La vie passionnée des soeurs Brontë

"Devotion" was filmed in 1943 but not released until 1946. This was Olivia DeHavilland's final picture with Warner Bros. Studios. She had an ongoing battle with the studio over quality scripts and was suspended several times for her refusal to work in second rate productions. She eventually won her case and had her contract "fulfilled" in court. This was the beginning of the end of the studio-contract system. Bette Davis had begun this war with Warner Bros in 1937, leaving the studio and causing a battle in court. Davis won the battle (getting superior scripts from 1938 onward) but Olivia won the war. Olivia continued as an independent into remarkable projects from the mid 1940's and onward, never to be shackled with chains to a long-term contract again. Hollywood owes her a debt of gratitude.

Romanticized account of the life of the Brontes with particular emphasis of course on older sisters Charlotte and Emily. It's slow moving at times and should not be relied upon for historical accuracy but, of its kind, it's fairly well done and entertaining. Olivia de Havilland (looking very pretty) is the imperious and ambitious Charlotte, aggressively courting literary success, while Ida Lupino, as Emily, remains at home, engaging in fanciful reverie and harboring a secret passion for the local clergyman. Both offer strong, capable performances. (It's been said that de Havilland, who had been fighting with Warner Brothers over better scripts, was given third billing as punishment by studio chief Jack Warner. By the time the film was released, in 1946, she had successfully sued the studio for release from her contract and would go on to win two Oscars as Best Actress). Nancy Coleman has the thankless role of younger sister Anne, Arthur Kennedy is their dissolute brother Branwell (his self-destructiveness is never adequately explained and simply becomes tedious after a while) and Paul Henreid is the Reverend Arthur Nichols, the object of Emily's unrequited affection (a contrivance thought up by the screenwriter). With Sydney Greenstreet as the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray and Montagu Love, Ethel Griffies, Victor Francen, Odette Myrtil and Dame May Witty.

Devotion is purportedly the story of the talented Bronte sisters, Emily who wrote Wuthering Heights, Charlotte who wrote Jane Eyre and Anne who really didn't do too much of anything. They are played respectively by Ida Lupino, Olivia DeHavilland and Nancy Coleman. Literary scholars aren't crazy about this film from a historical perspective, still it's good entertainment and provides some really good parts for women.

The Bronte sisters live in Yorkshire near the famous moors that served as the background for their literary effort with their father Montagu Love who is a vicar. For his time he's a pretty liberal sort of fellow who insists on an education for his daughters. But his real concern is his dissolute son Branwell played by Arthur Kennedy. He's a painter and a misunderstood genius. Truth be told he's a bit of a lout as well, but his sisters love him.

This film has such an odd history it was made in 1943-44 and held up deliberately by the brothers Warner while Olivia DeHavilland was in court with them over her contract. She won the case and left to freelance, but the film stayed on the shelf until 1946 when DeHavilland got rave reviews for To Each His Own which garnered her first Oscar. After that Jack Warner being the practical sort decided spite was not a luxury he could indulge in and he released Devotion to cash in on Olivia's new found box office.

Because of that this film became the farewell performance of Montagu Love who played a great variety of parts going back to the early silent days.

Paul Henreid is in this as well as the young curate assigned to Love's parish. His Viennese accent crops out occasionally during the film, making him sound a bit odd for an English clergyman. Still he does a fine job.

Lupino and DeHavilland are a well matched pair of sisters. But acting honors definitely go to Arthur Kennedy. It's an expansive part that Kennedy makes the most of. Viewers will also enjoy Sydney Greenstreet in a small part as William Makepeace Thackerey who encourages the Brontes in their literary careers.

Even if it was a belated release, Devotion was a great film for Olivia DeHavilland to wrap up her stormy career at Warner Brothers.

Ida Lupino is Emily Bronte, and Olivia de Havilland is Charlotte Bronte in "Devotion," a 1946 film, made in 1943 and shelved, which tells the story of the two sisters, their sister Anne, and their brother Branwell (Arthur Kennedy).

In essence, the Bronte sisters led sad, miserable, and short lives - there was nothing romantic about the moors, as much as they seem so in the Bronte books. The sisters enjoyed poor health, their brother was a disgrace, and their father a cold man with a violent temper.

Only with the entrance of their aunt into their lives was much attention paid to them. She was a warm woman who saw to their education and gave them structure.

What the Bronte sisters had was imagination, and plenty of it, and they exercised their imaginations with their writings.

"Devotion" is a lovely film with a wonderful performance by Ida Lupino as the tragic Emily. Olivia de Havilland does a good job as Charlotte, shown in the film as selfish and a man magnet.

In truth, she was ugly and considered herself so, and while she did develop a crush on Constantin Heger (Victor Francen), the affection doesn't seem to have been returned.

All of Charlotte's success happened after Emily's death, not where it does in the film, and the reason the girls left school was not because of their brother's illness, but because of their aunt's death.

The eternally underrated Arthur Kennedy is excellent as Branwell, shown here as only a drunk. Branwell did have several jobs, none of which he kept, had an affair with an older married woman, which was an open scandal, and is suspected of eating opium as well as drinking. However, it is true that Charlotte was angry with him.

Charlotte did marry Nicholls (and died eight months later) but there was no love triangle with Emily. Nor was Nicholls, as in the film, the model for the mysterious, romantic men in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. The fact that this love triangle is represented as inspiration for the men in their novels in "Devotion" is a good case for Paul Henried being miscast.

The movie was made during the war, when there were no men around, and Warner Brothers would never have given a star like Errol Flynn a supporting role. But the role of Nicholls, given his importance in the film, cried out for someone a little more dashing and handsome.

Sydney Greenstreet appears as William Thackery in a small but showy role toward the end of the film.

The film was shelved in 1943 because of a lawsuit filed by Olivia de Havilland against Warner Brothers; in 1946, though she won the suit, the movie was released due to the big success of her film, "To Each His Own" for Paramount.

"Devotion" is worth seeing, but not as a true story of the Bronte sisters.

The story of the Bronte Family with all their problems certainly bears little resemblance to the true facts, but nevertheless Warner Brothers have made a fine entertaining film, with an excellent cast of actors headed by Olivia de Havilland as Charlotte, Ida Lupino as Emily and Nancy Coleman as Anne. Paul Henreid is in support, but Arthur Kennedy as Branwell is the standout. The mood of the time and place is very well captured and the photography and background music are superb. Not a lot of emphasis is given to the wonderful books, "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" by Emily & Charlotte, but rather the main story revolves around the girls' love lives. This film has been panned by many critics, but I feel it deserves a far better reception than it has received - Warners had themselves to blame as they delayed its release for a couple of years simply because of the fight with Miss de Havilland - incidentally she won it!