Madeleine (1950 film)

Madeleine is a 1950 film directed by David Lean, based on a true story of 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 publicised in the newspapers of the day and labelled "the trial of the century". Lean's adaptation of the story starred his wife, Ann Todd, with Ivan Desny as her French lover. Norman Wooland played the respectable suitor and Leslie Banks the authoritarian father, both of whom are unaware of Madeleine's secret life. Lean made the film primarily as a "wedding present" to Todd, who had previously played the role onstage. He was never satisfied with the film and cited it as his least-favourite feature-length movie.

Madeleine
Directed byDavid Lean
Produced byStanley Haynes
Written byStanley Haynes
Nicholas Phipps
StarringAnn Todd
Ivan Desny
Norman Wooland
Music byWilliam Alwyn
CinematographyGuy Green
Edited byClive Donner
Geoffrey Foot
Distributed byThe Rank Organization
Release date
14 February 1950
Running time
114 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The film begins at 7 Blythswood Square in Glasgow as a contemporary setting, then jumps back to its sale in the early 19th century.

The film dramatises events leading up to the 1857 trial of an otherwise-respectable young woman, Madeleine Smith (Ann Todd) 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 an upper middle-class Victorian family. Their eldest daughter Madeleine claims the basement bedroom so she will have easy access to the servants' entrance and be able to entertain her lover, Frenchman Emile L'Angelier, without her family's knowledge.

The relationship continues and the couple becomes secretly engaged but L'Angelier begins to press Madeleine to reveal his existence to her father, so they can marry. Frightened of her authoritarian father, Madeleine is reluctant to do so; eventually she visits L'Angelier in his room and says she will elope with him, rather than face telling her father. L'Angelier says he could never marry her this way and Madeleine realises that he loves her not for her but as a means to recover his position in society. She says their relationship is over and demands her letters to be returned.

During the time that Madeleine has been seeing L'Angelier, her father has been encouraging her to accept the attentions of a wealthy society gentleman, William Minnoch (Norman Wooland) and after breaking her engagement with L'Angelier, Madeleine tells Mr. Minnoch that she will accept his marriage proposal. Her family is happy but L'Angelier shows up threatening 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 later, L'Angelier becomes very ill. He recovers but later he has a fatal relapse. When the cause of death is proven to be arsenic poisoning, a friend of L'Angelier 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, finishing with the verdict of "not proven", a uniquely Scottish verdict which releases Madeleine from custody as neither guilty nor not guilty.

Cast

Production

Charles Bennett wrote a version of the story, meaning to direct but his script was not used because David Lean wanted to make a version starring his wife Ann Todd.[1]

References
  1. Patrick McGilligan, "Charles Bennett", Backstory, p 40
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