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 1939 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 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, 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 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, 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 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 (1893–1964)

Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned over 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>The Men</i> (1950 film) 1950 film by Fred Zinnemann

The Men is a 1950 American drama film. Set mostly in a paraplegic ward of a VA hospital, the film stars Marlon Brando as an ex-GI named Ken who, as a result of a war wound, is paralyzed and uses a wheelchair. Suffering from depression and an impaired self-concept, Ken struggles to come to terms with his disability and his need to accept care from others, including from his fiancée/wife.

<i>The Brides of Dracula</i> 1960 British film by Terence Fisher

The Brides of Dracula is a 1960 British supernatural gothic horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, David Peel, Freda Jackson, Yvonne Monlaur, Andrée Melly, and Martita Hunt. The film is a sequel to the 1958 film Dracula, though the character of Count Dracula does not appear in the film, and is instead mentioned only twice. Christopher Lee would reprise his role as Dracula in the next film in the Dracula series, Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966).

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

Helen of Troy is a 1956 American-Italian-French epic historical drama film, 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 composed by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr, who shot the film in CinemaScope.

<i>My Reputation</i> 1946 film

My Reputation is a 1946 American romantic drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt. Barbara Stanwyck portrays an upper-class widow whose romance with an army officer causes trouble for her gossiping friends, domineering mother and young sons. Catherine Turney wrote the script, an adaptation of Clare Jaynes' 1942 novel Instruct My Sorrows. Stanwyck's costumes were designed by Edith Head.

<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>The Notorious Landlady</i> 1962 US comedy mystery film by Richard Quine

The Notorious Landlady is a 1962 American comedy mystery film starring Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon, and Fred Astaire. The film was directed by Richard Quine, with a script by Blake Edwards and Larry Gelbart based on the short story "The Notorious Tenant" by Margery Sharp.

<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, 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, with Derek Bond in the title role. 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>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 a large 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>Baby Face Nelson</i> (1957 film) 1957 film by Don Siegel

Baby Face Nelson is a 1957 American film noir crime film based on the real-life 1930s gangster, directed by Don Siegel, co-written by Daniel Mainwaring—who also wrote the screenplay for Siegel's 1956 sci-fi thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers—and starring Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, Cedric Hardwicke, Leo Gordon as Dillinger, Anthony Caruso, Jack Elam, John Hoyt and Elisha Cook Jr.

<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>Woman Times Seven</i> 1967 film by Vittorio De Sica

Woman Times Seven is a 1967 sex comedy anthology film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It consists of seven segments, all starring Shirley MacLaine, most of which deal with aspects of adultery.

<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>Escape Me Never</i> (1947 film) 1947 film by Peter Godfrey

Escape Me Never is a 1947 American melodrama film directed by Peter Godfrey, and starring Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino, Eleanor Parker, and Gig Young.

<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>My Love Came Back</i> 1940 American film

My Love Came Back is a 1940 American comedy-drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Olivia de Havilland, Jeffrey Lynn, Eddie Albert, and Jane Wyman. Based on the 1935 Austrian film Episode written and directed by Walter Reisch, the film is about a gifted young violinist who considers leaving a prestigious music academy to play in a jazz band to earn money. The academy's new president—a distinguished wealthy patron of the arts—convinces her to stay after secretly arranging a scholarship for her out of his own pocket, and the two begin attending concerts together. Complications arise when he asks his young business manager to take his place at one of the concerts. The film is notable for Heinz Eric Roemheld's musical direction and Ray Heindorf's unique swing orchestral arrangements of classical pieces. My Love Came Back was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on July 13, 1940.

<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, Lee J. Cobb and Henry Travers and directed by Irving Pichel. The Screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and is based on the 1942 novel of the same name by John Steinbeck. This was the Dorris Bowdon's last movie and Natalie Wood's first movie and features an uncredited John Banner who would go on to play Sgt. Shultz in the TV comedy series Hogan's Heroes.

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