Madame Curie (1943)

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

Directors:

Mervyn LeRoy, Albert Lewin (uncredited)

Writers:

Paul Osborn (screen play), Hans Rameau (screen play) (as Paul H. Rameau)

Stars:

Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Henry Travers

Nominated for 7 Oscars.

Cast

Complete credited 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
May Whitty	...	Madame Eugene Curie (as Dame May Whitty)
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)

Storyline

Biopic of the famed scientist and the work she did with her husband Pierre in the discovery of radium. Marie was a student at the Sorbonne studying for her Master's degree in physics when they first met. She received permission to use space in Professor Pierre Curie's laboratory. They soon fall in love and are married, working together on trying to isolate a radioactive substance Marie has identified as radium. Years of painstaking research and experimentation led to success and Marie and Pierre Curie shared the Nobel Prize in Physics. Sadly, Pierre was killed crossing the street in the rain when he was run over by a horse and wagon. Marie continued to work and make major contributions to science.

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Plot Keywords:

waterfall | radiation | discovery | younger version of character | character name as title | 

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Taglines:

MR. and MRS. MINIVER together again

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Gigi Perreau.

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Goofs

On New Year's Eve, Pierre and Marie try to stay awake all night in an attempt to crystallize radium. At some point, they decide to take a nap. When Marie awakens, she asks Pierre the time and he says it is 5:00AM. In their laboratory, there is full daylight and one can see sunlight appearing through the windows. At the beginning of January in Paris, the sun does not rise by 5:00AM and thus, the room should have still been dark.

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Quotes

Pierre Curie: No true scientist can have anything to do with women.

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Connections

Referenced in Some of the Best: Twenty-Five Years of Motion Picture Leadership (1949)

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Soundtracks

Auprès de ma Blonde
(uncredited)
Traditional French folk song
Whistled by both Robert Walker and Walter Pidgeon

User Reviews

Garson and Pidgeon, A Perfect Fit

For their third MGM collaboration, Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson were cast as Pierre and Marie Curie in this epic biographical drama about the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in science. The Curies contribution to science was a newly discovered element radium which did nothing less than alter how we think about matter itself.

The film carries the story of Marie Curie's life when she was a young student at the Sorbonne from Poland under her maiden name of Sklodowska. The mere fact she was a student there and a brilliant one was highly unusual for women in the 19th century. Her brilliance attracts the attention of young instructor there Pierre Curie, first her mind and then her heart.

Pierre and Marie Curie seem such a perfect fit for each other mainly because Pidgeon and Garson worked so well together on screen. Both got nominations for Best Actor and Actress for 1943, repeating what they had done for Mrs. Miniver in 1942. This was Pidgeon's second and last nomination. They lost to Paul Lukas and Jennifer Jones in their respective categories. The film itself was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Casablanca.

What I like most about Madame Curie is that you don't need a degree in physics to understand what's happening. The actors, the direction by Mervyn LeRoy and the script all are at their best.

Look for up and coming MGM stalwarts like Robert Walker and Van Johnson to play brief roles. Easy to tell why both became stars.

I think Madame Curie and her husband would both have liked the way they were portrayed in this film.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

February 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Curie-Skłodowska

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1