That Forsyte Woman (1949)

Love among the Forsytes is strange, full of tradition, melancholy and gold digging in this film treatise on Victorian-age rigidity and vestiges of a flawed society.

Director:

Compton Bennett

Writers:

John Galsworthy (based on book I of "The Forsyte Saga" by), Jan Lustig (screen play)

Stars:

Errol Flynn, Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Errol Flynn	...	Soames Forsyte
Greer Garson	...	Irene Forsyte
Walter Pidgeon	...	Young Jolyon Forsyte
Robert Young	...	Philip Bosinney
Janet Leigh	...	June Forsyte
Harry Davenport	...	Old Jolyon Forsyte
Aubrey Mather	...	James Forsyte
Gerald Oliver Smith	...	Wilson
Lumsden Hare	...	Roger Forsyte
Stanley Logan	...	Swithin Forsyte
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Nicholas Forsyte
Matt Moore	...	Timothy Forsyte
Florence Auer	...	Ann Forsyte Heyman
Phyllis Morris	...	Julia Forsyte Small
Marjorie Eaton	...	Hester Forsyte

Storyline

Soames and Irene Forsyte have a marriage of convenience. Young Jolyon Forsyte is a black sheep who ran away with the maid after his wife's death. Teenager June Forsyte has found love with an artist, Phillip Bosinny. The interactions between the Forsytes and the people and society around them is the truss for this love story set in the rigid and strict times of the Victorian age.

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Plot Keywords:

marriage | black sheep | artist | architect | redheaded woman | 

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Taglines:

this is the story of that Forsyte woman and the men who were such fools about her!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 November 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Forsyte Saga

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Gross USA:

$3,710,000, 31 December 1949

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally Pidgeon was cast as Soames and Flynn as young Jolyon, but the actors felt they wanted to go against type and agreed to switch roles.

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Goofs

In an era of corset-wearing ladies there is a scene where Irene confronts Soames in his office about going on vacation. Garson is dressed in a Victorian nightgown and robe but in various scenes of her seated her bra straps are visible.

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Quotes

Irene Forsyte: [Seeing Soames for the first time in years in a Parisian gallery] Five years! It's quite a long time! How is London?
Soames Forsyte: [Sadly] Just as gray as ever. Perhaps a little grayer... now.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Greer Garson (1961)

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Soundtracks

The Lancer's Quadrilles: La Dorset
Composed by Spagnoletti
[the first dance at June's ball]

User Reviews

Galsworthy Gets the Glossy MGM Treatment

I'm not surprised that many viewers find this film frustrating, particularly those unfamiliar with the novels or the later TV adaptations - coming to this film with such knowledge definitely helps one be more charitable towards it.

THAT FORSYTE WOMAN is one of MGM's "prestige" literary productions, tackling the first novel of one of Britain's most beloved series of novels by one of its most beloved authors, John Galsworthy. It's another well-executed, professional MGM effort. Yet it's another strange choice for MGM (as was THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY earlier in the decade), since in this case the story's main plot is an adulterous affair,casting its two leading players (Flynn and Garson) very much 'against type' - one can't blame Flynn for being willing, but I'd like to know just exactly which MGM executive thought to cast Greer Garson as the adulteress! The lady was simply too likable!

These are complex characters, and it actually took Galsworthy 6 novels to reveal them fully to the reader. Neither Soames nor Irene (the Garson role) are particularly likable in the first novel - both seem selfish and willful, but the reader ultimately comes to understand both of them better (although Galsworthy never really does give a satisfactory reason for Irene's loathing of Soames).

MGM originally produced the film under the title THE FORSYTE SAGA (I have a copy of the movie tie-in edition of the novel published by Scribners in 1949)) but, since the film was merely a slice of the Saga anyway, they changed the title to the more catchy THAT FORSYTE WOMAN emphasizing Irene's 'fast' nature. It remained THE FORSYTE SAGA in the UK.

One has to admire MGM's ambitious attempt, but let's face it, they'd really bitten off more than they could chew: THE FORSYTE SAGA was too big, too rich, and too multi-layered for one film. Rather, it was a work destined for success in another medium which was still in its infancy - television, in a format to which its breadth, length and varied cast of characters would be perfectly suited - the "mini-series", for which it would provide the pioneer effort with spectacular success in the late 1960s.