The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

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 | Family Relationships | Strict Father | Prayer | Beautiful Woman

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:

The first performance of the play was at the Malvern Festival in England on 20 August 1930. It then opened in London, England on 23 September 1930.

Quotes:

Elizabeth Barrett: What's another disaster to one who has known little but disaster all her life? But you're a fighter. You were born for victory and triumph. Oh, and if disaster ever came to you through me...
Robert Browning: Yes, a fighter. But I'm sick of fighting alone. I need a comrade in arms to fight beside me.
Elizabeth Barrett: But not one already wounded in battle.
Robert Browning: Wounded but undaunted, unbeaten, unbroken. What finer comrade could a man ask for?

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957)

Soundtrack:

Wilt Thou Have My Hand

True Story Well Told

Love brings both ecstasy and turmoil to the troubled home of THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET.

With its usual opulent style, MGM relates the story of the romance between two of England's most celebrated poets of the 19th Century, Elizabeth Barrett & Robert Browning. Not at all stuffy, the film lets the especially strong performances and the (mostly) true facts of the case propel the drama. It's inspiring to see what adversities real people have had to overcome to still achieve happiness and contribute to society.

Three vivid performances dominate the film. As Elizabeth, Norma Shearer is radiant, conveying the emotions of a woman grasping at the chance for sudden, unbelievable love, while still having to fight off paternal attentions which have become sickly & diseased. Fredric March as Browning fairly explodes on the screen, full of energy and vitality, anxious to express his honest adoration for Shearer, come what may. His great enthusiasm is played with effective contrast as compared to Shearer's enforced languor.

But stealing his every scene is Charles Laughton, fascinatingly perverse as Mr. Barrett, whose warped personality & twisted sensual ego forces him to demand complete, unswerving obedience from his terrified offspring. His eyes hint at passions best left undisturbed and even in his final screen moments he's utterly unrepentant, still plotting pain to punish others.

An excellent supporting cast adds immensely to the film: lovely Maureen O'Sullivan as Elizabeth's sister Henrietta, desperate for freedom from her awful home; affable Ralph Forbes, one of the most under-appreciated actors of the era, as her earnest suitor; birdlike Una O'Connor as Shearer's loyal maid; genial Ferdinand Munier & blunt Leo G. Carroll as Shearer's supportive doctors; flighty Marion Clayton as Laughton's silly niece; and Ian Wolfe as her foppish suitor.

The other Barrett siblings are portrayed by Katharine Alexander (Arabel), Vernon Downing (Octavius), Neville Clark (Charles), Matthew Smith (George), Robert Carleton (Alfred), Allan Conrad (Henry) & Peter Hobbes (Septimus).

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Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861), the eldest of ten children, lived a very happy childhood by all accounts, free to write and pursue her intellectual interests. But after the death of her mother, Mary, and a serious spinal injury resulting from a fall, her life began to darken. The death by drowning of her brother, Edward, brought on an emotional reaction so severe that she became a virtual recluse. Financial problems eventually brought her family to reside at 50 Wimpole Street, London, in 1838. She continued to write and publish poetry, some of which was very highly acclaimed and brought her to the attention of the poet Robert Browning (1812-1889), six years her junior. Highly emotional, his first telegram to her in January of 1845 went straight to the point: "I love your verses with all of my heart, dear Miss Barrett. I do, as I say, love these books with all my heart--and I love you too." He visited her and they fell passionately in love, finally marrying on September 12, 1846. Elizabeth continued living at her father's home for another week before escaping to Florence, Italy, with Browning. (Her father, who really was a wicked old sinner, never forgave her. He finally died in 1856.) Elizabeth's health improved in Italy, and she gave birth to her only child, Robert Wiedmann Browning, in 1849. Her love poems to her husband were published in 1850. Entitled Sonnets from the Portuguese, they became her most famous work. Elizabeth's last years were spent busily involved in the anti-slavery movement, spiritualism & Italian politics. Her health relapsed and she died in her husband's arms in 1861.