GAINSBOUROUGH TRIPLE FEATURE: British Melodramas From WW II

Although I have been a fan of British cinema for over 50 years, it was primarily of the horror films made by Hammer and others from the 1950’s through the mid 1970’s. Only in the last 10 years have I begun exploring earlier British movies from the 1930’s and 40’s and this includes those by Alfred Hitchcock. A lot of this had to do with the unavailability in decent prints (especially the Hitchcocks) or in the case of these Gainsboroughs, their unavailability period. In fact before coming across this set, I had only seen one Gainsborough film before. That was the 1936 Boris Karloff movie THE MAN WHO CHANGED HIS MIND although I had run across several titles in various reference books.

During the early 1940’s, at the height of World War II, Gainsborough Pictures began a series of movies that became known as “The Gainsborough Melodramas” which proved to be very successful at the box office. The majority of these films were “overheated” costume dramas which featured a series of stock characters that included the “good girl” heroine (usually played by Phyllis Calvert), the scheming “bad girl” (usually played by Margaret Lockwood), the handsome leading man (usually Stewart Granger), and a charming but ruthless villain (usually James Mason). This Criterion Eclipse Series brings together three of the most highly regarded GMs in quality prints.

The first of these, THE MAN IN GREY (1943), tells the story of a cruel nobleman in Regency England who marries in order to have an heir and nothing more as he and his wife have separate living arrangements. His finishing school wife’s best friend sets her sights on the husband. Things do not end well. The best known of the set, THE WICKED LADY (1945), features a bored 17th century noblewoman who becomes a highwayman. It was remade in 1983 with Faye Dunaway. My favorite of the set is MADONNA OF THE SEVEN MOONS (1944) about a contemporary woman with a split personality (before THREE FACES OF EVE) which gives Phyllis Calvert the chance to be both good AND bad.

Although the films have not been fully restored, they come from the best available sources complete with the British Board Of Film Censors certificates in the beginning. The prints are by far and away not only the best looking but also the best sounding which is frequently the biggest problem with British movies of this vintage. Although there are no extras as you would get from a top flight Criterion release, each movie does come with subtitles to help you understand the accents and some of the colloquial terms and phrases. If you love old B&W movies, then give these 3 Gainsborough Melodramas a try. It’s great to see a young James Mason and Stewart Granger just starting out on their celebrated careers.