The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

Director:

Sidney Franklin

Writers:

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

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 | Male Female Relationship | Selfishness | Medicine | 1840s

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win

Cast

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
Allan Conrad	...	Henry Barrett
Peter Hobbes	...	Septimus Barrett
Flush	...	Himself - a Dog
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lowden Adams	...	Butler (uncredited)
Winter Hall	...	Clergyman (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
George Kirby	...	Coachman (uncredited)

Directed by
Sidney Franklin

Writing credits
Rudolph Besier		(play) (as Rudolf Besier)
Ernest Vajda		(screenplay) &
Claudine West		(screenplay) and
Donald Ogden Stewart		(screenplay)

Produced by
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Herbert Stothart		(musical score)

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Margaret Booth

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hugh Boswell	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Harry McAfee	....	associate art director
Edwin B. Willis	....	associate art director
Conrad Kahn	....	stagehand (uncredited)
Jack D. Moore	....	props (uncredited)
Hal Sausser	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
G.A. Burns	....	mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William Grimes	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Al Lane	....	second camera (uncredited)
Floyd Porter	....	gaffer (uncredited)
William Riley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Arnold Webster	....	grip (uncredited)

Other crew
Howard Dietz	....	press agent (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

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:

Remade literally word-for-word and scene-for-scene by the very same director, Sidney Franklin, and by the same studio, MGM, in 1957.

Quotes:

Elizabeth Barrett: Is that Mr. Browning over there?
Wilson: I shouldn't be at ALL surprised, Miss.

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957)

Soundtrack:

Wilt Thou Have My Hand

The earlier and better of the two films

This film was later remade by the same director twenty-three years later using nearly the same script. In fact, they are so similar that I definitely would NOT recommend you watch both--it would be way too repetitive. So, instead, I think you should watch this one. My biggest reason is I rarely like remakes unless there was something wrong with the original film and I know it takes little energy or talent to just remake an idea and script that already exist. Plus, in a case like this where two of the stars do such a great job compared to those in the remake (Charles Laughton as the over-controlling patriarch of the family instead of John Gielgud, and Frederic March as the love-struck Robert Browning instead of the totally unknown Bill Travers in the remake). I think that Jennifer Jones might have done a marginally better job than Norma Shearer in the original, but it's awfully close to tell. There have also been two made for TV versions, though I have never seen them and unless the story is much different, I have no desire to see them.

Once again, why see a re-tread when the original is a very, very good film.