party of six people in the Swiss Alps to tackle the nearly impossible ascent of a mountain known as 'The White Tower,' which has never been climbed. While struggling together to conquer the obstacle, each climber shows his true worth, or lack thereof.

<i>The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby</i> (1947 film) 1947 British film by Alberto Cavalcanti

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is a 1947 British drama film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti and starring Cedric Hardwicke. The screenplay by John Dighton is based on the Charles Dickens novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1839). This first sound screen adaptation of the book followed silent films released in 1903 and 1912.

<i>Trio</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by Harold French, Ken Annakin

Trio is a 1950 British anthology film based on three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham: "The Verger", "Mr Know-All" and "Sanatorium". Ken Annakin directed "The Verger" and "Mr Know-All", while Harold French was responsible for "Sanatorium".

<i>Forever and a Day</i> (1943 film) 1943 drama film

Forever and a Day is a 1943 American drama film, a collaborative effort employing seven directors/producers and 22 writers, with an enormous cast of well-known stars.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a 1949 American comedy musical film directed by Tay Garnett and starring Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and William Bendix.

<i>This Above All</i> (film) 1942 film by Anatole Litvak

This Above All is a 1942 American romance film directed by Anatole Litvak and starring Tyrone Power and Joan Fontaine as a couple from different social classes who fall in love in wartime England. The supporting cast features Thomas Mitchell, Nigel Bruce, and Gladys Cooper. Set in World War II, the film is adapted from Eric Knight's 1941 novel of the same name.

<i>The Emperors Candlesticks</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by George Fitzmaurice

The Emperor's Candlesticks is a 1937 historical drama film starring William Powell and Luise Rainer and directed by George Fitzmaurice. It is based on the 1899 novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy. The story follows the adventures of spies from opposing sides who fall in love while following the eponymous candlesticks—and the papers hidden inside them—all over turn-of-the-20th-century Europe.

<i>Sentimental Journey</i> (film) 1946 film by Walter Lang

Sentimental Journey is a 1946 American drama film directed by Walter Lang and starring John Payne, Maureen O'Hara and William Bendix. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was remade in 1958 as The Gift of Love with Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack.

<i>Beware of Pity</i> (novel) Novel by Stefan Zweig

Beware of Pity is a 1939 novel by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It was Zweig's longest work of fiction. It was adapted into a 1946 film of the same title, directed by Maurice Elvey.

<i>The Moon Is Down</i> (film) 1943 film by Irving Pichel

The Moon Is Down is a 1943 American war film starring Cedric Hardwicke and Henry Travers and directed by Irving Pichel. It is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck.

References

  1. "Beware of Pity (1946)". BFI. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
  2. Harper p.156
  3. Bosley Crowther (1 November 1947). "' Beware of Pity' New Bill at the Park Avenue -- Premieres at Rialto, Cinema Dante". The New York Times.
  4. David Parkinson. "Beware of Pity". RadioTimes.
  5. Beware of Pity at the TCM Movie Database
  6. Violet LeVoit. "Beware Of Pity (1946)". Turner Classic Movies.

Bibliography