A Doll's House

Although there have been MANY versions of this Ibsen play (his most famous), this one seems to come closest to doing justice to it. The cast is a great one and includes: Claire Bloom (as Nora); Anthony Hopkins (as Torvald); Ralph Richardson (as Dr. Rank); Denholm Elliott (as Krogstad); Anna Massey (as Krisine Linde) and Dame Edith Evans (as Anne-Marie). Everyone in the cast is well-known as British stage actors and most have done their share of Shakespeare.

This film version was made before Anthony Hopkins was so well known on the screen, and he doesn't stand out here as we are used to seeing him now. But, Claire Bloom dominates the final scene as Nora.

A Doll's House/***(G) Movie Review May 4th, 1973 With the voices of: Nora Helmer: Claire Bloom Torvald Helmer: Anthony Hopkins Dr.Rank: Ralph Richardson Krogstad: Denholm Elliott Kristine Linde: Anna Massey Anne-Marie: Edith Evans

By Kyle Thompson Film Critic

A Doll's House, a play taking place in the household of Torvald Helmer, Nora Helmer, and their three kids, is set during Christmas time in 1879. Being set in the late 1800's, it is a time in which men were dominant over women, and it was socially acceptable for them to be.

As the play starts with a happy, cheerful family, it soon takes a turn for the worst. I believe that it is difficult for people in our era today to understand how things were in that time, and that adds to the opinion I have on the play. I think it is a well filmed, and well thought out play, but I do believe that there are scenes in which the characters act a bit too dramatic for what would actually in those situations.

The play begins to unfold when Nora is called out on forging her rich father's signature in order to receive a loan to pay for her sick husband's trip to Europe in order to recover. The man who wants to bring Nora down, wants his job back at the bank, (Torvald is the higher up at the bank) and wants Torvald to give him his job back, and then some. Nora admits to the forgery, and tries to persuade her husband to give Krogstad his job back. Torvald does not take the bait, and this leads Krogstad to blackmail Nora about the forgery, which is a criminal act she has committed. The play then gets very dramatic when Torvald finds out the motives of his wife, and the climax of the play takes place.

The music, clothing, and speech of the characters is all fit to how they dressed and spoke in the 1800's, which adds a human element to the play. I thought the characters filled their roles well, and engulfed themselves within the play to become the character that they truly were. The camera angles are very good for when the play took place, but the lighting sort of fits to the mood of the play, which is somber and argumentative. Overall, A Doll's House is a very dramatic film that depicts the ideals of marriage in the 1800's in a very realistic way.

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"A Doll's House" is a very serious drama and is not a play to see when one wants to get the "warm and fuzzies." The plot is a fairly straight forward. Nora and Torvald are a seemingly happy couple who love each other dearly. Nora proves her love when she goes out on a limb to save Torvald's life without him knowing and she winds up in financial trouble. The past comes back to haunt her as the man who lent her money demands she save his job or her reputation will be ruined. Such a favor Nora tries to accomplish as she is desperate to keep her secret from Torvald. Nora has the law against her and she runs a high risk or ruining not only her reputation but also that of Torvald.

The set takes place for the most part within Nora and Torvald's house. This allows the viewer to get an intimate look at the intricacies of the house and what it might be like to live there. Not many props are used. The objects generally used consist of such things as food, letters, and clothing. The women were only ever seen wearing dresses with high collars and the men wore old fashioned jackets with vests.

The lighting was very dim, but this dimness allows for a special type of dramatic effect because characters could hide back in the shadows and be revealed in the dramatic spotlights when it was an important scene.The camera work was very good because it only took the most intimate of shots. The camera was always right in the middle of the action and sometimes it almost seemed as if the viewer was involved in the conflict themselves. Special effects did not really occur except with the dramatic use of lighting and some sound effects.

Music was not a large part of the play but given the setting was during Christmas there were a few Christmas sounding jingles.

Clair Bloom's work as Nora was heart-wrenching and drew sympathy from the viewer. Anthony Hopkins' work as Torvald was equally as riveting while his portrayal of the controlling husband makes the viewer feel he has wronged Nora. Denholm Elliott as Krogstad was as slippery and unlikeable a character as he was supposed to be and matched perfectly with Anna Massey as Mrs. Linde. The director, Patrick Garland, made a classic masterpiece.

Yes, Clair Bloom, Anthony Hopkins, and Denholm Elliot are great, as is Sir Ralph Richardson as Dr. Rank. This first-rate acting, extended from Ibsen's wonderful realist play, is what holds our eyes on the screen. The play has been abridged for the movie, but having read the play, I wouldn't say I felt that I missed the deleted material.

The snow outside emphasizes how cold it gets inside, with Nora (Bloom) realizing that her fairy-tale marriage to Torvald (Hopkins) is a sham, that Torvald only wants his wife to be his little "squirrel" and not meddle in their family affairs. Nora will not take it anymore; she is an intelligent woman with influence, and cannot be confined to one house, one man, or one way of life. She becomes free, and Torvald is left wondering how he had ever been such a fool to think she would be with him forever.

Denholm Elliot drips with sleaze as Korgstad, Nora and Torvald's nemesis, and Richardson conveighs the appropriate frailty and senality as Dr. Rank.

One complaint: the film is static. There is almost no action set outside of the house (and the building) which, I suppose, gives us an effective claustrophobic feeling. The audience feels as trapped as Nora and Torvald do. But, film is a visual media, and this is essentially just a filmed play. The director does move his camera around a little, giving us close-ups, master-shots, composition of objects in the foreground/background, ect. But, the average viewer may fall asleep, just because the play is all talk. There is not much movement by the characters; there is nothing going on outside of their insulated lives. The movie does not open us up to the world outside of the Helmer household; it tells us that what matters is what is going on inside. Okay, I guess the static quality of the film works, but this is not a wholly cinematic film, it is more a play on film.

Maybe in the future, other directors will work to open up the play, and give us viewers other things to chew over besides the great acting and dialogue.

I found a wonderful picture of me in the film as an extra, i played a little girl singing by the fire in the howling snow (which actually was a snow machine). I remember the day well at Elstree Film Studios, on the back lot, it was so cold I did wonder why we didn't naturally have snow....but hey I was a kid. My brother played a small boy singing as well, and under his hat were a few of his toy cars to keep him occupied between shots (as set ups can be boring). My father worked on the film hence how I became an extra, but remember everyone in the cast was sooo lovely. My father was in the industry for over 50 years, until he died in 2014.

Little did I know at the age of 12 that my future would be in Film & TV, behind the camera working with many different Production teams on many films around the world.

I wish I could post the picture of the set with my brother and I in it.

My personal memories, Dawn Heath (nee King)