Madeleine (film)
Encyclopedia
Madeleine is a 1950
film directed by David Lean
, based on a true story about Madeleine Smith
, a young Glasgow
woman from a wealthy family who was tried in 1857 for the murder of her lover, Emile L'Angelier. The trial was much publicized in the newspapers of the day and was labelled "the trial of the century." Lean's adaptation of the story stars his then wife, Ann Todd
with Ivan Desny
as her French lover. Norman Wooland
played the respectable suitor, and Leslie Banks
the authoritarian father, who are both unaware of Madeleine's secret life.
Lean made the film primarily as a "wedding present" to then-wife Ann Todd, who had previously played the role on-stage. He was never satisfied with the film and cited it as his least-favourite feature-length movie.
), for the murder of her draper's assistant lover, Emile L'Angelier (Ivan Desny
). The trial produced the uniquely Scottish verdict of "not proven", which left Madeleine a free woman.
The film begins with the purchase of a house in Glasgow by a wealthy middle class Victorian family. Their eldest daughter, Madeleine, chooses to have for her own the bedroom in the basement. Here she will have easy access to the servants' entrance, and will be able to entertain her lover, Frenchman Emile L'Angelier, without the knowledge of her family.
The relationship continues, and the couple become secretly engaged, but L'Angelier begins to press Madeleine to reveal his existence to her father in order that they can marry. Madeleine, frightened of her authoritarian father, is reluctant to do so and eventually visits L'Angelier in his rooms and says she will run away with him and marry him rather than face telling her father the truth. L'Angelier, however, says that he could never marry her in this way, and Madeleine realises that he does not love her for herself but rather that he sees her as a means to recover his position in society. She tells him that their relationship is at an end and asks him to send her letters back.
During the time that she has been seeing L'Angelier, Madeleine's father has been encouraging her to accept the attentions of a wealthy society gentleman, William Minnoch, (Norman Wooland
) and after having broken her engagement with L'Angelier, she tells Mr Minnoch that she will accept his marriage proposal. Her family are delighted, but L'Angelier visits the house again and threatens to show her father the compromising letters in his possession unless she continues to see him. Saying nothing of her new engagement, Madeleine reluctantly agrees.
Some weeks after this, L'Angelier is taken very ill, and although he recovers, he later has another attack of the same illness and this time dies from it.
He is found to have died from arsenic poisoning, and L'Angelier's friend points the finger of suspicion at Madeleine, who is found to have had arsenic in her possession at the time of L'Angelier's death.
The remainder of the film covers the court case, at the end of which the jury bring the verdict of not proven
, a uniquely Scottish verdict which releases Madeleine from custody as neither guilty nor not guilty.
1950 in film
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
film directed by David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
, based on a true story about Madeleine Smith
Madeleine Smith
Madeleine Hamilton Smith was a 19th century Glasgow socialite who was the defendant in a sensational murder trial in Scotland in 1857...
, a young Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
woman from a wealthy family who was tried in 1857 for the murder of her lover, Emile L'Angelier. The trial was much publicized in the newspapers of the day and was labelled "the trial of the century." Lean's adaptation of the story stars his then wife, Ann Todd
Ann Todd
Dorothy Anne Todd was an English actress and producer.She was born in Hartford, Cheshire and was educated at St. Winifrid's School, Eastbourne. She became a popular actress from appearing in such films as Perfect Strangers and The Seventh Veil...
with Ivan Desny
Ivan Desny
Ivan Nikolai Desnitskij was a Russian actor born in China who worked for most of his life in Germany.-Career:Desny was a film/movie actor. He acted in more than 150 films, most of them German...
as her French lover. Norman Wooland
Norman Wooland
Norman Wooland was a German-born British character actor who appeared in many major films, notably in several Shakespearean ones....
played the respectable suitor, and Leslie Banks
Leslie Banks
Leslie Banks, CBE was an English theatre and cinema actor, director and producer, now best remembered playing gruff, menacing characters in black and white movies of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
the authoritarian father, who are both unaware of Madeleine's secret life.
Lean made the film primarily as a "wedding present" to then-wife Ann Todd, who had previously played the role on-stage. He was never satisfied with the film and cited it as his least-favourite feature-length movie.
Plot
The film dramatises events leading up to the 1857 trial of an otherwise respectable young woman, Madeleine Smith, (Ann ToddAnn Todd
Dorothy Anne Todd was an English actress and producer.She was born in Hartford, Cheshire and was educated at St. Winifrid's School, Eastbourne. She became a popular actress from appearing in such films as Perfect Strangers and The Seventh Veil...
), for the murder of her draper's assistant lover, Emile L'Angelier (Ivan Desny
Ivan Desny
Ivan Nikolai Desnitskij was a Russian actor born in China who worked for most of his life in Germany.-Career:Desny was a film/movie actor. He acted in more than 150 films, most of them German...
). The trial produced the uniquely Scottish verdict of "not proven", which left Madeleine a free woman.
The film begins with the purchase of a house in Glasgow by a wealthy middle class Victorian family. Their eldest daughter, Madeleine, chooses to have for her own the bedroom in the basement. Here she will have easy access to the servants' entrance, and will be able to entertain her lover, Frenchman Emile L'Angelier, without the knowledge of her family.
The relationship continues, and the couple become secretly engaged, but L'Angelier begins to press Madeleine to reveal his existence to her father in order that they can marry. Madeleine, frightened of her authoritarian father, is reluctant to do so and eventually visits L'Angelier in his rooms and says she will run away with him and marry him rather than face telling her father the truth. L'Angelier, however, says that he could never marry her in this way, and Madeleine realises that he does not love her for herself but rather that he sees her as a means to recover his position in society. She tells him that their relationship is at an end and asks him to send her letters back.
During the time that she has been seeing L'Angelier, Madeleine's father has been encouraging her to accept the attentions of a wealthy society gentleman, William Minnoch, (Norman Wooland
Norman Wooland
Norman Wooland was a German-born British character actor who appeared in many major films, notably in several Shakespearean ones....
) and after having broken her engagement with L'Angelier, she tells Mr Minnoch that she will accept his marriage proposal. Her family are delighted, but L'Angelier visits the house again and threatens to show her father the compromising letters in his possession unless she continues to see him. Saying nothing of her new engagement, Madeleine reluctantly agrees.
Some weeks after this, L'Angelier is taken very ill, and although he recovers, he later has another attack of the same illness and this time dies from it.
He is found to have died from arsenic poisoning, and L'Angelier's friend points the finger of suspicion at Madeleine, who is found to have had arsenic in her possession at the time of L'Angelier's death.
The remainder of the film covers the court case, at the end of which the jury bring the verdict of not proven
Not proven
Not proven is a verdict available to a court in Scotland.Under Scots law, a criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts: one of conviction and two of acquittal ....
, a uniquely Scottish verdict which releases Madeleine from custody as neither guilty nor not guilty.
Cast
- Ann ToddAnn ToddDorothy Anne Todd was an English actress and producer.She was born in Hartford, Cheshire and was educated at St. Winifrid's School, Eastbourne. She became a popular actress from appearing in such films as Perfect Strangers and The Seventh Veil...
as Madeleine Smith - Norman WoolandNorman WoolandNorman Wooland was a German-born British character actor who appeared in many major films, notably in several Shakespearean ones....
as William Minnoch - Ivan DesnyIvan DesnyIvan Nikolai Desnitskij was a Russian actor born in China who worked for most of his life in Germany.-Career:Desny was a film/movie actor. He acted in more than 150 films, most of them German...
as Emile L'Anglier - Leslie BanksLeslie BanksLeslie Banks, CBE was an English theatre and cinema actor, director and producer, now best remembered playing gruff, menacing characters in black and white movies of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
as James Smith - Barbara EverestBarbara EverestBarbara Everest was a British film actress. She was born in Southfields, Surrey, and made her screen debut in the 1916 film The Man Without a Soul.-Selected filmography:* A Romance of Old Baghdad...
as Mrs. Smith - Susan StranksSusan StranksSusan Stranks is a British actress, television presenter and producer.-Career:Born in London, Stranks was ten years old when she played the role of the younger Emmeline Foster in the 1949 romantic adventure film The Blue Lagoon....
as Janet Smith - Patricia Raine as Bessie Smith
- Elizabeth SellarsElizabeth SellarsElizabeth Sellars is a British actress.Sellars was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She appeared on the stage from age 15 and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts...
as Christina Hackett - Edward ChapmanEdward Chapman (actor)Edward Chapman was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. Wilfred Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s.Chapman was born in...
as Dr. Thompson - Jean CadellJean CadellJean Cadell was a Scottish character actress.Born in Edinburgh, she performed in the cinema and on the stage. One of her best known cinema roles was in the Ealing Studios comedy Whisky Galore! . She once performed opposite W.C. Fields in Hollywood, cast as Mrs...
as Mrs. Jenkins - Eugene DeckersEugene DeckersEugene Deckers was a Belgian stage actor who relocated to England when his Nazi-held homeland was liberated by the Allies. Re-establishing himself on the British stage, Deckers made his first English language film appearance in 1946. Formerly a romantic lead, he specialized in "continental"...
as Thuau - Ivor BarnardIvor BarnardIvor Barnard was an English film actor. In 1929 he appeared on stage in "Bird In Hand" at the Morosco Theatre in New York City. He appeared in 84 films between 1921 and 1953. He appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock film The 39 Steps in 1935. In 1943, he played the stationmaster in the Ealing war movie...
as Mr. Murdoch - David HorneDavid Horne (actor)-Biography:British actor and playwright David Horne began his film career in the 1930s, after a distinguished early career in the theatre. He was generally seen portraying pompous, self-satisfied characters...
as Lord Justice-Clerk - Henry EdwardsHenry Edwards (actor)Henry Edwards was an English actor and film director. He appeared in 81 films between 1915 and 1952. He also directed 67 films between 1915 and 1937...
as Clerk of the Court - Barry JonesBarry Jones (actor)Barry Jones was an actor seen in British and American films, on American television and on the stage.-Biography:...
as Prosecuting Counsel - André MorellAndré MorellAndré Morell was a British actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s...
as Defending Counsel - Amy VenessAmy VenessAmy Veness was a British film actress. She played the role of Grandma Huggett in The Huggetts Trilogy.-Selected filmography:* Please Help Emily * Let Me Explain, Dear * A Southern Maid...
as Miss Aiken - Kynaston ReevesKynaston ReevesKynaston Reeves was christened Philip Arthur Reeves, and was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series.-Career:...
as Dr. Penny - Cameron HallCameron Hall (actor)-Selected filmography:* The Lilac Domino * Adventure's End * Yes, Madam? * Neutral Port * Spellbound * I Thank You * My Brother Jonathan * Man on the Run * Madeleine...
as Dr. Yeoman