Madeleine

"Madeleine" is possibly David Lean's most underrated film, perhaps because of its slow pace and the miscasting of Lean's wife Ann Todd in the title role, (though I think she makes a fair stab at the part). Based on fact, it's the story of Madeleine Smith who stood trial for the murder of her lover in Victorian Glasgow. As her French seducer, Ivan Desny is excellent, as is Leslie Banks as her stern father and the film looks wonderful thanks to Guy Green's gorgeous black and white photography and John Bryan's set designs while Lean's direction is as impeccable as ever. If the film has a fault it's a certain stiffness in the telling. Not much seen nowadays but essential Lean nevertheless.

A boarding-house Lothario in 1857 Glasgow dies from arsenic poisoning; a stack of incriminating letters point the finger at the man's secret lover, an unmarried high society woman who has recently announced her engagement to a man of her class. True story which held Victorian Scotland spellbound is given handsome, but not elaborate treatment from director David Lean. Lean's then-wife Ann Todd reportedly played Madeleine Smith on the stage (not credited here) and her assets--steely eyes, a knitted-brow and taut mouth--are in perfect accompaniment with this inscrutable character, who may or may not be what she seems. Lean captures the allure of a clandestine romance, with the screen fading to black as the lustiness becomes palpable, and his third act in the courtroom is quite lively. Still, this seems to be a lot of striding up and down for a fairly certain verdict, and the conclusion is curiously flat. Columbo could've solved this case in an hour. ** from ****

Madeleine is one of a number of costume dramas produced around the late 1940s to focus upon psychological conflicts from a female perspective. Other notable examples are Vincente Minelli's Madame Bovary and William Wyler's The Heiress, both released in 1949. However, whereas those two pictures were based upon great literary works from the 19th century, Madeleine is a dramatisation (I would imagine a fairly liberal one given its melodramatic style) of actual events.

Director David Lean was always one to immerse the audience in the psychological states of his characters, often through use of attention grabbing shots and expressive use of sound. There are some fairly routine examples of this in the first half of the film – eerie shadows of Emile twirling his cane, the blaring bagpipe music of a village dance at Emile and Madeleine's secret meeting, and so on.

Another of Lean's characteristics was that, in order to tell a full story, the narrative would switch between the multiple points-of-view. This can be done fairly easily with a director who treats the audience as a passive, externalised viewer, but with Lean's constant involvement of the audience it could occasionally give his films a disjointed, unbalanced feel. This is somewhat the case with Madeleine, which begins as a psychological drama in which a young woman from a strict household must choose between her heart's desire and loyalty to her family. About halfway through however the story becomes a murder mystery and eventually a courtroom drama, and the narrative fragments as we see the points-of-view of various witnesses to supposed crimes. All the psychological set-up of the first forty-five minutes becomes forgotten.

In spite of the fragmentary nature of the whole, there are some strong scenes and the occasional touch of class here and there. The pivotal scene in which Madeleine's father discovers his daughters affair, while at the same time Madeleine learns of Emile's death shows Lean's dramatic staging at its best. Intelligent use of space and positioning of actors in this scene best shows off the varying reactions. The final scenes in court are a carefully constructed blend of points-of-view and reaction shots, and Lean's background as a renowned editor is in evidence.

A great cast was often a hallmark of a David Lean picture, but Madeleine suffers from a lack of classy actors. Having said that Ann Todd, whom I don't normally rate that highly, is not too bad here, emoting well in close-ups. Apart from that the only standouts are Andre Morell in a powerful performance as the defence counsel towards the end of the film, and an unfortunately brief appearance from Scottish character actor John Laurie as a fanatical mob leader.

Madeleine has its moments, but all in all is a bit of a mediocrity. Lean was at his best when he could go all out on the emotional drama, but this foray into the courtroom is simply not enough of one thing or the other to be a really strong picture.

Enjoyed this 1950 true story about a young woman named Madeleine Smith, (Ann Todd) who lived in Glasgow, Scotland in 1857 and the story begins with the Smith family looking for a rather large home. Madeleine is very excited about a room in the basement of this house and I wondered just why she preferred such a location and of course the story will reveal the reasons for this decision. William Mennoch, (Norman Wooland) was an older professional man and was interested in Madeleine and wanted to marry her, but she kept putting off any discussions or decisions in this matter of marriage. However, the father and mother approved of William becoming their son-in-law. As the story moves along, you find out that there is another man that Madeleine is very much in love with and he is French and not very well off financially. This man's name is Emile L'Anglier and he was determined to climb into Glasgow's high social class and found that Madeleine and her family would be able to help him accomplish this task. This story holds great mystery in black and white and all the actors gave great supporting roles in this true story about a strange woman.

The greatest directors are entitled to the occasional misfire and this would appear to be one of David Lean's. He was persuaded to do it by his wife Ann Todd who had played the part of alleged poisoner Madeleine Smith on stage a few years earlier. Ironically nothing of the play would remain and the film would become an original screenplay. Difficult to put ones finger on why 'nothing seemed to fit', to use Lean's own words. Even allowing for Ann Todd's customary 'temperament' this was by all accounts a far from happy experience and it certainly shows. I think that Todd is excellent in the role and her final, enigmatic look to the camera after the jury has found the charges against her 'not proven' is masterful. Ivan Desny is very good as the vain social climber but it is difficult to warm to him so that his demise fails to excite our sympathy. Apparently Gerard Philipe was considered for the role. What a tantalising prospect! Notable performances by Leslie Banks as her unbending father and by Andre Morell as the defending counsel in the stupendous trial scenes whose oratory and impassioned pleas put sufficient doubts in the jurors' minds to enable Madeleine to escape the executioner. Norman Wooland is okay as faithful Mr. Minnoch but as an actor lacks that certain 'something'. This is by no means a 'bad' film and there are very effective moments but it simply lacks that elusive and magic alchemy by which everything comes together. Lean put the blame fairly and squarely on the writing. The film was both a critical and commercial failure and Lean was not to be so harshly judged until 'Ryan's Daughter' twenty years later.