At a reception honoring her work with blind and orphaned children, elderly Lydia Macmillan meets an old acquaintance, Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, who has been in unrequited love with her for forty years. Accepting Michael's invitation to tea, she discovers that he has also invited two other men from her past: Bob Willard, a football quarterback she knew when a young woman, and pianist Frank Andre, who once worked at Lydia's orphanage.
Lydia, now a spinster, reminisces about her memories of each of the men, and one other, adventurous traveler Richard Mason. All had been in love with her at one time or another, but she never married.
In Boston in 1897, a young Lydia prepares to go to a dance. Her guardian is her grandmother, a hypochondriac who chases away her doctor. She thinks Lydia's dress is inappropriate for Boston society, even though she herself is the widow of a sea captain and came from a less than respectable background. The family butler intervenes when his son Michael arrives, having just graduated from medical school. Michael humors the old woman's complaints, and she agrees to let him escort Lydia to the ball.
En route to the ball, Lydia reveals that she is in love with football player Bob Willard. Micheal and Lydia's sleigh is passed by another driven by a young man with a moustache. Lydia grabs the reins and races him. Later, Bob calls on Lydia at her house, having been coached by Michael about how to speak and act in order to please the grandmother. He gets carried away, however, being apparently drunk and is ejected from the house.
When Lydia tells Michael that she plans to elope with Bob, Michael threatens to tell her grandmother, but eventually changes his mind, wanting to see her happy. The planned marriage does not happen, however, because the magistrate who would perform the ceremony is unavailable. Nonetheless, the couple go to the hotel room Bob had reserved for their honeymoon. There, Bob gets drunk and attempts to assault Lydia. She flees and takes a cab away from the man who had raced her earlier. He agrees to help her.
In the present, the now-aged Bob tells Lydia that he has felt guilty about that night for the last forty years, but Lydia forgives him and continues her story. Seeing Michael off to a troop ship heading to Cuba during the Spanish-American War, she realizes that another soldier is the same man who raced her and who gave her his carriage. His name turns out to be Captain Richard Mason. When the ship leaves, though, Lydia meets a young blind boy and escorts him to his impoverished home. She vows to use her money and time to help such children.
At the school she founds, Lydia meets blind pianist Frank Andre, who goes to work there and falls in love with her. Lydia, however, turns him down, while Michael remains a friend and rejected suitor. At another ball, Lydia is swept off her feet by Richard Mason. The two steal away to her family's seaside home, and spend a couple of weeks there. Richard leaves Lydia behind when he goes to the mainland on a sailboat for supposed business, but the boat returns with only the home's caretaker, who gives her a letter saying that Richard has to settle affairs with another woman who has "a claim" on him. Months later, in Boston, Lydia receives another letter from Richard, asking to meet him at a church on New Year's Eve, but he fails to appear.
Bitter and regretful, Lydia tells the three men about how she accepted Michael's marriage proposal, despite being unable to return his love. That match also never happens, however, when her grandmother dies just before the wedding. Lydia decides to devote the rest of her life exclusively to her school.
As Lydia finishes her story, one final guest arrives, the now aged Richard Mason. Lydia seems willing to forgive him, but Mason does not remember her at all. Lydia describes this event as the "perfect punishment" for her past "sinful" behavior. She concedes to Michael that there was never only one true Lydia; she was a different person to everyone who met her.
The film was produced in the U.S. by London Films, the company controlled by producer Alexander Korda, who saw the film in part as a starring vehicle for his wife, Merle Oberon. Julien Duvivier was hired to direct the film (under the working title Illusions), adapted from Un Carnet de Bal and reset in America by Ben Hecht and Samuel Hoffenstein, with a budget of over one million dollars.[2]
Before approving the film's release, the Production Code Administration (also known as the "Hays Office") demanded a different ending to the film so that Lydia would "pay" for her love tryst in a cabin.[3] Despite his initial resistance, Korda gave in and shot several new endings to the film, claiming to like the one that was approved even better than the original.[4]
Reception
Professor Tino Balio described the film as achieving only a moderate success at the box office.[5] The Ultimate Movie Rankings database lists the box office returns as only one million dollars, hardly breaking even with the film's budget and ranking number 144 out of 221 films listed for 1941.[6]
That same database lists the film as having received 65% favorable reviews, Variety in its review commented, "Dialog and narrative, with frequent use of cutbacks for the story telling, does not add to the speed of the unreeling under the leisurely direction by Duvivier,"" but praised Merle Oberon's performance and the makeup used to age the characters.[7]
New York Times critic Bosley Crowther compared the film unfavorably to Duvivier's Un Carnet de Bal, remarking, "The fault, one can easily say, lies in the construction and writing of the film. The story is loosely conceived and then the dialogue is pitched on in thick gobs—high-flown, poetic speeches and chunks of solemn soliloquy."[8]
The Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 British film directed and co-produced by Alexander Korda and starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon and Elsa Lanchester. It was written by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis for London Film Productions, Korda's production company. The film, which focuses on the marriages of King Henry VIII of England, was a major international success, establishing Korda as a leading filmmaker and Laughton as a box-office star.
Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian–born British film director, producer, and screenwriter, who founded his own film production studios and film distribution company.
Merle Oberon was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). After her success in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), she travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel Goldwyn. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Dark Angel (1935). Oberon hid her mixed heritage out of fear of discrimination and the impact it would have had on her career.
The Divorce of Lady X is a 1938 British Technicolor romantic comedy film produced by London Films; it stars Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Binnie Barnes. It was directed by Tim Whelan and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Ian Dalrymple and Arthur Wimperis, adapted by Lajos Bíró from the play Counsel's Opinion by Gilbert Wakefield. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and Lionel Salter and the cinematography by Harry Stradling.
These Three is a 1936 American drama film directed by William Wyler and starring Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, Joel McCrea, and Bonita Granville. The screenplay by Lillian Hellman is based on her 1934 play The Children's Hour.
Perfect Strangers, is a 1945 British drama film made by London Films. It stars Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr as a married couple whose relationship is shaken by their service in the Second World War. The supporting cast includes Glynis Johns, Ann Todd and Roland Culver. It was produced and directed by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Clemence Dane and Anthony Pelissier based on a story by Clemence Dane. Dane won the Academy Award for Best Story. The music score was by Clifton Parker and the cinematography by Georges Périnal.
Julien Duvivier was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are La Bandera, Pépé le Moko, Little World of Don Camillo, Panic (Panique), Deadlier Than the Male and Marianne de ma jeunesse.
Wuthering Heights is a 1939 American romantic period drama film directed by William Wyler, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven, and based on the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The film depicts only 16 of the novel's 34 chapters, eliminating the second generation of characters. The novel was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston (uncredited). The supporting cast features Flora Robson and Geraldine Fitzgerald.
Anna Karenina is a 1948 British film based on the 1877 novel of the same title by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
I, Claudius is an unfinished 1937 film adaptation of the novels I, Claudius (1934) and Claudius the God (1935) by Robert Graves. Produced by Alexander Korda, the film was directed by Josef von Sternberg, with Charles Laughton in the title role. The production was dogged by adverse circumstances, culminating in a car accident involving co-star Merle Oberon that caused filming to be ended before completion. Footage from the production was incorporated into a 1965 documentary on the making of the film The Epic That Never Was.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1934 British adventure film directed by Harold Young and starring Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, and Raymond Massey. Based on the 1905 play by Baroness Orczy and Montagu Barstow and the classic 1905 adventure novel by Orczy, the film is about an eighteenth-century English aristocrat (Howard) who leads a double life, passing himself off as an effete aristocrat while engaged in a secret effort to rescue French nobles from Robespierre's Reign of Terror. The film was produced by Alexander Korda. Howard's portrayal of the title character is often considered the definitive portrayal of the role. In 1941, he played a similar role in "'Pimpernel' Smith" but this time set in pre-WWII Germany.
The Oscar is a 1966 American drama film directed by Russell Rouse and starring Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, Milton Berle, Eleanor Parker, Joseph Cotten, Jill St. John, Tony Bennett, Edie Adams and Ernest Borgnine.
The Private Life of Don Juan is a 1934 British comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon and Benita Hume. At the age of 51, it was the final role of Fairbanks, who died five years later. The film is about the life of the aging Don Juan, based on the 1920 play L'homme à la Rose by Henry Bataille. It was made by Korda's London Film Productions at British & Dominion Studios in Elstree/Borehamwood and distributed by United Artists.
Strange Evidence is a 1933 British crime film directed by Robert Milton, produced by Alexander Korda and written by Lajos Bíró and Miles Malleson. Starring Leslie Banks, George Curzon, Carol Goodner and Frank Vosper, it is a film made by Alexander Korda's London Film Productions at British and Dominions Imperial Studios, Elstree, with art direction by R.Holmes Paul.
Wedding Rehearsal is a 1932 British romantic comedy film directed by Alexander Korda and starring Roland Young as a bachelor forced to seek a wife.
Temptation is a 1946 American film noir thriller film directed by Irving Pichel and starring Merle Oberon, George Brent, Charles Korvin and Paul Lukas. The film was based on Robert Smythe Hichens's 1909 novel Bella Donna. Other film adaptations of the novel were produced in 1915, 1923 and 1934.
Night in Paradise is a 1946 American Technicolor fantasy comedy film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Merle Oberon, Gale Sondergaard and Turhan Bey. It was produced by Walter Wanger for distribution by Universal Pictures.
Affectionately Yours is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Merle Oberon, Dennis Morgan, and Rita Hayworth. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. Bette Davis was originally intended for the lead role but was replaced by Oberon.
Walter Percy Day O.B.E. (1878–1965) was a British painter best remembered for his work as a matte artist and special effects technician in the film industry. Professional names include W. Percy Day; Percy Day; "Pop" or "Poppa" Day, owing to his collaboration with sons Arthur George Day (1909–1952) draughtsman, Thomas Sydney Day (1912–1985), stills photographer and cameraman, and stepson, Peter Ellenshaw, who also worked in this field.
Life Dances On or Christine or Dance Program is a 1937 French drama film directed by Julien Duvivier and starring Marie Bell, Françoise Rosay and Louis Jouvet. It was partly shot at the Neuilly Studios in Paris. The film's art direction was by Jean Douarinou. Duvivier's American film Lydia (1941) is to some extent a remake of this one.
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