The most pleasant surprise in this film was realizing early on that it is based on a true story. The main character is the eldest daughter of the Barrett family. She mentions that a new friend with whom she's been exchanging letters is coming to visit - Robert Browning, a writer. I thought the name sounded familiar and a Google search confirmed that he was the right age to have been in London in 1845 when the film is set.
Then I realized the protagonist's name was an even more familiar one once you assume she marries this Browning chap - Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the poet who gave us "How do I love thee, let me count the ways..."
So while the film doesn't particularly hold up, I greatly appreciated the historical context and that it was very much based on a true story. The incomparable Charles Laughton plays the tyrannical father of the Barrett clan (though he was just 35 years old at the time) who insists on making all decisions about all aspects of the lives of his many children.
Elizabeth (or Ba, as her siblings call her) is played by Norma Shearer, an actress who was no doubt a household name in the 1930s, a decade during which she was nominated for best lead actress at the Oscars six times. The pacing in this film left me on the verge of falling asleep, but the performances were all strong and I did enjoy the story itself.
19 to go...
