Madame Curie (1943)

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy
(more)

Writers:

Paul Osborn (screen play) and
Paul H. Rameau (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

February 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

MR. and MRS. MINIVER together again

Plot:

Despite himself, accomplished physicist and avowed bachelor Pierre Curie falls for brilliant student Marie, and together they embark on the discovery of radium.

Plot Keywords:

Physicist | Sorbonne | Laboratory | Scientist | Raw Material

Awards:

Nominated for 7 Oscars.

Cast

Greer Garson	...	Marie Curie
Walter Pidgeon	...	Pierre Curie
Henry Travers	...	Eugene Curie
Albert Bassermann	...	Professor Jean Perot
Robert Walker	...	David Le Gros
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Lord Kelvin
Dame May Whitty	...	Madame Eugene Curie
Victor Francen	...	President of University
Elsa Bassermann	...	Madame Perot
Reginald Owen	...	Dr. Becquerel
Van Johnson	...	Reporter
Margaret O'Brien	...	Irene Curie - Age 5
James Hilton	...	Narration Spoken By (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mariska Aldrich	...	Tall Woman (uncredited)
Tony Carson	...	Man at Accident (uncredited)
Ruth Cherrington	...	Swedish Queen (uncredited)
Ray Collins	...	Lecturer (voice) (uncredited)
Guy D'Ennery	...	Professor (uncredited)
George Davis	...	Cart Driver (uncredited)
Harold De Becker	...	Professor (uncredited)
Franz Dorfler	...	Assistant Tailor (uncredited)
Justine Duney	...	Woman at Accident (uncredited)
Tay Dunn	...	Man at Accident (uncredited)
William Edmunds	...	Cart Driver (uncredited)
Nestor Eristoff	...	Board Member (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Man at Accident (uncredited)
Edward Fielding	...	Board Member (uncredited)
Howard Freeman	...	Prof. Constant (voice) (uncredited)
Linda Lee Gates	...	Perot Granddaughter (uncredited)
Marie Louise Gates	...	Perot Granddaughter (uncredited)
Lisa Golm	...	Lucille (uncredited)
Ilka Grüning	...	Seamstress (uncredited)
Lumsden Hare	...	Professor Roget (uncredited)
Teddy Infuhr	...	Son (uncredited)
James Kirkwood	...	Board Member (uncredited)
Isabel La Mal	...	Woman at Accident (uncredited)
Gene Lockhart	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Miles Mander	...	Businessman (uncredited)
George Meader	...	Singing Professor (uncredited)
Dickie Meyers	...	Master Michaud (uncredited)
Noel Mills	...	Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Leo Mostovoy	...	Photographer (uncredited)
Alan Napier	...	Dr. Bladh (uncredited)
Moroni Olsen	...	President of Businessman's Board (uncredited)
Maria Page	...	Woman at Accident (uncredited)
Gigi Perreau	...	Eve at 18 Months (uncredited)
Francis Pierlot	...	Monsieur Michaud (uncredited)
Nita Pike	...	Woman at Accident (uncredited)
Dorothy Raye	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Almira Sessions	...	Madame Michaud (uncredited)
Arthur Shields	...	Businessman (uncredited)
Wyndham Standing	...	King Oscar (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Driver (uncredited)
Charles Trowbridge	...	Board Member (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff	...	Proud Papa (uncredited)
Marek Windheim	...	Jewelry Salesman (uncredited)
Frederick Worlock	...	Businessman (uncredited)
Eustace Wyatt	...	Doctor (uncredited)

Directed by
Mervyn LeRoy
Albert Lewin		(fired) (uncredited)

Writing credits
Paul Osborn		(screen play) and
Paul H. Rameau		(screen play)
Ève Curie		(based on the book "Madame Curie" by) (as Eve Curie)
Aldous Huxley		uncredited
Walter Reisch		contributing writer (uncredited)

Produced by
Sidney Franklin	....	producer
E.J. Mannix	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart		(musical score)

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Harold F. Kress		(film editor)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Irene		(costume supervision)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup creator

Production Management
Robert Cannon	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tom Andre	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Harry Beaumont	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Hugh Boswell	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Al Shenberg	....	first assistant director (uncredited)
Wallace Worsley Jr.	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Wallace Worsley Jr.	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Paul Groesse	....	associate art direction
Hugh Hunt	....	associate set decorations

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
James Hackett	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene Sharaff	....	associate costume supervisor (as Sharaff)
Gile Steele	....	costumes: men
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
William Axt	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Bronislau Kaper	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
David Snell	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Edward Ward	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Franz Waxman	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)
Eugene Zador	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
Rudolph M. Langer	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)
• Loew's (produced by) (as Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1947) (France) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• MGM/CBS Home Video  VHS package design (1990 release)
• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design (1990 release)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved (PCA #9500)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In her final years at MGM, Joan Crawford was handed weak scripts in the hopes that she'd break her contract. Two films she hungered to appear in were Random Harvest (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). Both films went to bright new star Greer Garson instead, and Crawford left the studio soon after.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Marie determines chemical composition of pitchblende, 7 minerals add to 99%, one mineral (magnesium oxide) is .99% and the "extraneous matter" of .001% all adds up to 99.991%. Presumably the mag-Ox should be .999%, otherwise, the actual extraneous matter would be 10 times greater (.01%) than Marie's stated measurement.

Quotes:

Marie Curie:To catch a star on your fingertips.

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

one of the better bio-pics of the 40s

Hollywood did a lot of biography pictures in the 1940s. Most of them were awfully good, though a little bit too idealized. Almost all were pretty entertaining. Among them, there are some standouts, such as Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet and Madame Curie. This film was reasonably faithful to her real story, though most notably Greer Garson was a tall lady and Ms. Curie was, according to everything I have read, a tiny little woman. And, thankfully, the MGM people didn't change how her husband died (such as having him survive in order to give the movie an upbeat ending). So what we have is a good primer for kids and teens about the accomplishments of this great lady.

Garson and Pigeon did a nice job--give it a try.