Forever Amber (1947)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Kathleen Winsor (novel)
Jerome Cady (adaptation)

Release Date:

10 October 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

1660, England. Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from a country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | King Charles II | 1660s | Duel | England

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Linda Darnell	...	Amber St. Clair
Cornel Wilde	...	Bruce Carlton
Richard Greene	...	Lord Harry Almsbury
George Sanders	...	King Charles II
Glenn Langan	...	Capt. Rex Morgan
Richard Haydn	...	Earl of Radcliffe
Jessica Tandy	...	Nan Britton
Anne Revere	...	Mother Red Cap
John Russell	...	Black Jack Mallard
Jane Ball	...	Corinne Carlton
Robert Coote	...	Sir Thomas Dudley
Leo G. Carroll	...	Matt Goodgroome
Natalie Draper	...	Countess of Castlemaine
Margaret Wycherly	...	Mrs. Spong
Alma Kruger	...	Lady Redmond

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #11495, Adult Audience)

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The Catholic Legion of Decency condemned the film for its "glamorization of immorality and licentiousness", and they demanded that the studio (20th Century-Fox) make changes so they could remove the film from the condemned list. The studio defiantly refused to initially, but when the actual boycotts began to occur, the studio caved in. During a period of about two months, 20th Century-Fox and representatives of the Legion of Decency discussed how the film could be changed so as to meet Catholic approval. Among the new scenes added was a narrated prologue over the credits that said that the main character would be punished for sins, a new ending in which Amber watches Lord Carlton leave for Virginia and ends up accepting a supper invitation from the King's equerry, plus the deletion of many scenes that suggested that Amber had many lovers and the addition of new scenes to condemn her immorality. After these changes were made, the Legion of Decency took the film off of the "condemned" list and moved it to the "Class B-Objectionable in Part" listing, but the film's bookings had been severely cut due to the earlier condemnation. 20th Century-Fox president Spyros P. Skouras later apologized to the Legion, not for offending them, but for refusing to conform to them.

Quotes:

King Charles II: [to his spaniels] Children, children, what distressing behavior.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Linda Darnell: Hollywood's Fallen Angel" (1999)

Women's Lib in Merry Olde England

"You've done very well for yourself, Amber."

With this line, Cornell Wilde's character shows himself a master of understatement. It is delivered coldly, with neither criticism nor respect.

FOREVER AMBER is the portrait of a peasant girl who refused to be destroyed by her poverty and the hopeless prospects awaiting her. She used her sexuality and her brains to become the King's consort.

This film presents a vivid portrait of life in England before the Cromwellian revolution. It was an amoral, extremely cynical, heartlessly cruel society.

Linda Darnell's performance is a tour de force. She manages to play the strumpet, while letting the audience see her strength of character shining through all the while. Her love for the fickle Bruce Carlton/Cornell Wilde is too deep for him to ever understand.

One of the most haunting episodes in classic films is the depiction of London in the grip of the Black Plague. Amber risks her life by staying at Bruce's side through his delirium and personally performing the surgery that saves him.

Amber's tragedy is one that every woman who has ever had to fight for herself in this world can recognize. The movie is far more than a period soap opera. In fact, with David Raksin's incredible orchestral score, the production could have provided the framework for the composition of a real opera.... La Boheme, move over!