So Well Remembered

A typically well-made British drama (with an Anglo-American cast including John Mills, Martha Scott and Trevor Howard); rarely seen today and deserves a far wider audience. Based on a novel by James Hilton ("Lost Horizon"), who also does the narration, "So Well Remembered" captures perfectly the gloom of a poverty-stricken British village; chronicles the efforts of a newspaper editor (Mills) to fight for better living conditions. Great atmospheric black-and-white photography; good performances by Mills and Martha Scott as his ambitious, class-conscious wife who grows ever resentful of her husband's dedication to his village. A small dramatic gem. (Unfortunately not available on video, but was released on laserdisc as part of the now out-of-print RKO Classic Collection).

The British Rank Organisation came up with a gem of a 1947 film, "So Well Remembered." Interesting to see the usually kind and sympathetic Martha Scott playing a nasty sort of woman here. You wouldn't think that from the beginning of the film when Scott as Olivia seems to be a victim of her father's imprisonment.

Sociologists would enjoy this film tackling the housing situation in Britain circa the post-World War 1 period. The areas shown are slums with diphtheria running rampant.

John Mills is our hero here. He sacrifices a very lucrative career in parliament to devote his energies to improving housing in his area and therefore trying to solve the problem of poverty. He weds Olivia who can't seem to bring their young son to a clinic when the diphtheria epidemic strikes. After the child dies, she leaves her husband, remarries and has a son by that film, played by an adult, Richard Carlson. Carlson is extremely good here,especially in his disfigured scenes when mother Scott becomes totally possessive.

Trevor Howard shines as an alcoholic doctor. The unevenness of the film may be shown from the problems of poverty to the all-possessive Olivia who tries to smother her war-injured son.(Carlson). She is finally rebuked in her effort to do this by Mills, who should have done this years before.

An interesting film, well acted.

... starring John Mills as George Boswell, politician and newspaper publisher. The film examines his life in the time between the two world wars - From 1919 to 1945. Boswell was raised in the slums of the mill town of Browdley, and as such he wants to improve the situation of the residents there. It is his passion. As a town councilman in Browdley, he starts out the film arguing that the town should not refuse to hire Olivia Channing (Martha Scott) as one of the town librarians just because her father, once owner of several of the town textile mills, went to prison for embezzlement. He wins the day and she is hired. Later Olivia comes to the newspaper he publishes to thank him and they begin to spend time together, fall in love, and are married. About this same time George's good friend, Dr. Whiteside (Trevor Howard) begins drinking heavily.

George is an observant, thoughtful person who is all about righting social injustice in Browdley, and in particular trying to rebuild the slums of Browdley - "company housing" owned by the mills - into something better. The problem is that he thinks that the enemies of what he is trying to do are far off and ephemeral, when in fact, George is literally sleeping with the enemy.

Suffice it to say that Olivia, over time, shows her true colors of believing that she is part of the British aristocracy and is willing to do anything and use anyone to get that position back that she lost when her father went to prison and the family lost its money. It is not so much the more identifiable American trait of wanting great wealth. It is the position she wants back and wealth and power are just a couple of the trappings. For example, she is quite tied to the rotting Channing family mansion on the hill - Ferncliff. It represents position to her. She would never think of replacing it with something more modern, comfortable, or convenient.

Rather unexpected here is Martha Scott playing the part of subtle manipulative temptress. She handles this part well, but somehow seems as out of place as that bow she is always wearing in her hair when she is playing young Olivia.

I've been enjoying watching some British films lately, but I will say that they are an acquired taste for this American viewer. British films are not going to spoon feed you themes or character motivations. Take this film for example - George is not trying to be "well remembered", but because he chooses to stay in Browdley and try to fix his home town to the extent that he can, even when overcome by events such as WWII, he probably will be just that.

This is one of my favorite films - I love the mill town atmosphere and the brooding orchestral score, the cups of tea, and most of all John Mills as a good man who needs twenty five years to see clearly the forces arrayed against him and in particular one person that he once loved as a kindred spirit who turned out to be anything but that. Highly recommended.

I saw this movie on TV many years ago on a local late-night movie program which followed the 11pm news. It was during the week between Christmas and New Years, so my mind was occupied with other matters so all I really remembered was that it starred John Mills and that it took place over the span of several decades, but something about the movie stuck in my head. Thanks to IMDb I was able to identify it as "So Well Remembered", and that it was out on DVD.

John Mills is great as George Boswell, reform-minded newspaper editor and member of the town council in a bleak Lancashire mill town, who falls in love with the daughter of the town pariah, a corrupt industrialist.

Based on a James Hilton (Lost Horizon) novel, the film has it's share of soap opera-like moments, but enough of its literary heritage to tell a highly compelling story. The story also has a certain relevance today with the political and social elements, and it is a little depressing to see how things have not changed since 1919.

This is a picture of intelligence and substance that deserves to be better known. It includes exceptional performances by two of the finest actors of our time, John Mills and Trevor Howard. Flawed, perhaps, by a less-than-clear rendering of the Olivia Channing character (whose attitudes, emotions and actions lack consistency), it is nevertheless deeply moving.

In any number of scenes director Edward Dmytryk reveals the strong influence of Orson Welles' narrative and cinematic methods in "Citizen Kane." Such can only add to a film's effectiveness, even if less than totally original.