Brief Encounter (1945)

A suburban woman of Milford, England, Laura (Celia Johnson) once a week travels to the city where, after shopping, she  watches a film at a cinema, returning by the evening train to her conventional marriage and two children. Much of the story centers around the small tearoom, and it's mostly comical residents, near the train's waiting platform, wherein traveller's sip tea and munch on pastries.

On one such visit, Laura stands on the platform when another train, not stopping there, passes, throwing a small cinder into her eye. Inside the tearoom she asks for a glass a water to wash her eye free of the painful bit of grit, whereupon a man, Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), stands up to help, noting that he is a doctor.

This simple event is almost forgotten until the following week the two run into each other again, this time at a busy restaurant where almost every table is taken. Accordingly, the two share a table and, later, an afternoon at the movie house. Charmed by the idealistic doctor, Laura intrigues the married Alec with her strong sense of self and her easy laugh (as he later puts it: "I love you. I love your wide eyes, the way you smile, your shyness, and the way you laugh at my jokes"). Feeling a bit guilty, the couple furtively make plans to repeat their outing the next week, but this time the doctor, who fills in once a week at the local hospital for a friend, does not show up until Laura is at the tearoom at the train station, where he hurriedly explains his absence as his train, travelling in the opposite direction as hers, arrives. The two again plan an outing the next week.

Their next venture together, a comical boating trip downstream, quickly develops into a furtive relationship, in which they both admit their love for one another. When they take a drive into the country on this penultimate meeting, however, he purposely misses his train, intending to stay at his doctor-friend's flat, into which he invites her. She refuses, returning to the station and her voyage back to Milford, but at the very last moment, rushes from her train, running through the rain to the flat in which she has left Alec. At almost the same instant she arrives, however, the friend returns early, so that she is forced to rush out the back entrance, ashamed for what has almost occurred.

 

 

Realising the impossibility of their relationship, and the dark consequences arising in both their relationships with their spouses, he announces upon their final meeting that he will be travelling with his family to Africa, and will never see her again. Painfully, they sit together in the tearoom—which, in fact, has been the very first scene of the film—awaiting perhaps a tender goodbye, until one of Laura's chattering, suburban friends enters, and the two are unable to say anything. When Alec's train arrives he has no option but to tenderly squeeze her shoulder before disappearing forever, Laura rushing out of the tearoom as another train passes, possibly intending suicide to squelch what she describes:

 

"I had no thoughts at all, only an overwhelming desire not feel anything ever again."

 

She returns, however, to the tearoom, riding home with her incessantly chatting friend to suffer out the night, as she mentally repeats the events to her seemingly unaware husband, as he studies a crossword puzzle. As they are about to go up to bed, he approaches:

Fred Jesson: "You've been a long way away."

Laura Jesson. "Yes."
Fred Jesson: "Thank you for coming back to me."

 

 

 

Brief Encounter is one of the most poignant films I have seen.  I love it! :) xx

  

  

  

    

'HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS.'

A wonderful Christmas song! I love Judy Garland! :)

Meet Me In St. Louis 1944- The Trolley Song

I love this song. It makes me feel happy. xx

Song of the Day - The Boy Next Door from Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)

Another song from one of my favourite musicals!! :) xx

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier

 

 

This story begins with a very discontented wife fleeing her useless dissipated idle life in London's high society. She packs her children and her children' s nurse into her coach and off they rush to a small country estate in Cornwall. She is disgusted with her former life, she is bored by her dim witted but doting husband. She finds herself gradually relaxing and is intrigued by her rather singular servant.

 

She is paid a visit by the local bigwig Lord Godolphin who tells her that they have been plagued in previous months by a very daring French pirate whom none can seem to catch. Donna gets rid of Lord Godolphin and tells William, her servant to say to any other visitors that she is ill, mad, or out. She really doesn't to want to see anyone. On a walk through the grounds one day she explores the woods nearby and finds a creek so well hidden from view that no one has even suspected it was there. As the creek widens she follows the bank and around the bend she comes across a ship moored. She is captured and is taken on board where she meets the Frenchman. It is the beginning of her romance and adventure.

 

I read this book in July 2013 whilst I was on holiday in Cornwall. I loved every minute of the novel and I kept wistfully looking out to sea imaging the white sails of La Mouette coming towards me and Jean-Benoit Aubéry, the charming and romantic pirate, falling in love with me and whisking me away to France with him. Sigh...

 

 



 

 

Adam's Rib (1949)

 

 

 Doris Attinger (Judy Holliday) follows her husband (Tom Ewell) with a gun one day and sees that he is having an affair with another woman (Jean Hagen). In her rage, she fires at the couple multiple times. One of the bullets hits her husband in the arm.

 
The following morning, married lawyers, Adam and Amanda Bonner (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) read about the incident in the newspaper. The two argue over the case; Amanda sympathizes with the girl, particularly noting the double standard that exists for men and women regarding adultery, while Adam thinks she is guilty of attempted murder. When Adam arrives at work, he finds that he has been assigned the case (on the side of the prosecution). When Amanda hears this, she seeks out Doris and, to Adam's dismay, becomes her defense lawyer.

 

 

 

Amanda bases her case on the belief that women and men are equal, and that Doris had been forced into the situation through her husband's poor treatment. Adam feels she is showing a disregard for the law as there should never be an excuse for such behavior. Tension increasingly builds at home as the couple battle each other in court. The situation comes to a head when Amanda humiliates Adam during the trial, having her female witness pick him up, and Adam later storms out of their house. When the verdict for the trial comes in, Amanda's plea to the jury to "judge this case as you would if the sexes were reversed" proves successful, and Doris is found not guilty.

 

 

 

That night, Adam sees Amanda and their neighbor Kip (David Wayne), who has shown a clear interest in Amanda, together through the window. He breaks into the apartment, pointing a gun at the pair. Amanda is horrified, and says to Adam "You've no right to do this, nobody does!", which satisfies Adam as he feels he has proven his point about the injustice of Amanda's line of defense. He then puts the gun in his mouth, to which Amanda and Kip scream, but Adam merely bites down on it—the gun was made of liquorice.  Amanda is furious with this prank, and a three-way fight ensues.

 

The couple is reluctantly reunited for a meeting with their accountant, where they talk about their relationship in the past tense. They soon become sad when talking about the farm they own, and realize how they love each other. They go to the farm, where Adam announces that he has been selected as the Republican nominee for County Court Judge. Amanda jokes about running for the role as the Democratic candidate.

 

 

 

I love this comedy.  Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey are brilliant together! :) xx

The Heiress (1949)

 

 

Olivia de Havilland won an Oscar, for her portrayal of the title character, Catherine Sloper, in 1949′s The Heiress, and if you want to see another side of this lovely actress, I definitely recommend this movie.

 

Miss Sloper is a plain, unaccomplished young lady living with her father, a wealthy doctor (Ralph Richardson) in New York during the mid-19th century. Despite having all the best schooling, Catherine is shy, unskilled in social graces, dancing, music … in short, all the things that young ladies were supposed to be able to do at that time. She is a constant disappointment to her father, who despairs of ever finding her a husband. More importantly, he compares her to her dead mother, and finds her extremely lacking. Catherine seems unaware of his disappointment, though, and remains blindly faithful to him, and not unhappy with her rather reclusive lifestyle.

All of that changes when she meets handsome Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift), who immediately shows a preference for Catherine, and very soon sweeps her off her feet. Her father, given his negative opinion of his daughter, believes Townsend to be a fortune hunter, as Catherine will be very wealthy upon his own death. What ensues is a power struggle between Dr. Sloper and his daughter as she learns to stand on her own feet and makes plans to marry the man she loves. The big question, though, is whether or not he really loves her … or her money. 

 

 

The Heiress is a taut, emotional film with excellent performances. Each of the characters move through a variety of stages over the course of the film: we see Richardson indulge his daughter, then take control of her; he sometimes seems to acknowledge his dislike for her, but ultimately contends that his actions are out of love.  

Montgomery Clift does a truly remarkable job with the character of Townsend; one moment you’re sure he’s just a cad out for Catherine’s money, and the next moment you think maybe you’ve misjudged him, and he really does care for her. Both of these actors strike the fine balance necessary to showcase the flaws in their characters, and to keep the plot and the emotional tension of the movie running tight and high.

Olivia de Havilland, though, is a revelation. It’s hard to describe the transformation of her character without giving too much of the plot away, but I’ll do my best. In the beginning, Catherine is a loving, obedient daughter, content with life. She’s not at all unhappy with not being the belle of the ball. After she meets Morris, she is a young woman in love, capricious and emotional, and torn between her feelings for her lover and her duty to her father. What comes after, though, is something altogether removed from either of those aspects. She becomes a tower of strength, but at the same time, something so fragile that you fear she might burst apart at any moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all, if you like classic films, you should definitely give this one a try!  It's another favourite of mine! :) xx

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

Jim Blandings (Grant), a bright account executive in the advertising business, lives with his wife Muriel (Loy) and two daughters in a cramped New York apartment. Muriel secretly plans to remodel their apartment. After rejecting this idea, Jim Blandings comes across an ad for new homes in Connecticut and they get excited about moving.

Planning to purchase and "fix up" an old home, the couple contact a real estate agent, who uses them to unload "The Old Hackett Place" in fictional Lansdale County, Connecticut. It is a dilapidated, two hundred-year-old farmhouse. Blandings purchases the property for more than the going rate for land in the area, provoking his friend/lawyer Bill Cole (Douglas) to chastise him for following his heart rather than his head.

The old house, dating from the Revolutionary War-era, turns out to be structurally unsound and has to be torn down. The Blandings hire architect Simms (Reginald Denny) to design and supervise the construction of the new home. From the original purchase to the new house's completion, a long litany of unforeseen troubles and setbacks beset the hapless Blandings and delay their moving-in date.

 

 

On top of all this, at work Jim is assigned the task of coming up with a slogan for "WHAM"-brand ham, an advertising account that has destroyed the careers of previous account executives assigned to it.

Jim also suspects that Muriel is cheating on him with Bill Cole after Bill slept at the Blandings' alone in the house with Muriel one night due to a violent thunderstorm.

With mounting pressure, skyrocketing expenses, and his new assignment, Jim starts to wonder why he wanted to live in the country. The Blandings' maid Gussie provides Blandings with the perfect WHAM slogan, and he saves his job. As the film ends, Bill Cole says that he realizes that some things "you do buy with your heart."

 

 

A funny and charming film! xx