L'amore segreto di Madeleine

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.

In 1850s Glasgow, beautifully-dressed Ann Todd (as Madeleine) and her family move into an immaculately-furnished, upper-classy new home. Still fetching in her 40s, Ms. Todd attracts her share of male admirers, most significantly handsome young Ivan Desny (as Emile L'Anglier). However, Todd's appearances-conscious father Leslie Banks (as James Smith) would rather his daughter marry suitable Norman Wooland (as William Minnoch). Eventually, a lover is poisoned and Todd stands accused. While Todd looks beautiful under duress, Andre Morell and Barry Jones passionately argue it out in court...

This is based on a true story; Todd's character is probably supposed to be much younger, but the age difference works well, adding another dimension to her unacceptable affair. Todd delivers a Garbo-like performance. Coincidently, Greta Garbo was concurrently preparing the un-produced "Lover and Friend" (1950) with noted Todd co-star James Mason; Garbo camera tests by James Wong Howe and William Daniels by resemble some shots of Todd in this film. "Madeleine" is lacking in narrative, but the direction by David Lean and photography by Guy Green make it worth viewing.

******* Madeleine (2/14/50) David Lean ~ Ann Todd, Norman Wooland, Ivan Desny, Leslie Banks

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.

It should come as no surprise that the trial of MADELEINE may well have been termed "the trial of the century" in 1857's Scotland. And from this true story, David Lean has made a period romance starring ANN TODD as the scheming woman from a wealthy background who feels compelled to hide her love affair with a commoner from her disapproving father.

Madeleine defies the conventions of her stiff upper-class household and, after receiving a proper gentleman caller with her family, retreats to her private room where she has an assignation with a lover who is not a man of means. The shadowy interiors suggest the menace to come, as her father urges her to take a suitable suitor in marriage as soon as possible.

What hurts the story is the familiarity of it all--a woman of substance wanting to break out of the social boundaries of convention. And unfortunately, there is nothing novel or different about this version of such a tale to make it of more than routine interest, despite the David Lean touch. What it really needed was Alfred Hitchcock's guiding hand.

All of the technical ingredients are fine but the script is ultimately a disappointment and tends to be dull in spots. Furthermore, Ann Todd's Madeleine is not a very arresting character. This has to be considered one of David Lean's less effective films. The story is as emotionally cold as Madeleine herself and her demure behavior with her father seems more like a pose than anything else, one that he should easily be able to see through. Her arrest for murder in the poisoning of her lover is handled with too many frigid close-ups of Todd's face and no real explanation of what happened.

It's certainly not a "must see" film by the renowned directed Lean.

Best performance in the entire film: ANDRE MORELL as the defense counselor who gives the most stirring and satisfying speech in the courtroom as to why Madeleine should be found innocent of the circumstantial evidence.

"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.