Madame Curie

Here we have Greer Garson in the kind of role that would later inspire that wonderful sequence from 'Ziegfeld Follies' (the 'Madame Crematon' impersonation by Judy Garland, a rip-off of Greer in her great lady roles). But, surprisingly or not, Garson and Pidgeon are teamed in a very eloquent and moving biography, one of the more tasteful and dignified bios of the 1940s considering it deals with subject matter not conducive to popular taste.

Their long work in the laboratories finally leads to the discovery of radium--and this is the fascinating story of how they met and married and indulged in their lifelong pursuit of discovery. A young and rather miscast Robert Walker plays a fellow lab worker. Van Johnson has a few brief moments toward the end, as does Margaret O'Brien. But the focus is on Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon and they both deliver Oscar nominated performances.

This is one of the better screen biographies and one that has been sorely neglected over the years. Watch for my career article on GREER GARSON to appear in an upcoming issue of FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE.

At times, this M Leroy directed film gets a little heavy handed as this is one of the rare times that Leroy, often an erratic director for hire, did an entire film himself & got credit for it. Overall though, his effort here is very satisfactory.

Based upon Eve Curies book, this film follows along pretty factually the Marie Curie story leading to the couples isolating of Radium in their lab after 4 years of work. The film concentrates on the relationship that forms between Pierre & Marie & the science. The script actually allows for a nice balance there.

Greer Garson is great as Madame Marie Currie. I can't see many other actresses doing as was as she does in this role. Walter Pidgeon is excellent as Pierre & it is these 2 leads that make the film a good one. There is some quick supporting work from Van Johnson but nothing about his cameo really does a lot for this particular film.

This film does show the MGM studio quality as it existed in the 1940's as it goes over very well & is well produced. MGM came into World War 2 as the premiere studio & this film was a strong entry in the biographical film category. It is very obvious that even though the film is set in France near Paris, that Paris was not available for location filming due to the war.

This is a very good film for it's era, being factually based & really painting a positive portrait of who Marie & Pierre Curie were & why they were important in the history of science. It does give short shrift to the couples kids but at over 2 hours the film has too much to cover to do otherwise.

This is the biography of the Curies, who discovered radium. This one gets off to a fine start as the socially awkward scientist Pidgeon finds himself drawn to Garson, a student with great scientific aptitude. Having worked with each other so often, the two stars have terrific chemistry (and physics?) and are quite believable in the roles of the famed scientists. Then comes the experimentation that lead to the discovery of radium and the concept of radioactivity. This is fascinating stuff but does not make for great cinema, causing things to bog down in the latter parts of the film. Still, it's a handsome production that's well worth watching.

What an extraordinary biographical film that is now more than 3/4's of a century old and yet still holds up extremely well when compared to many of today's biographical vanity projects. Greer Garson who plays Madame Curie and the love of her life Pierre Curie (Walter Pidgeon) not only persevere through years and then decades of toil and failure after failure until they stumble upon their breakthrough which leads them to discover the chemical compound of radium and what it can do for science, medicine and mankind.

I would like to propose that all high school students watch this film at least twice and complete a report on what the film meant to them. Maybe it would inspire even a very small percentage of our future scientists to maintain a semblance of perseverance, get rid of their cell phones and social media presence and remember how difficult life and romance was for Marie and Pierre Curie.

This is a romantic and epic documentary film that all teenagers should enjoy sitting through and learning a bit about the hardships that our predecessors and science leaders endured for our benefit and the better future of all mankind.

A deservedly 8 out of 10 rating

The story of Marie Curie who at the beginning of the film is a Polish student at the Sorbonne who is given the opportunity for working with Dr. Pierre Curie on his experiments when the two learn of a fellow professor who has found a rock that seems to give off its own light and energy despite being deep underground for centuries. The two find that it must contain a new element, more radioactive that uranium. The two are able to isolate the new element despite the hardships of inadequate lab equipment, the birth of a young daughter, their colleagues questioning their work, and numerous failed experiments. Excellent film dealing with the hard work of the Curies and the realization that hard work and commitment will pay off (nice ideal during the war years). Garson and Pidgeon build on the great chemistry the two had in Mrs. Miniver, and are helped by an excellent supporting cast. The screenplay and LeRoy's direction do each other perfect justice by combining the romance and drama superbly. Rating, 8.