La vie passionnée des soeurs Brontë

Ida Lupino is Emily Bronte, and Olivia de Havilland is Charlotte Bronte in "Devotion," a 1946 film, made in 1943 and shelved, which tells the story of the two sisters, their sister Anne, and their brother Branwell (Arthur Kennedy).

In essence, the Bronte sisters led sad, miserable, and short lives - there was nothing romantic about the moors, as much as they seem so in the Bronte books. The sisters enjoyed poor health, their brother was a disgrace, and their father a cold man with a violent temper.

Only with the entrance of their aunt into their lives was much attention paid to them. She was a warm woman who saw to their education and gave them structure.

What the Bronte sisters had was imagination, and plenty of it, and they exercised their imaginations with their writings.

"Devotion" is a lovely film with a wonderful performance by Ida Lupino as the tragic Emily. Olivia de Havilland does a good job as Charlotte, shown in the film as selfish and a man magnet.

In truth, she was ugly and considered herself so, and while she did develop a crush on Constantin Heger (Victor Francen), the affection doesn't seem to have been returned.

All of Charlotte's success happened after Emily's death, not where it does in the film, and the reason the girls left school was not because of their brother's illness, but because of their aunt's death.

The eternally underrated Arthur Kennedy is excellent as Branwell, shown here as only a drunk. Branwell did have several jobs, none of which he kept, had an affair with an older married woman, which was an open scandal, and is suspected of eating opium as well as drinking. However, it is true that Charlotte was angry with him.

Charlotte did marry Nicholls (and died eight months later) but there was no love triangle with Emily. Nor was Nicholls, as in the film, the model for the mysterious, romantic men in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. The fact that this love triangle is represented as inspiration for the men in their novels in "Devotion" is a good case for Paul Henried being miscast.

The movie was made during the war, when there were no men around, and Warner Brothers would never have given a star like Errol Flynn a supporting role. But the role of Nicholls, given his importance in the film, cried out for someone a little more dashing and handsome.

Sydney Greenstreet appears as William Thackery in a small but showy role toward the end of the film.

The film was shelved in 1943 because of a lawsuit filed by Olivia de Havilland against Warner Brothers; in 1946, though she won the suit, the movie was released due to the big success of her film, "To Each His Own" for Paramount.

"Devotion" is worth seeing, but not as a true story of the Bronte sisters.

If you want a generalized account of the Bronte Family, DEVOTION is not bad - but it is not really good history. Basically in the 1810s to 1830s Reverend Patrick Brunte (which he changed to Bronte) was in charge of the parsonage of Haworth in Yorkshire. He and his wife had six children: five girls and a son. Most people forget there were two older sisters than Charlotte, Emily, and Anne (and their brother Bramwell) but the two older daughters died prematurely of lung problems (which would bedevil all the Brontes).

In that isolated parsonage, the Bronte children entertained themselves by making up stories about a fabulous place called "Great Glass Town" that was ruled by England's superhero of the day, the Duke of Wellington. As they grew older, they would write down their stories about this wonderful place - and soon they were also writing down poetry. All that is but Bramwell. He was very bright and promising, and it was hoped he would develop his considerable talents as a draftsman and artist. He was even sent to a boarding school. But Bramwell developed a love for drinking, and the early promise of his brilliance eventually dissipated. He would also be the first of the better remembered children to die.

Before Bramwell died he would live to see the success of his three sisters. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne joined together to publish a volume of poetry called POEMS BY CURRER, ELLIS, & ACTON BELL. The reason for the pseudonyms was that in 1839 it was very unusual for woman to write fiction or poetry. So the girls figured it would not hurt to pretend they were men. The poetry worked well, and soon Charlotte and Emily sent into London the manuscripts of their two novels JANE EYRE and WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Again both were under the pseudonyms. The two novels were acclaimed, as was a novel by Anne called THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL (published as Acton Bell). The novels gained the attention of William Thackeray, and he wrote a glowing review of them - especially of JANE EYRE. Charlotte wrote to Thackeray, and arranged a trip to meet him in London. Then he learned that these three novelists and poets were women.

Thackeray became their greatest booster. It's nice to know that Emily was aware of this, because she died shortly after Bramwell did - after nursing him. Anne wrote a novel AGNES GRAY, and then her health failed too and she died. Now Reverend Bronte found only one child of his six was still alive. Charlotte wrote her "problem of England" novel called SHIRLEY. In 1853 a third novel, VILLETTE (which most critics consider better than JANE EYRE) was published. Charlotte married the Reverend Arthur Bell Nichols in 1854, and within a year she died giving birth to a still born child. A posthumous novel (actually an early version of VILLETTE called THE PROFESSOR) was published. So was a small fragment called EMMA. Reverend Bronte died in 1861, having survived his six children (but knowing that at least three were remembered as writers). Charlotte's husband Reverend Nichols died in 1901.

For a family that has maintained popular interest from their heyday to today, the total literary output of seven novels and a book of poetry is small. But eventually their fans would also have the dozens of surviving notebooks of their childhood fantasies of "Great Glass Town" as well, and even Bramwell's etchings and attempts at painting retain interest. For all it's tragedy of early death, the Brontes retain our fascination as an unexpected blossoming of genius that was cut too short.

DEVOTION, as I said earlier, was close to an outline of the story. It showed some of the biographical background that would shape Charlotte's (Olivia de Haviland's) and Emily's (Ida Lupino's) fiction: Emily's love for the wild moors, which would translate into her imagery for Heathcliff and Cathy Earnshaw in HEIGHTS; and Charlotte's infatuation with a foreign tutor she knew in Belgium (a nice performance by Victor Francken) which is used in creating the character of Paul in VILLETTE. But the fiction is tied to a ruthless streak in Charlotte at her more talented sister's expense, especially over Reverend Nichols (Paul Henreid). Actually Emily never yearned for Nichols, or any man Charlotte liked. Bramwell (Arthur Kennedy) is closer to Emily, and tries to support her - but he's undermined by his drinking and declining health. Anne Bronte (Nancy Coleman) is (unfortunatley typically) given short shrift beside her two better known sister novelists.

Thackeray is played by Sidney Greenstreet, who physically and intellectually matches the rotund genius who gave us BARRY LYNDON, VANITY FAIR, and HENRY ESMOND. He shows an appreciation of Charlotte and shepherds her around London (guarranteeing her social success). But he also realizes - good novelist and critic that he is - that Emily's writing has a raw power that Charlotte's politer writing lacks. But the movie misses that Thackeray's interest in Charlotte and JANE EYRE may have been based on the figure of Rochester's mad wife in the attic (Bertha). It seems Thackeray also had an insane wife. However his social snobbery is deliciously given when he sneers at some street urchins ("Not my public!"), and when he warns Charlotte against an author they pass - Charles Dickens.

DEVOTION is a entertaining film, and a good way to get an audience to look into the Brontes and their literary work. At very least, it leads one to view some movie version of JANE EYRE or WUTHERING HEIGHTS.

Despite the fact that this treatment of the famous Bronte sisters (Charlotte, Emily and Anne) and their tormented brother Branwell (Arthur Kennedy)gives their story a romantic glow (instead of the harsh reality of their life on the moors), it can be enjoyed on the level of a well-acted, sometimes overwrought romantic drama with sterling performances by Ida Lupino and Olivia de Havilland, as well as an excellent one from Arthur Kennedy as the brother who wastes his talent.

The large cast includes Sydney Greenstreet (effective as Thackeray), Victor Francen, Nancy Coleman, Ethel Griffies and Dame May Witty. It may not be an accurate biography (in fact some critics said it should have been called 'Distortion'), but thanks to fine performances and Erich Wolfgang Korngold's magnificent score, it's fascinating to watch. Particularly effective is the montage showing a horse and rider against a cloudy sky as death approaches Emily Bronte and Korngold's music mounts as he comes closer and closer. Wonderful moment of imagery.

Whatever its shortcomings, I cannot praise Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score enough. It's one of his most magnificent and stands with KINGS ROW as one of his best film scores, adding majesty and atmosphere to many of the film's most dramatic scenes.

Trivia note: DEVOTION has a strange history. It was actually filmed and finished in 1943 while de Havilland was still under contract to the studio. When she launched her famous legal battle against them for adding suspension time to the end of her contract, Jack Warner decided to punish her. He gave her third billing, kept the film off the screen for three years hoping to weaken her career, and failed to invite her to the premiere of the film when it finally did open in Hollywood.

Despite all this, Olivia not only won the case in the Supreme Court, but went on to win two Oscars after the film was released!! Proof that he was wrong all along in underestimating her.

Romanticized account of the life of the Brontes with particular emphasis of course on older sisters Charlotte and Emily. It's slow moving at times and should not be relied upon for historical accuracy but, of its kind, it's fairly well done and entertaining. Olivia de Havilland (looking very pretty) is the imperious and ambitious Charlotte, aggressively courting literary success, while Ida Lupino, as Emily, remains at home, engaging in fanciful reverie and harboring a secret passion for the local clergyman. Both offer strong, capable performances. (It's been said that de Havilland, who had been fighting with Warner Brothers over better scripts, was given third billing as punishment by studio chief Jack Warner. By the time the film was released, in 1946, she had successfully sued the studio for release from her contract and would go on to win two Oscars as Best Actress). Nancy Coleman has the thankless role of younger sister Anne, Arthur Kennedy is their dissolute brother Branwell (his self-destructiveness is never adequately explained and simply becomes tedious after a while) and Paul Henreid is the Reverend Arthur Nichols, the object of Emily's unrequited affection (a contrivance thought up by the screenwriter). With Sydney Greenstreet as the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray and Montagu Love, Ethel Griffies, Victor Francen, Odette Myrtil and Dame May Witty.

The literary Bronte sisters struggle to get their lives in order in the midst of a dour old house, a severe father, and moody rolling moors.

These Gothic costume dramas usually show the old studios hitting on all eight cylinders. Just check out the exterior sets here. It's obviously not the real outdoors the sisters hike along. But who cares because they're so artistically done—the crags, the waterfall, the hilly moors. They're all real eye-catchers, establishing just the right Gothic mood. Warner's production crews did a bang-up job, showing that you don't need digital to get the right effect.

Of course, I like anything with the great Ida Lupino. Here she does more of a hardened type than the soft, dreamy types of High Sierra (1941) or Deep Valley (1947). But that too is okay since her real feelings are kept below the surface, which we only detect now and again. It's fitting that the depth of those feelings finally surface in Emily's (Lupino) great romantic novel Wuthering Heights, and smoldering they are.

Speaking of romance, I really can't see the girls getting all hot and bothered over a couple of stiffs like Henreid and Francen, especially Francen who acts like someone's randy old grandfather. But you do have to hand it to Arthur Kennedy. He gets to pull out all stops as the self-destructive Branwell, managing to make a drunken scene wherever he goes. As a result and thanks to him, I'll think twice about my next beer.

All in all, it takes about 90-moody minutes for the sisters to straighten things out. But in the meantime they've given me a number of memorable scenes that have lasted for years since I first saw the movie. Yes indeed, there's a lot to be said for those old Hollywood dream factories.