MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

wes-connors In 1850s Glasgow, beautifully-dressed Ann Todd (as Madeleine) and her family move into an immaculately-furnished, upper-classy new home. Still fetching in her 40s, Ms. Todd attracts her share of male admirers, most significantly handsome young Ivan Desny (as Emile L'Anglier). However, Todd's appearances-conscious father Leslie Banks (as James Smith) would rather his daughter marry suitable Norman Wooland (as William Minnoch). Eventually, a lover is poisoned and Todd stands accused. While Todd looks beautiful under duress, Andre Morell and Barry Jones passionately argue it out in court...This is based on a true story; Todd's character is probably supposed to be much younger, but the age difference works well, adding another dimension to her unacceptable affair. Todd delivers a Garbo-like performance. Coincidently, Greta Garbo was concurrently preparing the un-produced "Lover and Friend" (1950) with noted Todd co-star James Mason; Garbo camera tests by James Wong Howe and William Daniels by resemble some shots of Todd in this film. "Madeleine" is lacking in narrative, but the direction by David Lean and photography by Guy Green make it worth viewing.******* Madeleine (2/14/50) David Lean ~ Ann Todd, Norman Wooland, Ivan Desny, Leslie Banks

edwagreen Ann Todd stars in this period piece taking place in 1857's Scotland. Ann (Madeleine) comes from a stuff shirt family with apparent wealth and position in society.Her parents push her to marry a man of their social equivalent but she has designs instead on a Frenchman. When she realizes that her father will never approve of the latter, she begs him to give back the love letters she sent him but to no avail. At this point, our monsieur dies of arsenic poisoning and Madeleine is tried for his murder.The film essentially shows what a good defense attorney can do by creating doubt in the mind of the jury. Public opinion was certainly against Madeleine.There is an excellent performance here by Leslie Banks as her erudite father, who would best represent the Victorian era thinking of love and romance.

LouE15 David Lean is one of those directors who I don't quite know how to 'take'. Watching the 'lesser' films of a great director (in a great box set I got this year) is no doubt an excellent way to decide what you really think about them. The awe (or boredom) inspired by the best-known and – allegedly – the best-loved works is absent; you watch with completely open, unaffected eyes. Thus "Madeleine": I knew nothing about the (true) story on which it is based, and was gripped by a thoroughly sinister and tense story from first to last. I won't cover the story - it's been done so well by other reviewers.The best parts of a 'minor' film like this stand out all the more strongly for there being no expectation that you should fall on your knees over it. Where a minor director would direct a film of a true story in stocky, reliable fashion, a great director adds flourishes – not merely ornamental – that truly raise the film to a greater status. The tension is ramped up more effectively; the bitter consequences of the rash acts more bitter; the harm, the joy, the cause-and-effect more meaningful. Lean's control of sound, vision, story, pace here – these mark him out as great and bring to mind – at their best – the way that Kurosawa tells a story. I'm not comparing them – they're so different – except in the ways that, as the saying goes, it really is all in the detail.Ann Todd plays the temptress Madeleine – and my goodness, what a sharp-faced little thing! As much of greed and spoilt willfulness in her wayward course as of real, true love. That her love cools so quickly when she realises (really, didn't she before?) finally that her lover will only take her WITH her money, means that there's really not that much sympathy with her plight. One look at her lover (and this really should be to the credit of the actor) is enough to tell you that he is vain, dandyish, idle, assuming, selfish and too proud for his own good. One look at her is enough to tell you that she usually gets what she wants – despite being – at least superficially – afraid of her father.The scene where Madeleine dances with her lover in a garden, intercut with scenes of the wild ceilidh going on down the hill, whose music provides her ambiance, is absolutely extraordinary, and reminds me of the masterful use of sound and music displayed in Kurosawa's "The Bad Sleep Well" (particularly, the funeral scene). Lean beat the censors in telling his story the way he did, and he shows great control in his racking up of the tension throughout the story.It's also a real pleasure to see some great Scottish actors that appeared in other films of this period which I adore: Jean Cadell, who appears in "Pygmalion" – which Lean edited – and "I Know Where I'm Going!", and John Laurie (also in "I Know Where I'm Going!" and in "Major Barbara").The transformation of L'Angelier from ardent, put-upon lover to oppressive, near-blackmailer is nicely done; as is the ambiguity surrounding whether Madeleine did, or did not, poison her lover. You just don't really ever quite believe her absolutely: you know there is ambiguity in everything about her, so that you don't trust her reactions and impressions. The court scenes are well played, and there's a thick tightness to the whole that feels like a short, rich dish, full-flavoured and satisfying. And that's not an impression I ever carried away from Lean's 'great' works. It won't make me rethink those works; it will make me seek out with greater interest than before, more of those works of the 1940s and 1950s which I think might be getting lost in the mists of time as cinema and its troublesome offspring, TV, grow from their infancy of those years, to their virulent, American-flavoured adolescence.

moonspinner55 A boarding-house Lothario in 1857 Glasgow dies from arsenic poisoning; a stack of incriminating letters point the finger at the man's secret lover, an unmarried high society woman who has recently announced her engagement to a man of her class. True story which held Victorian Scotland spellbound is given handsome, but not elaborate treatment from director David Lean. Lean's then-wife Ann Todd reportedly played Madeleine Smith on the stage (not credited here) and her assets--steely eyes, a knitted-brow and taut mouth--are in perfect accompaniment with this inscrutable character, who may or may not be what she seems. Lean captures the allure of a clandestine romance, with the screen fading to black as the lustiness becomes palpable, and his third act in the courtroom is quite lively. Still, this seems to be a lot of striding up and down for a fairly certain verdict, and the conclusion is curiously flat. Columbo could've solved this case in an hour. ** from ****