Mais Forte que o Amor

This Rank production is an interesting tragic drama during the 19th century , concerning about Blanche Fury (Valerie Hobson) , a young poor and ambitious woman . She receives an invitation by his cousins , the father , Simon Fury (Walter Fitzgerald) and son , Laurence (Michael Gough) for a job as governess at the Fury mansion . But there resides the headstrong Philip Thorn (Stewart Granger) , an obsessive steward who aspires to possession the manor , but he gets rights for his condition of illegitimate son . Blanche marries to wealthy son but then the illicit relationship between Blanche and Thorn originates a string of fateful happenings .

This is an entertaining Gothic-drama-romance plenty of passion , tragedy , murder and plot twists . Marvelous cast with top-notch acting . Excellent Stewart Granger as the vengeful and obstinate Philip and obsessed for the manor . Granger was in his English period when he usually played lush costumer (Saraband for dead lovers , Madonna of the seven moons , Caesar and Cleopatra , Fanny by Gaslight) and the main protagonist , Valerie Hobson (Werewolf of London , Bride of Frankestein) , after she married John Profumo , then Churchill's junior minister , she left the cinema when married , and later his resignation from politics caused by known 'Profumo scandal' in 1963 , after that , she dedicated behalf to mentally handicapped kids . Furthermore , it appears : Michael Gough , a future star in the British horror movies and Maurice Denham as Major Fraser . This haunting story packs impressive production design with attention to period detail , as enjoyable palaces and sweeping outdoors . The film is based on a 1939 novel of the same name by Joseph Shearing , a pseudonym for Marjorie Bowen . A prolific writer with a taste for the Gothic, Bowen also wrote "Moss Rose" which came to the screen in 1947 . Colorful and beautifully cinematography in pastel color , well photographed interiors shot at Pinewood studios , London , by Guy Green (David Lean's usual cameraman) and exteriors by Geoffrey Unsworth who replaced Ernest Steward . Evovative and descriptive musical score by Clifton Parker with habitual conductor musical of the Philharmonic Orchestra of London : Muir Matheson. The picture was wonderfully mounted and well directed by Marc Allegret . Rating : Better than average, well worth watching.

The film is one I only saw partially once, two or three years ago. I wish it was on Video or DVD. Other early Stewart Granger historic films are out - SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS and CAPTAIN BOYCOTT. This one was based on a novel by Joseph Shearing, the female novelist who used a male pseudonym. All her books were based on actual crimes - see my comments on the contermporary film SO EVIL MY LOVE, with Ray Milland and Ann Todd. Here, Shearing turns to the murder, at Stanfield Hall, near Norwich, England of Isaac Jermy and his son (incredibly named Isaac Jermy Jermy)in November 1848. The perpetrator was a farmer, James Blomfield Rush, who was a tenant of the Jermys but was on bad terms with them for a series of debts he owed them, and attempts to claim title to the farm and other properties. Complicating the matter was that the Jermys title to their estate was subject to a law suit. Rush dressed in a disguise, and walked over two miles in the dark to the estate, where he shot the Jermys down in their home, and then shot the wife of the son and their maid. Apparently he wanted no witnesses. Unfortunately there were too many. Also, his alibi was supposed to be his children's governess, Emily Sandford, and she turned out to be more truthful at his trial than he hoped. The trial was notable because Rush insisted in defending himself. It turned out that he had a fool for a client. Rush was found guilty and hanged. The full story is not quite used in the movie, but bits and parts of it certainly are.

The 18th century costumes, manor-house setting, and forbidden romance make this look like a bodice-ripper to the idle channel-flipper, but it's not. It's a twisted and effective suspense movie in a period setting, more like "Dangerous Liaisons" than Harlequin books. It's about a beautiful and willful young woman (Valerie Hobson) who doesn't like her rich clod of a husband, instead she has the hots for poor-but-gorgeous estate manager Stewart Granger. At first it's all forbidden kisses and steamy dialogue... until they kill her husband. Then, things start to get real, and get creepy. It's easy to get excited over forbidden fruit that looks like Stewart Granger, but a whole lot harder to deal with a murderer who wants to marry you for reasons that have nothing to do with romance. Especially when it's impossible to refuse him because you're an accessory to murder, even after he...(sorry, no spoilers). It's rather like Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" or "Dangerous Liaisons", in which a well-to-do, polite exterior conceals a man and woman whose love has turned deadly. When I first saw this movie I was astonished at how good it was, and wondered why I'd never heard of it. It isn't a classic like "Kind Hearts and Coronets", but it sure grabbed me when I flipped across it. Between the solid performances by Hobson and Granger, the lush Technicolor photography, the steamy romance, and the creepy ending, this is one to look for. (I don't believe it's out on video, but is occasionally shown on AMC

This dark, engrossing drama centers on a beautiful English girl(Valerie Hobson) who goes to live at her uncle's Gothic estate where she engages in an illicit affair with the head-strong steward(Stewart Granger). This is one of the Rank Studio's most impressive Gothic melodramas. It's rich in creepy, menacing atmosphere, and features solid direction by Marc Allegret and terrific performances by the multi-talented British cast. Most of these classic '40's British dramas were rightfully filmed in black and white. BLANCHE FURY was filmed in color, but color actually suits this film well and makes the wonderful Gothic architecture all the more enjoyable.

"Blanche Fury" is one of those films that is rarely aired on TV, impossible to find on video, and OUGHT to be released to DVD for magnificent production values, use of color, and all out dripping-with-Gothic eeriness. The leads are compelling (Valerie Hobson and Stewart Granger at both their primes). This is also one of those rare opportunities to see Michael Gough doing what he does best; behaving thoroughly despicably! (unfortunately, Gough is familiar to contemporary audiences pretty much only as Alfred the butler from the "Batman" films of the 90's, which is rather a crime since he's most proficient playing cads and sinister megalomaniacs).

Watching "Blanche Fury" is like diving head first into a Victorian Gothic romance novel, and is pulled off with style and panache in every sense. It's a film for revival houses, ripe for restoration and preservation on DVD/VHS, and would surely find an audience in today's society which seems pretty much preoccupied with escapism. Escape into the world of "Blanche Fury" and you might not want to resurface (yes, it's that good).