Hard to understand why there hasn’t been more interest shown in this movie. It’s a very compelling film and I think one of Fontaine’s best performances. Would have loved to have seen more of the fire and passion she shows in some of her other roles.
shareI saw this after it was first played on TCM last week (actually having dvr'd it). I thought Joan Fontaine was excellent in it, and note that it was a fairly large success when it first came out. Why then the lack of interest today?
I think it is due to an ironic set of two circumstances. One is, whether or not one agrees with IMDb's chosen reviewer on it, that the internal conflict in Powers's thinking has no resonance today. This is not only because WWII from the Allied's perspective is virtually universally seen as a "good war", but more specifically that the nature of his concerns related to the English aristocracy and class system have largely, if not completely, been substantially altered. So that is one thing.
The other somewhat ironically can be seen as opposing teh above assessment, and that specifically concerns the rather overtly patriotic "speeches" that are in the film, especially Joan's wonderfully acted but in content somewhat seemingly today over the top explication of the reasons why all Englishmen should support the war effort and all that. It sounds rather anachronistic, even if that is unfair.
I did find the IMDb's reviewer to be rather beside the point. I don't think this film was intended to be a primer on how the countryside was "really" being policed and how rationing was working, for example. and complaints about the accents??? This movie was made with several English actors working in Hollywood at the time, but many in the supporting cast (not to mention Powers himself) were American. How else were they to make the film at that time? I mean really...
But it is a hidden gem, and I thought Joan's portrayal was of a character quite different than in her two previous films, answering those carping critics here who claim she was usually typecast into similar roles. Great performance on her part, and as usual she was stunningly beautiful.
I love Joan but have not seen this film yet. I also have not seen "The Constant Nymph." Yes, she is stunningly beautiful.
I thought that, perhaps, her best performance was in "Letter From an Unknown Woman." She was 31 years old but played the part of a 14 year old girl to perfection. Then she played the part of an 18 year old young woman to perfection. Of course, she had no problem playing the part of a 29 or 30 year old woman as that was her actual age.