Waterloo Bridge (1940)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Robert E. Sherwood (play)
S.N. Behrman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 May 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War | Romance

Plot:

On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he...

Plot Keywords:

Ballet | Ballerina | Love | Bridge | Officer

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

US TV Schedule:

Wed. July 22

8:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Vivien Leigh	...	Myra
Robert Taylor	...	Roy Cronin
Lucile Watson	...	Lady Margaret Cronin
Virginia Field	...	Kitty
Maria Ouspenskaya	...	Madame Olga Kirowa
C. Aubrey Smith	...	The Duke
Janet Shaw	...	Maureen
Janet Waldo	...	Elsa
Steffi Duna	...	Lydia
Virginia Carroll	...	Sylvia
Leda Nicova	...	Marie
Florence Baker	...	Beatrice
Margery Manning	...	Mary
Frances MacInerney	...	Violet
Eleanor Stewart	...	Grace

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #6168)

Filming Locations:

Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

The scene in which Myra and Roy dance to "Auld Lang Syne" was supposed to have dialogue, but nobody could come up with the right words. At about 3:00 in the morning before shooting the scene was to take place, Mervyn LeRoy, a veteran of silent films, realized that there shouldn't be any lines and that the images should speak for themselves. The result is the most celebrated scene of the film.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Even though the story takes place during the pre-1920 World War I period, all of Myra's clothes and hairstyles are strictly in the up-to-the-minute 1940 fashion.

Quotes:

Roy Cronin: Myra, what do you think we're going to do tonight?
Myra Lester: Well, I, I...
Roy Cronin: Oh, you won't have time for that.
Myra Lester: For what?
Roy Cronin: For hesitating! No more hesitating for you!
Myra Lester: No?
Roy Cronin: No!
Myra Lester: Well, what am I going to do instead?
Roy Cronin: You're going to get married.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Wonder Boys (2000)

Soundtrack:

Comin' Thro' The Rye

Little Known But Excellent Romantic Drama

When pressed to name her favorite of her own films, Vivien Leigh brushed aside both GONE WITH THE WIND and STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE in favor of this now little-known film based on a failed 1930s stage drama of the same name previously filmed in 1931 with Mae Clark: WATERLOO BRIDGE, directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Leigh had good reason for her choice. Although she was dazzling as Scarlett O'Hara and elegantly depraved as Blanche DuBois, she was never as beautifully photographed as she was in this 1940 film.

WATERLOO BRIDGE is perhaps best described as one of a number of films "with an English accent" that played to American sympathies for England in the years when England largely stood alone against Nazi Germany. The story itself has a wartime setting: beautiful ballerina Myra (Vivien Leigh) meets and falls passionately in love with officer Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor), only to be parted from him when he is called to duty during World War I. Alone and increasingly destitute, she learns that he has been killed in action--and so, broken hearted and unconcerned for herself, she drifts into prostitution, plying the world's oldest profession along Waterloo Bridge.

Although Robert Taylor is a bit miscast, Leigh carries the film with a truly remarkable performance. In the opening portion of the scene, she is at the height of her youthful beauty, and cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg makes the most of it; later, when experience has hardened her, she turns the graceful charm of her earlier scenes upside down to create the bitter, brassy tart that Myra has become. The cast also features an exceptional performance by Lucile Watson as Lady Margaret and notable turns by Maria Ouspenskaya, C. Aubrey Smith, and a host of others.

Although less well known than such tragic romances as Garbo's CAMILLE, WATERLOO BRIDGE is easily the equal of such and considerably better than most. The romantic aura is powerful, the production values are meticulous, the direction, photography, and script are first rate. And at the center of it all we have perhaps the single most beautiful actress of her era, Vivien Leigh, in one of her finest performances. You'll need a box of tissues for this one; don't miss it.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer