Esther Waters

If you like the British costume dramas of this era, then Esther Waters is for you. Set in the 1880s it follows a servant girl as she meets and falls in love with a young man whose mother she works for - then is shattered when he goes off with another woman, leaving her pregnant and broke. She endeavours to raise the child on her own, finding it difficult because the general public is extremely biased against young unwed mothers. The movie drags a bit, but it is worth a watch!

I waited up until 2:00 am to see this film back in 1964. Very well done and I was surprised with all the attention paid to "Upstairs;Downstairs" that this film has not made it to video.

The period detail is outstanding and Dirk Borgarde gives a very good performance as does Kathleen Ryan. I have read that Dirk's younger brother played his "son" in this film. By all means, if you have a chance to view this, do so.

Kathleen Ryan is the poor and innocent young maid who gets the normal treatment of a lady and ends up down to her neck in trouble, and she is illiterate at that, but you can't really dislike him since he plays it so well, and he honestly makes an effort. It all ends up in the great Derby, the festivity crowd scenes are the treat of the film, and they are several, including the great rural party in the beginning. It's a Dickensian story convincing enough in its realism of the 1870s to 80s including a long dying scene, of which Dirk Bogarde was such an expert and made so many of, usually coughing to death, while Kathleen Ryan in spite of her hardships actually gets along quite well, not actually needing the sympathetic support of Cyril Cusack as the would be catcher in the rye. It's a lovely film of a serving maiden's tale and particularly a film for horse lovers - the final race is a killer.

This is quite a decent Victorian melodrama that sees naive housemaid "Esther" (Kathleen Ryan) fall for the mischievous charms of "Latch" (Dirk Bogarde). Left high and dry - with their baby - after he absconds with another woman, she must struggle to hold down a job and make ends meet at a time when there was no such thing as maternity leave. It is just when she seems to be making some progress that her nemesis turns up again - by now a quite successful pub owner and gambler with underlying health problems - and when he realises that they had a child together, he wants to try to help - and their drama intensifies. There are some lovey scenes set around the famous Epsom Derby horse race and when both actors are on screen at the same time, there is a distinct and quite engaging chemistry between Ryan and Bogarde. Sadly, though, the screenplay isn't up to much and though the support from the likes of Cyril Cusack and the rather matter-of-fact Nuna Davey as the matron tries it's best, the drama itself is actually quite weak and predictable. Keep an eye out for the zip on her frock - a woman well ahead of her times!

If you like racing, this movie is for you (though I could have done without it, as that dragged on too long) and if Victorian melodrama's your thing, then you've come to the right place as well.

Kathleen Ryan does a good job in the title role, a young woman, working as a servant, who finds herself "in the family way", after being seduced by footman William Latch (Dirk Bogarde), who then elopes with a young woman of means. Esther faces tough times, harsh attitudes, almost loses her baby boy to unscrupulous black marketers, and an eventual reunion with William (who didn't know about their son), whom she prefers to the local preacher (Cyril Cusack) who's willing to marry her and help raise her son.

Life changes for the better, but not for long. But one thing stays the same: her deep and abiding love for her child.

It's a good movie and doesn't get either too maudlin or too sentimental.