So Well Remembered

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.

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).

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.

First of all let me tell you that the copy I watched on video is produced by Hectic House Records and sold in the town of Macclesfield, England, - the location at which the movie was shot. Bear in mind that this film has recently been re-discovered, owned by a private collector. The production is in Sepia (that sort of brownish/greenish effect that is neither colour or black and white). The quality of sound is absolutely appalling. Even using a high quality video/TV/separate powered speakers a lot of patience and forgiveness is required by the viewer.

Now on to the movie. What can I say? It is an absolute gem. John Mills' portrayal of George Boswell is almost reminiscent of his performance as Willy Mossop in "Hobson's Choice" (although dare I say even better). Trevor Howard once again plays a doctor (recalling "Brief Encounter"), except this time a sullen, often drunken character; but nevertheless a highly moralistic and commendable Dr. Richard Whiteside. Martha Scott's performance as Olivia Channing reminds males of all ages how it is always possible for a weeping, vulnerable pretty young woman can be a devil in disguise! Great performances from the rest of the cast, including a 'natural' performance from Hayley Mills as baby Julie.

Macclesfield as a Town has changed considerably since 1947; in fact it's one of the wealthiest areas of the whole of the UK in 2004. But scenes in "So Well Remembered" do remain recognisable.

This movie deserves a complete make-over as it is so outstandingly good.

The biggest question I have about So Well Remembered is why this film was lost all these years? Usually 'lost' films are from the silent and early sound era. I've never heard of a film done as late as 1947 being lost. And sad too because from this talented cast I've seen some of the best performances from them.

Another thing that puzzles me as far as the film being lost is that James Hilton was such a popular author on both sides of the pond. I would have thought this film would have been as frequently revived as Random Harvest, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and The Lost Horrizon.

Hilton narrates the film and for both British and American audiences it was a familiar voice, they heard it many times on radio. Hilton was never shy about promoting his own work on the best media available to him.

Like Random Harvest the story takes place in the years between the World Wars. John Mills is an earnest young reformer who both wants to do some good in this old world for the people of the small Lancaster mill town that he comes from. They are a poor lot, many living on the dole because the factories have closed and they were swindled out of their life savings by Frederick Leister who was the owner and chief employer of the town. Leister went to prison and upon this the story begins as his attractive young daughter Martha Scott is looking for employment as a librarian.

The towns folk want to visit the sins of the father on her, but Mills is a forgiving sort and persuades the town to hire her. This leads to romance and they marry. But gradually over the course of the movie, the two are shone to be a bad match with their different agendas.

Martha Scott is an actress sad to say pretty much forgotten. My first memory of her is hosting a short anthology series, Modern Romances in the early days of television. Up to now I thought her best film role was as the dutiful minister's wife in One Foot In Heaven. But in So Well Remembered her part as the scheming manipulating wife is best described as a combination of Regina Hubbard from The Little Foxes and Estella from Great Expectations. And that this performance was lost all these years didn't help Martha Scott for posterity's sake.

Trevor Howard plays Mills's best friend, the alcoholic town doctor, no doubt a character Hilton borrowed from many a Hollywood western. Howard serves as the film's conscience however, he's seen too much and lived too much in poverty to be charitable. Except he does perform one good act of charity in the film.

The hero/protagonist that John Mills plays would have been done by Jimmy Stewart if So Well Remembered had an American setting. Mills is like so many Capra heroes, the decent and honorable man on whom the people look for leadership and who has his flaws as well. At one point he does fall victim to temptation in a crisis brought on indirectly by the scheming Scott. But Mills realizes what he's done and pulls back from temptation.

Patricia Roc and Richard Carlson play an attractive pair of young lovers, connected to the others and whose lives have been directed by the foibles of the older generation. So Well Remembered is a fabulous restored classic and a tribute to its author James Hilton, a man so well remembered and so well loved in the UK and the USA.