Afbeelding auteur

Claudine West (1890–1943)

Auteur van Mrs. Miniver [1942 film]

7+ Werken 251 Leden 10 Besprekingen

Werken van Claudine West

Mrs. Miniver [1942 film] (1942) — Screenwriter — 113 exemplaren
Random Harvest [1942 film] (1942) — Screenwriter — 52 exemplaren
Goodbye, Mr. Chips [1939 film] (1939) — Screenwriter — 42 exemplaren
The Mortal Storm [1940 film] (1940) — Screenwriter — 19 exemplaren
Marie Antoinette [1938 film] (1938) — Screenwriter — 13 exemplaren
The Barretts of Wimpole Street [1934 film] (1934) — Screenwriter — 8 exemplaren
The White Cliffs of Dover [1944 film] (1944) — Screenwriter — 4 exemplaren

Gerelateerde werken

20 Best Film Plays (1943) — Medewerker — 16 exemplaren
Payment Deferred [1932 film] (1932) — Screenplay — 2 exemplaren

Tagged

Algemene kennis

Geboortedatum
1890-01-16
Overlijdensdatum
1943-04-11
Graflocatie
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California, USA
Geslacht
female
Nationaliteit
UK
Geboorteplaats
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, UK
Plaats van overlijden
Beverly Hills, California, USA
Woonplaatsen
Beverly Hills, California, USA
Beroepen
screenwriter
novelist
Organisaties
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Prijzen en onderscheidingen
Academy Award (1942)
Korte biografie
Claudine West, born in Nottingham, England, was a novelist and screenwriter who moved to Hollywood in 1929. She was employed by MGM on many films, including some of their biggest productions of the late 1930s and early 1940s. She frequently wrote scripts in European settings, including the British-themed films Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), Random Harvest (1942), and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944). She was nominated three times for an Academy Award, winning in 1942 for her screenplay for the World War II drama Mrs. Miniver.

Leden

Besprekingen

This beautiful production from the early 1930s of a dark shadow hanging over the promise of glorious love and happiness is one of Norma Shearer’s loveliest performances. The romance between poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett was filmed with a class and meticulous care only MGM could muster. Under Sidney Franklin’s direction, William Daniels’ photography, and the period flourish provided by Cedric Gibbons, this became one of the greatest romantic dramas ever to be filmed.

Shearer loses her considerable modern slinky charm and projects a luminous class as Elizabeth Barrett, a shining soul living with illness in a house strangled of love by her cruel and repressed father. Charles Laughton plays the role to quite horrible perfection. Elizabeth’s only lifeline is her correspondence with fellow poet Robert Browning. He has fallen in love with her through her letters. She is hesitant to meet him, however, because of her health and her father’s demeanor.

When they finally overcome that hurdle and meet it is an infectious hurricane of joy and optimism embracing life which restores Elizabeth’s spirits, and begins to restore her health. Fredric March is marvelous in a role you would not normally expect from him. Browning’s overwhelming lust for life, and his love for Elizabeth must battle the cruel oppression of her father, who rules his home and his daughters therein as though love were an evil thing. His own unhappiness and repression is revealed bit by bit as the film progresses, until Elizabeth must decide what kind of life she will live, and whether she will repeat the mistakes of her mother.

So lovely and charming is the performance of Maureen O'Sullivan as Elizabeth’s younger sister Henrietta, herself trying to find love under a roof full of fear and hatred, that only Shearer’s magical presence is able to shift the focus from her plight. Una O’Connor is also fabulous as Elizabeth’s servant, whose unquestioned devotion will be needed when the temptation to actually live becomes too strong for the sisters to ignore.

Shearer is simply breathtaking here, giving a restrained yet emotional performance that probably would have garnered her another Academy Award had “It Happened One Night” not been filmed by Frank Capra the same year. This is a lush and romantic film, beautifully shot and acted. Everything is perfect, right down to Elizabeth’s dog, Flush. It takes a little while to develop, but those who keep watching are richly rewarded with one of the great romances of the silver screen. A beautiful film of love truly being all.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
Matt_Ransom | Nov 27, 2023 |
“My life began with you. I can't imagine a future without you.” — Smithy

This gentle spring blossom to true love is one of the most beautifully rendered romances ever filmed. It is pure and untarnished, a reminder that love begins in the heart, eclipsing all other things, and is all in life that truly matters. Mervyn LeRoy was a fine studio director who made some memorable films, many now considered screen classics. The romanticist fingerprints of Sidney Franklin, however, give strong evidence that as producer, he and LeRoy worked closely to make this film one of the loveliest of any decade. Having directed Smilin’ Through in 1932, starring Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard, he is in fact responsible for two of the most exquisite love stories spanning two decades.

James Hilton’s tale of a shell-shocked WWI veteran unable to remember and the years of ghost-ridden love that follow is touchingly realized by Ronald Colman and Greer Garson. They make a story that spans years so terribly involving that this film becomes a part of the viewer carried in their hearts long after the final credits. The kind of old-fashioned love between Colman and Garson is so rare in our time it has a nostalgic quality, a reminder of how love used to be, and still is, for a lucky few. Colman is magnificent, small gestures and haunted looks capturing the efforts of an anguished man trying to somehow put together the voices and whispers of memories as they drift like snowflakes though his mind and heart, only to have them dissolve into nothingness as he reaches out to catch them.

Greer Garson is remarkable in one of her finest performances. Her devotion and tender caring, trying to hang around just on the chance someone might one day remember her, is so utterly real it tugs at the heartstrings. She is lovely and wistful, alluring and charming, and makes anyone viewing Random Harvest wish for such love and devotion, or be thankful if they are among the rare few who possess something so valuable. A lovely score from Herbert Stothart and the lush photography of Joseph Ruttenberg frame Colman and Garson against a background full of small but perfect details; a romantic refrain or snow falling outside a windowpane during a tender moment making magic in the darknesss. There are great classic films as lovely, many of which I've seen and commented on, but none which surpass this one. It is a long and beautiful love letter to love and devotion.

Hilton’s story, adapted to the screen by Claudine West, George Froeschel and Arthur Wimperis begins in the autumn of 1919 at an asylum with a military wing for shattered minds of the war to end all wars. Colman is the traumatized soldier who barely speaks, an amnesiac longing just to belong to someone, and knowing he doesn't belong there. In the excitement and wild frenzy created by the armistice, he simply walks out one night and escapes. It is in a tobacco shop that he first meets the kind and sweet Paula, who helps him dodge those out to take him back as she falls in love with her Smithy. He also falls in love with the music-hall angel, and when her friends don’t understand, wanting to send him back too, she runs away with her Smithy and they start a new life.

It is a beautiful display of faith and love, her tender devotion healing his broken and lost spirit as they find their own happiness. He begins to write, and proposes once he feels useful again. A key to the cottage where their happiness abounded is the only tangible item connecting him to that world, however, after a car accident causes him to remember who he was, and forget his Paula. Charles Ranier has a good life, but knows something is missing, if only he could remember…

Garson is simply wonderful here, deciding to accept on the chance that even if he doesn’t remember, he will fall in love with her all over again. Young Susan Peters is also enchanting as Kitty, a young woman who adores Charles but begs off their marriage when she realizes he is haunted by a ghost of which she only reminds him. It is tender and touching, and you realize what a great film this is by the emotional depth of it. There are no wasted scenes or feelings in this film; it is all part of a beautiful mosaic to be seen with the eyes but also felt by the heart.

When it becomes too much for Paula to pretend anymore, to hang onto that slender hope, she goes on a long vacation, revisiting the old places where they were once so happy. The ending rewards our hearts with a lasting memory of love shared by all who watch this loveliest of films.

A fabulous supporting cast inculdes Philip Dorn, Henry Travers, Reginald Owen and Una O’Conner. But it is Ronald Colman and Greer Garson who are unforgettable as Smithy and Paula. Truly one of the great films of all time, with a warmth and tenderness rarely captured on film.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
Matt_Ransom | 1 andere bespreking | Nov 22, 2023 |
A veteran of World War I marries and settles happily into a tidy, humble life until an accident brings back memories of a former life of wealth and privilege while blocking all recollection of his existence since the war. Thus one man disappears, and another man long missing turns up and claims his vast inheritance. What does his devoted wife, whom he no longer recognizes, do? (fonte: Imdb)
 
Gemarkeerd
MemorialeSardoShoah | 1 andere bespreking | May 22, 2023 |
In un villaggio inglese, la signora Miniver vede partire suo marito e il maggiore dei suoi figli per la guerra. Il villaggio viene bombardato, ma gli abitanti non si lasciano avvilire. Un mitragliamento, però, uccide la fidanzata del figlio. (fonte: Wikipedia)
 
Gemarkeerd
MemorialeSardoShoah | 1 andere bespreking | Jun 25, 2020 |

Lijsten

Prijzen

Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk

Gerelateerde auteurs

Statistieken

Werken
7
Ook door
2
Leden
251
Populariteit
#91,086
Waardering
3.8
Besprekingen
10
ISBNs
20

Tabellen & Grafieken