Happy 75th Waterloo Bridge

Today is the 75th anniversary of Vivien Leigh's favorite from her own filmography Waterloo Bridge (1940). You shoud definitely see it if you only know Scarlett & Blanche. 

 

Comments

[joel6]

What a wonderful film this is! I can see why it was Vivien's favorite over GWTW. While her work as Scarlett is definitive Waterloo's Myra calls for smaller more subtle emotions and she delivers beautifully. Her fondness for the film might also be tied into the fact that she had finally been able to marry Olivier just before the start of filming and was in one of the happiest periods of her life.

She had wanted Olivier to play Robert Taylor's part and he would have made more sense, he was no more Scottish, the nationality of the character Roy, then Taylor but he would have at least brought a continental feeling to the role. However Taylor is better here than usual, he also listed this as his favorite amongst his films, he and Leigh hit it off and he said he felt inspired by her artistry to stretch himself.

Lucile Watson is solid as Roy's kindly mother but the real standout of the supporting cast is Virginia Field as Myra steadfast friend Kitty, her work should have resulted in a nomination, she'd be my supporting actress winner. It's odd that as strong as everyone's work is that since the film was a success and well reviewed not a single nomination came its way for acting nor for Mervyn LeRoy's excellent direction although it did score two, one for its music and the other for cinematography.