The Light That Failed (1939 film)

Last updated
The Light That Failed
The Light that Failed poster.jpg
Poster
Directed by William A. Wellman
Screenplay by Robert Carson
Based on Rudyard Kipling novel The Light That Failed
Produced byWilliam A. Wellman
Starring Ronald Colman
Walter Huston
Muriel Angelus
Ida Lupino
Cinematography Theodor Sparkuhl
Music by Victor Young
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 1939 (1939-12)(New York)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
Box office1,121,789 admissions (France) [1]

The Light That Failed is a 1939 drama film based on Rudyard Kipling's 1891 novel of the same name. [2] It stars Ronald Colman as an artist who is going blind.

Contents

Plot

In 1865, youngster Dick Heldar is briefly blinded when his girlfriend Maisie accidentally fires his pistol too close to his head. She later tells him that her guardians are sending her away somewhere to be educated, but she agrees when he says she belongs to him "forever and ever."

Years later, Dick is a British soldier during the Mahdist War in Sudan. When the natives attack suddenly, he saves the life of his friend, war correspondent "Torp" Torpenhow, but receives a wound to the head as a result.

He turns to painting to try to make a living. When his works start to sell, he returns to England. His realistic paintings of scenes from the war become immensely popular with the critics and the public. In London, he moves in with Torp and is reunited with a grown-up Maisie, also a painter, though not as successful. Liking the financial rewards, Dick is persuaded to sanitize his gritty realism to make his works more attractive to the masses. Torp and fellow war correspondent "The Nilghai" try to warn him about it, but he pays no heed; he becomes complacent and lazy. Maisie decides to move away and stop seeing him.

One night, Dick returns to his lodgings to find a young, bedraggled woman lying on his sofa. Torp explains that she fainted from hunger outside, so he brought her in and fed her Dick's dinner. She bitterly gives her name as Bessie Broke. Dick becomes fascinated; she is the ideal model for Melancholia, a painting that Maisie had struggled to complete. He hires her to pose for him.

When his vision starts to blur, he goes to see a doctor who gives him a grim prognosis: as a result of his old war injury, he will go blind in a year if he avoids strain, "not very long" if he does not.

Before he completely loses his sight, Dick resolves to paint his masterpiece, Melancholia. He drinks heavily and drives Bessie to hysteria to evoke the desired expression. When Torp returns from his latest assignment, Dick tells him about his blindness and shows him the painting. While Dick sleeps, Bessie sneaks in and destroys it, unaware of his ailment. When he wakes up, he is blind. Torp tries to hide Bessie's act from Dick and sends for Maisie. When Dick shows her his masterpiece, she cannot bring herself to tell him it is ruined, and she leaves.

One day, while he is out on a walk, Dick's servant recognizes Bessie, and Dick invites her to his home. He shows her the balance in his bank book, proposes that she take care of him and kisses her. Realizing that he will learn the truth at some point, she confesses what she has done. As the news sinks in, he changes his plans.

Dick travels back to Sudan, where he wears his old uniform and hires a guide to take him to join Torp. They ride on horseback into the midst of a battle. Sensing that the British cavalry is about to deploy, Dick has Torp to direct him into the charge, where he is shot and killed by a native.

Cast

Reception

Frank Nugent, critic for The New York Times , praised the film, calling it a "letter-perfect edition of Kipling's 'The Light That Failed'". He also lauded the star ("Mr. Colman has rarely handled a role with greater authority or charm"), Lupino ("Ida Lupino's Bessie is another of the surprises we get when a little ingenue suddenly bursts forth as a great actress.") and the rest of the principal actors. [2]

Cinema murder

On May 29, 1946, in Bristol, England, cinema manager Robert Parrington Jackson was shot in his office during an evening showing of The Light That Failed. [3] It was believed that the murder was timed to coincide with gunshots from the scene in which young Dick is blinded in order to obscure the sound of the murder gunshots. The murder remains unsolved to this day.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Talk of the Town</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by George Stevens

The Talk of the Town is a 1942 American comedy-drama film directed by George Stevens and starring Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Colman, with a supporting cast featuring Edgar Buchanan and Glenda Farrell. The screenplay was written by Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman from a story by Sidney Harmon. The picture was released by Columbia Pictures. This was the second time that Grant and Arthur were paired in a film, after Only Angels Have Wings (1939).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ida Lupino</span> British actress (1918–1995)

Ida Lupino was a British actress, director, writer, and producer. Throughout her 48-year career, she appeared in 59 films and directed eight, working primarily in the United States, where she became a citizen in 1948.

<i>On Dangerous Ground</i> 1951 film by Nicholas Ray

On Dangerous Ground is a 1951 film noir-melodrama starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino, directed by Nicholas Ray, and produced by John Houseman. The screenplay was written by A. I. Bezzerides based on the 1945 novel Mad with Much Heart, by Gerald Butler.

<i>The Light That Failed</i> 1891 novel by Rudyard Kipling

The Light That Failed is the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling, first published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in January 1891. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events throughout the story occur in Sudan and Port Said. It follows the life of Dick Heldar, an artist and painter who goes blind, and his unrequited love for his childhood playmate, Maisie.

<i>Four Star Playhouse</i> American TV series or program

Four Star Playhouse is an American anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956. Four Star Playhouse was owned by Four Star International. Its episodes ranged anywhere from surreal mysteries, such as "The Man on the Train", to light comedies, such as "The Lost Silk Hat". The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine.

<i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i> (film) 1939 film by Alfred L. Werker

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a 1939 American mystery adventure film based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Although claiming to be an adaptation of the 1899 play Sherlock Holmes by William Gillette, the film bears little resemblance to the play.

<i>Suzy</i> (film) 1936 film by George Fitzmaurice

Suzy is a 1936 American drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone and Cary Grant. The film was partially written by Dorothy Parker, based on a novel by Herbert Gorman. The Academy Award-nominated theme for Suzy, "Did I Remember?", was sung by Virginia Verrill (uncredited).

<i>Ladies in Retirement</i> 1941 American film noir directed by Charles Vidor

Ladies in Retirement is a 1941 American film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring Ida Lupino and Louis Hayward, who were married at the time. It is based on a 1940 Broadway play of the same title by Reginald Denham and Edward Percy that starred Flora Robson in the lead role.

The Devil to Pay! is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Ronald Colman, Frederick Kerr, Myrna Loy, and Loretta Young. It was written by Frederick Lonsdale and Benjamin Glazer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Bicycle Case</span>

The Green Bicycle Case was a British murder investigation and subsequent trial pertaining to the fatal shooting of Bella Wright near the village of Little Stretton, Leicestershire on 5 July 1919. Wright was killed by a single bullet wound to the face. The case takes its name from the fact that on the evening of her death, Wright had been seen cycling in the company of a man riding a green bicycle.

<i>Maisie</i> (film) 1939 film by Edwin L. Marin

Maisie is a 1939 American comedy film directed by Edwin L. Marin based on the 1935 novel Dark Dame by Wilson Collison. The rights to the novel were originally purchased by MGM for a Jean Harlow film, but Harlow died in 1937 before a shooting script could be completed. The project was put on hold until 1939, when Ann Sothern was hired to star in the film with Robert Young as leading man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Wylde</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Nathan Wylde is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Lyndon Ogbourne. He made his first on-screen appearance on 17 February 2009 and his last on 26 November 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maisie Wylde</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Maisie Foster is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Alice Coulthard. The character was introduced by series producer Anita Turner and first appeared in 2009. It was announced on 30 June 2010 that Alice Coulthard had quit the show and her character would be written out later in the year.

Ryan Lamb (<i>Emmerdale</i>) Fictional character from Emmerdale

Ryan Lamb is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale. He was played by actor James Sutton and made his first appearance in June 2009. In February 2011, it was announced that Sutton would be leaving the show in spring 2011. He made his last appearance on 26 April 2011.

<i>His Supreme Moment</i> 1925 film by George Fitzmaurice

His Supreme Moment is a 1925 American silent drama film with sequences filmed in Technicolor, starring Blanche Sweet and Ronald Colman, directed by George Fitzmaurice, and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Anna May Wong has a small role as a harem girl appearing in a play. The film is now considered lost.

<i>The Unholy Garden</i> 1931 film

The Unholy Garden is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Ronald Colman and Fay Wray. It was based on a story by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur.

<i>Wee Willie Winkie and Other Child Stories</i>

Wee Willie Winkie and Other Child Stories is a collection of short stories by Rudyard Kipling.

<i>The Dark Angel</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

The Dark Angel is a 1925 American silent drama film, based on the play The Dark Angel, a Play of Yesterday and To-day by H. B. Trevelyan, released by First National Pictures, and starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky, and Wyndham Standing.

<i>The Light That Failed</i> (1923 film) 1923 film by George Melford

The Light That Failed is a 1923 American silent drama film that was directed by George Melford and written by Jack Cunningham and F. McGrew Willis based on the 1891 novelette of the same name by Rudyard Kipling. The film stars Jacqueline Logan, Percy Marmont, David Torrence, Sigrid Holmquist, Mabel Van Buren, Luke Cosgrave, and Peggy Schaffer. The film was released on October 25, 1923, by Paramount Pictures.

Alun Kyte, known as the Midlands Ripper, is an English double murderer, serial rapist, child rapist, paedophile and suspected serial killer. He was convicted in 2000 of the murders of two sex workers, 20-year-old Samo Paull and 30-year-old Tracey Turner, whom he killed in December 1993 and March 1994 respectively. After his conviction, investigators announced their suspicions that Kyte could have been behind a number of other unsolved murders of sex workers across Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. He was apprehended due to the ground-breaking investigations of a wider police enquiry named Operation Enigma, which was launched in 1996 in response to the murders of Paull, Turner and of a large number of other sex workers. Kyte was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years imprisonment for the murders of Paull and Turner.

References

  1. Box office information for France in 1945 at Box Office Story
  2. 1 2 Nugent, Frank S. (December 25, 1939). "The Screen in Review; The Light That Failed,' With Ronald Colman, Is Seen at Rivoli ..." The New York Times .
  3. Churchill, Laura (May 27, 2016). "Bristol's oldest unsolved murder: 72 years since cinema manager gunned down during film". Bristol Post .