Forever Amber (1947)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Kathleen Winsor (novel)
Jerome Cady (adaptation)

Release Date:

10 October 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

1660, England. Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from a country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | King Charles II | 1660s | Duel | England

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Linda Darnell	...	Amber St. Clair
Cornel Wilde	...	Bruce Carlton
Richard Greene	...	Lord Harry Almsbury
George Sanders	...	King Charles II
Glenn Langan	...	Capt. Rex Morgan
Richard Haydn	...	Earl of Radcliffe
Jessica Tandy	...	Nan Britton
Anne Revere	...	Mother Red Cap
John Russell	...	Black Jack Mallard
Jane Ball	...	Corinne Carlton
Robert Coote	...	Sir Thomas Dudley
Leo G. Carroll	...	Matt Goodgroome
Natalie Draper	...	Countess of Castlemaine
Margaret Wycherly	...	Mrs. Spong
Alma Kruger	...	Lady Redmond

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #11495, Adult Audience)

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The Catholic Legion of Decency condemned the film for its "glamorization of immorality and licentiousness", and they demanded that the studio (20th Century-Fox) make changes so they could remove the film from the condemned list. The studio defiantly refused to initially, but when the actual boycotts began to occur, the studio caved in. During a period of about two months, 20th Century-Fox and representatives of the Legion of Decency discussed how the film could be changed so as to meet Catholic approval. Among the new scenes added was a narrated prologue over the credits that said that the main character would be punished for sins, a new ending in which Amber watches Lord Carlton leave for Virginia and ends up accepting a supper invitation from the King's equerry, plus the deletion of many scenes that suggested that Amber had many lovers and the addition of new scenes to condemn her immorality. After these changes were made, the Legion of Decency took the film off of the "condemned" list and moved it to the "Class B-Objectionable in Part" listing, but the film's bookings had been severely cut due to the earlier condemnation. 20th Century-Fox president Spyros P. Skouras later apologized to the Legion, not for offending them, but for refusing to conform to them.

Quotes:

King Charles II: [to his spaniels] Children, children, what distressing behavior.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shag (1989)

Not That Bad

I was in my local library one day, looking for a Joan Crawford movie (FORSAKING ALL OTHERS), when FOREVER AMBER caught my eye. "Oh!" I thought. "I saw this on Amazon before! Ooooh, Richard Greene!!! Looks interesting! Why don't I watch this instead?" So I did. (Somebody else had checked out FORSAKING ALL OTHERS.) It was just a regular grand Technicolor flick until Linda Darnell (Amber) started falling for Cornel Wilde. I kept on thinking, "Why does she like HIM? He's boooring!! And he can't even act that well!" It just wasn't that believable. It's a bit like LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN in the way that you can't really accept the fact that Gene Tierney is crazy in love over Cornel, too. I kept on wishing that Linda was going to fall in love with Richard Greene (he played Cornel's friend in the movie, Sir Harry Almsbury), a favorite actor of mine. Now, that I could believe, because he was actually HOT and very debonair and swashbuck-ly, too! He kind of looks like Robert Taylor. (:D) FOX should've switched the roles between Cornel and Richard. However the movie was exciting and moved at a fast pace, though the ending was a bit vague and abrupt. Full of sword fights, illicit affairs, beautiful Technicolor, great/okay acting, MARVELOUS costumes, and even murder. Linda did get annoying at sometimes because all she seems to care about is Cornel, Cornel, Cornel!! And if you ask me, his character was a rat, as I judged from the ending. I think the most interesting character was the thieving nurse who came to help Linda take care of Cornel while he was sick. She acted very well and her character sure got her just deserts in the end! I liked the guys who played Linda's lovers, and all of them were better looking than Cornel, save for Richard Haydn. FOREVER AMBER is a great/okay period drama from Hollywood's Golden Age and I really recommend it. I'd rate it 6 ½ out of 10. I also recommend LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, a great, lavish thriller with an ah-mazing performance by Gene Tierney.