The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

Director:

Sidney Franklin

Writers:

Rudolph Besier (play)
Ernest Vajda (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

21 September 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

When poets love, Heaven and Earth fall back to watch!

Plot:

Elizabeth Barrett's tyrannical father has forbidden any of his family to marry. Nevertheless, Elizabeth falls in love with the poet Robert Browning.

Plot Keywords:

Poet | Father Daughter Relationship | Wimpole Street London | Horse And Carriage | Maid

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Norma Shearer	...	Elizabeth Barrett
Fredric March	...	Robert Browning
Charles Laughton	...	Edward Moulton-Barrett
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Henrietta Barrett
Katharine Alexander	...	Arabel Barrett
Ralph Forbes	...	Captain Surtees Cook
Marion Clayton Anderson	...	Bella Hedley (as Marion Clayton)
Ian Wolfe	...	Harry Bevan
Ferdinand Munier	...	Dr. Chambers
Una O'Connor	...	Wilson
Leo G. Carroll	...	Dr. Ford-Waterlow (as Leo Carroll)
Vernon Downing	...	Octavius Barrett
Neville Clark	...	Charles Barrett
Matthew Smith	...	George Barrett
Robert Carleton	...	Alfred Barrett

Also Known As:

Forbidden Alliance (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

109 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (PCA #146) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The Barretts of Wimpole Street opened at the Empire Theater (New York) on February 9, 1931 and ran for 370 performances. The opening night cast included Katharine Cornell as Elizabeth Barrett, Brian Aherne as Robert Browning and Charles Waldron as Edward Moulton-Barrett. There were 2 Broadway revivals, in 1935 and 1945, also starring Cornell and Aherne in both. Flush, a Dog, was in all 3 productions, as well as in this movie and the 1957 remake, but they were probably at least two different dogs.

Quotes:

Elizabeth Barrett: Robert, have you ever thought that my strength may break down on the journey?
Robert Browning: It had occurred to me, yes.
Elizabeth Barrett: Supposing I were to die on your hands?
Robert Browning: Are you afraid, Ba?
Elizabeth Barrett: Afraid. You should know that I would rather die with you beside me than live a hundred lives without you. But how would you feel if I were to die? And what would the world say of you?
Robert Browning: I should be branded as a little better than a murderer. What I should feel... I leave you to imagine.
Elizabeth Barrett: And yet you ask me to come with you?
Robert Browning: Yes. I am prepared to risk your life, much more my own, to get you out of that dreadful house and into the sun and to have you for my wife.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Unusual Occupations (1937/III)

Soundtrack:

Little Brown Jug

A Difficult Romance

The beautiful Canadian actress Norma Shearer starred in this tense and unusual love story based on the true-life romance of Elizabeth Barrett and the poet Robert Browning. Charles Laughton's performance as her possessive and pathologically jealous father was one of the finest in his outstanding career. Although incest was the film's unspoken subtext, contemporary sensitivities prevented it from being spelt-out. That was not to deter Laughton who famously remarked that though they could prevent him from speaking of it, they could not censor the glint in his eye! An outstanding film.