Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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58 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Tragic Romance, March 18, 2003
When pressed to name her favorite of her own films, Vivien Leigh brushed aside both GONE WITH THE WIND and STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE in favor of this now little-known film based on a failed 1930s stage drama of the same name: WATERLOO BRIDGE, directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Leigh had good reason for her choice. Although she was dazzling as Scarlett O'Hara and elegantly depraved as Blanche DuBois, she was never as beautifully photographed as she was in this 1940 film.WATERLOO BRIDGE is perhaps best described as one of a number of films "with an English accent" that played to American sympathies for England in the years when England largely stood alone against Nazi Germany. The story itself has a wartime setting: beautiful ballerina Myra (Vivien Leigh) meets and falls passionately in love with officer Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor), only to be parted from him when he is called to duty during World War I. Alone and increasingly destitute, she learns that he has been killed in action--and so, broken hearted and unconcerned for herself, she drifts into prostitution, plying the world's oldest profession along Waterloo Bridge... until she experiences a horrific twist of fate. Although Robert Taylor is a bit miscast, Leigh carries the film with a truly remarkable performance. In the opening portion of the scene, she is at the height of her youthful beauty, and cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg makes the most of it; later, when experience has hardened her, she turns the graceful charm of her earlier scenes upside down to create the bitter, brassy tart that Myra has become. The cast also features an exceptional performance by Lucile Watson as Lady Margaret and notable turns by Maria Ouspenskaya, C. Aubrey Smith, and a host of others. Although less well known than such tragic romances as Garbo's CAMILLE, WATERLOO BRIDGE is easily the equal of such and considerably better than most. The romantic aura is powerful, the production values are meticulous, the direction, photography, and script are first rate. And at the center of it all we have perhaps the single most beautiful actress of her era, Vivien Leigh, in one of her finest performances. You'll need a box of tissues for this one; don't miss it.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
ANOTHER JEWEL IN VIVIEN'S CROWN., November 10, 2002
Vivien Leigh is magnificent as Myra, the young ballet dancer who falls in love with handsome Roy Cronin, a British army officer, who has been called to duty. They met on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid and commenced dancing at the Candlelight Club where they vowed to marry. When Myra believes Roy dead, she drifts into the seedy world of prostitution after she has been dismissed from the ballet school. The newspaper report of Cronin's death turns out to be erroneous, however: Roy and Myra accidentally meet....Leigh's performance is the core of the film: she's as brilliant as she is beautiful. Her metamorphasis from a delicate, virginal and romantic girl to a lost, pitiful and pessimistic woman (due to fateful circumstances) is a stunning account of her bravura acting ability: if Scarlett O'Hara won her an Oscar and made her a star, Myra solidy confirmed her undeniable talent. All the supporting performances are splendid: Lucile Watson as Roy's aristocratic mother, Virginia Field as Kitty, Myra's loyal roommate who visits Primrose Path, and the tyrannical ballet impresario as played by the great Maria Ouspenskaya. This was Robert Taylor's favourite film and his performance ranks with his best. Robert E. Sherwood's 1930 play was filmed priorly by Universal in 1931. Mae Clarke won kudos for her interpretation of Myra, Roy was played Douglass Montgomery and Bette Davis had a bit. Hopefully, it may make it to video someday. As with Taylor, this was Leigh's personal favourite of all her films.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romantic classic for lovers both young and old, March 11, 2003
Vivien Leigh had what I firmly believe was her most wonderful role as the tragic Ballerina Myra Lester in MGM's classic "Waterloo Bridge". If one film was to be regarded as the epitome of what romance on screen should be like then this beautiful production would be it. With no use of bad language, no gross sex scenes, relying as it is on a simple but beautifully wrought story of genuine love between two very different people, it is perfect and should be a film enjoyed by all those over the generations who have loved or wish to be.Adapted from the famous stage play "Waterloo Bridge", by Robert F. Sherwood it provided the ever lovely Vivien Leigh with one of her greatest roles ever. Made in the aftermath of her triumph as Scarlett O'Hara in the classic "Gone With The Wind", it provided the second of two classic roles for her within the space of two years. Despite winning an Oscar later in her career for her tragic role in "A Streetcar Named Desire", Vivien Leigh would always be most fondly remembered for her work in "Gone With The Wind", and "Waterloo Bridge". Here she has a very different role to the feisty Scarlett and Vivien proves herself to be more than up to the challenge. Never on screen has she been more lovely or convincing as the fragile dancer Myra who meets the man of her dreams Colonel Roy Cronin (Robert Taylor in his best role ever)in the middle of an air raid on London's Waterloo Bridge, falls into a whirlwind romance only to be seperated from him by the demands of the war which also sees her own life crumble into degradation after falsely believing him killed in action in France. Expertly directed by veteran Mervyn LeRoy famous for extracting heartfelt performances out of his actors, "Waterloo Bridge" is a wonderfully moving experience from start to finish. We see the young couple meet in less than ideal circumstances in the underground being used as a airraid shelter, we see (in the most romantic scene in the film) the two dancing and falling in love at the wonderful Candlelight Club just as the light is being extinguished. We join them in their attempts to get married and then to find Roy being shipped off to active duty within a few hours. We then witness Myra's tragic decline into a life of prostitution only to discover too late that Roy is still alive and still just as in love with her while life has taken her in a totally different direction leading to tragic consequences. As the heart felt lovers Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor are perfectly matched and bring total conviction to their parts. Both stated in later years that this film was their own personal favourite and its easy to see why filled as it is by wonderful acting, beautifully staged romantic scenes and a message about what war can do to people in general. Robert Taylor has never been better and his old age rememberances of his lost love on Waterloo Bridge are some of the most tearful parts in the whole film. "Waterloo Bridge", abounds with other beautiful performances as well. As Myra's best friend and confidant Kitty Meredith who shares the hardships of life on the streets with her , Virginia Field is wonderful in her unwavering love and loyalty to Myra. Veteran character actress Lucile Watson fresh from her triumph playing Norma Shearer's wise mother in "The Women", plays here Robert Taylor's mother Lady Margaret Cronin. Always a beautifully sensitive actress her standout scene where she meets Myra in a restauranrt just after Myra believes that Roy has been killed will leave a lump in your throat for a long time. Rounding out the superlative cast is Maria Ouspenskaya as the harsh Madame Olga Kirowa the domineering manager of the ballet company troupe who by her rigid set of rules is responsible for Myra's downward spiral to a life of degredation and C. Audrey Smith as the Duke delivering his usual sterling work as the army superior who finds himself a little in love with Myra himself when he gives she and Roy permission to marry. First and foremost it is Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor's film and as an ideal image of what young lovers should be they are perfect. The chemistry here is ever bit as magical as it was for Vivien with Clark Gable in "Gone With The Wind". She and Taylor had worked together a couple of years previously in England when Robert Taylor travelled over to film "A Yank In Oxford" and their familiar camaradie shows on screen. I cannot recommend "Waterloo Bridge", highly enough to you. It is one of my all time favourite romantic dramas. Being also a favourite of my dear late mother's it also has a real sentimental attachment for me. Whether you are seeing this film for the first time or revisiting it after a number of years if you love romanctic tearful dramas you can't help but fall in love yourself with this beautiful production of "Waterloo Bridge".
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