The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

Director:

Sidney Franklin

Writers:

Rudolph Besier (play)
Ernest Vajda (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 September 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

When poets love, Heaven and Earth fall back to watch!

Plot:

Elizabeth Barrett's tyrannical father has forbidden any of his family to marry. Nevertheless, Elizabeth falls in love with the poet Robert Browning.

Plot Keywords:

Poet | Father Daughter Relationship | Wimpole Street London | Horse And Carriage | Maid

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

Norma Shearer	...	Elizabeth Barrett
Fredric March	...	Robert Browning
Charles Laughton	...	Edward Moulton-Barrett
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Henrietta Barrett
Katharine Alexander	...	Arabel Barrett
Ralph Forbes	...	Captain Surtees Cook
Marion Clayton Anderson	...	Bella Hedley (as Marion Clayton)
Ian Wolfe	...	Harry Bevan
Ferdinand Munier	...	Dr. Chambers
Una O'Connor	...	Wilson
Leo G. Carroll	...	Dr. Ford-Waterlow (as Leo Carroll)
Vernon Downing	...	Octavius Barrett
Neville Clark	...	Charles Barrett
Matthew Smith	...	George Barrett
Robert Carleton	...	Alfred Barrett

Also Known As:

Forbidden Alliance (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

109 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (PCA #146) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

When producer Irving Thalberg cast his wife, Norma Shearer, in the role of Elizabeth Barrett, William Randolph Hearst was enraged that his protégé, Marion Davies, was not given the role. So Hearst pulled Davies out of MGM and placed her with Warner Brothers for the remainder of her career, and for over a year the name "Norma Shearer" did not appear in any Hearst newspapers.

Quotes:

Robert Browning: I'm a very modest man.
[pause]
Robert Browning: I am, really.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957)

Soundtrack:

Little Brown Jug

A Difficult Romance

The beautiful Canadian actress Norma Shearer starred in this tense and unusual love story based on the true-life romance of Elizabeth Barrett and the poet Robert Browning. Charles Laughton's performance as her possessive and pathologically jealous father was one of the finest in his outstanding career. Although incest was the film's unspoken subtext, contemporary sensitivities prevented it from being spelt-out. That was not to deter Laughton who famously remarked that though they could prevent him from speaking of it, they could not censor the glint in his eye! An outstanding film.