Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939)

Director:

Gregory Ratoff

Writers:

George O'Neil (screenplay)
Gösta Stevens (original screenplay: 1936 movie) ...

Release Date:

22 September 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Tagline:

"Let the world cry 'shame'...I love him...I'll always love him!"

Plot:

A concert violinist becomes charmed with his daughter's talented piano teacher. When he invites her to go on tour with him...

Plot Keywords:

Concert | Violinist | Scholarship | Piano | Birthday Party

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Leslie Howard	...	Holger Brandt
Ingrid Bergman	...	Anita Hoffman
Edna Best	...	Margit Brandt
John Halliday	...	Thomas Stenborg
Cecil Kellaway	...	Charles Moler, The Impressario
Enid Bennett	...	Greta Stenborg
Ann E. Todd	...	Ann Marie Brandt (as Ann Todd)
Douglas Scott	...	Eric Brandt
Eleanor Wesselhoeft	...	Emma, The Maid
Marie Flynn	...	Marianne

Also Known As:

Escape to Happiness (UK)
Intermezzo (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:S | Germany:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #5671)

Filming Locations:

Monterey, California, USA

Company:

Selznick International Pictures

Trivia:

David O. Selznick bribed Leslie Howard into accepting the role of Ashley in Gone with the Wind (1939) by giving him the right to co-produce this film.

Quotes:

Anita Hoffman: I have been an intermezzo in his life.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988) (TV)

Soundtrack:

None But the Lonely Heart (Nur Wer die Sehnsucht Kennt)

Listening to the Spring in the Intermezzo of His Life

After a successful tour ended in New York, the famous violinist Holger Brandt (Leslie Howard) returns to his home in Stockholm. In the birthday party of his beloved daughter Ann Marie (Ann Todd), he feels attracted by and plays with her piano teacher, Anita Hoffman (Ingrid Bergman), who is waiting for a music scholarship in Paris. They incidentally meet each other in a concert, have a drink together and begin a love affair. Holger leaves his family and travels with Anita in a tour, and later they spend vacation together. But Anita earns the expected scholarship and travels to Paris, and Holger decides to visit Ann Marie. A car accident changes the destiny of the Brandt family.

The debut of Ingrid Bergman in an English spoken film may be dated in 2006, but it is still a wonderful romance about a man in a middle age crisis, with a stabilized marriage, who sparks with the love of a talented gorgeous woman that worships him. The performances of Ingrid Bergman, Leslie Howard and Ann Todd are fantastic, and Ingrid looks like a pianist in the sequence in the birthday party. Her beauty shines in the awesome black and white photography and locations and her accent is lovely. The music score gives an additional touch of class to this film. The moralist conclusion seems suitable for the values of the society of 1939, leaving a message of forgiveness and understanding. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Intermezzo"