{"id":27123,"date":"2012-09-06T12:01:36","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T19:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27123"},"modified":"2021-02-04T14:19:44","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T21:19:44","slug":"barretts-of-wimpole-street-the-1934","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27123","title":{"rendered":"Barretts of Wimpole Street, The (1934)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;re everything in the world to me; you know that. Without you, I should be quite alone.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Poster-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-27127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Poster-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nBed-ridden poet Elizabeth Barrett (Norma Shearer) and her sister Henrietta (Margaret O&#8217;Sullivan) fight against the wishes of their tyrannically possessive father (Charles Laughton) in pursuing romance with their suitors &#8212; poet Robert Browning (Fredric March) and a soldier (Ralph Forbes).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Charles Laughton Films<\/li>\n<li>Father and Child<\/li>\n<li>Fredric March Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>Maureen O&#8217;Sullivan Films<\/li>\n<li>Norma Shearer Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptations<\/li>\n<li>Romance<\/li>\n<li>Writers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n<em>The Barretts of Wimpole Street<\/em> &#8212; based upon a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Barretts_of_Wimpole_Street\">1930 play<\/a> about the romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning &#8212; is probably best remembered these days as one of the 12 films nominated for Best Picture of the Year in 1934. It also provided Norma Shearer with one of her six Best Actress nominations, and she herself remains the primary reason to check it out: despite playing a put-upon &#8220;cripple&#8221; facing seemingly insurmountable odds in her quest for health and romance (a situation absolutely ripe for potentially cloying melodrama), Shearer&#8217;s performance is never less than fully nuanced and authentically sympathetic. The film itself (directed by Sidney Franklin, who also helmed a nearly identical remake in the 1950s with Jennifer Jones) is overly stagy but provides a surprisingly creepy depiction of parental favoritism and warped paternal despotism. Despite being just a few years older than Shearer in real life, Laughton convincingly plays her emotionally incestuous father &#8212; a man determined to keep his beloved daughter permanently by his side, and deny her any chance at romantic happiness; however, Laughton is so naturally adept at playing a creepy baddy that one can&#8217;t help wishing for an even more nuanced interpretation on his part. Meanwhile, March is suitably bold (if undistinguished) as Browning; he apparently regretted not doing even more with this role.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-March.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-March.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-March.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-March-300x229.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-March-128x98.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-March-354x270.png 354w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Norma Shearer as Elizabeth Barrett (nominated by Peary as one of the Best Actresses of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Shearer.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Shearer.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Shearer.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Shearer-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Shearer-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A creepy look at an emotionally incestuous father-daughter relationship<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Father-Daugther.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Father-Daugther.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Father-Daugther.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Father-Daugther-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Father-Daugther-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>William Daniels&#8217; atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27125\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Cinematography.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Cinematography-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Barretts-Cinematography-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, simply for Shearer&#8217;s lovely performance. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0024865\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"street\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/67396\/the_barretts_of_wimpole_street.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re everything in the world to me; you know that. Without you, I should be quite alone.&#8221; Synopsis: Bed-ridden poet Elizabeth Barrett (Norma Shearer) and her sister Henrietta (Margaret O&#8217;Sullivan) fight against the wishes of their tyrannically possessive father (Charles Laughton) in pursuing romance with their suitors &#8212; poet Robert Browning (Fredric March) and a soldier (Ralph Forbes). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Charles Laughton Films Father and Child Fredric March Films Historical Drama Maureen O&#8217;Sullivan Films Norma Shearer Films&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27123\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27123"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68666,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27123\/revisions\/68666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}