Product Details

• Actors: Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan
• Directors: John M. Stahl, Otto Preminger
• Writers: Jerome Cady, Kathleen Winsor, Philip Dunne, Ring Lardner Jr.
• Producers: Darryl F. Zanuck, William Perlberg
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: October 5, 1994
• Run Time: 138 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303102476
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,319 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Long, lavish look at a "scandalous" lady, June 14, 2000

By	David J. Kucharski (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

One of the most infamous "trash" novels of the 1940s was Kathleen Winsor's Forever Amber, the story of a beautiful but poor young woman (though of noble birth) who sleeps her way up the social ladder until she becomes mistress of King Charles II of England. Her heart, however, belongs only to the roguish Bruce Carleton, who continues to elude her at every turn.

When 20th Century-Fox announced they were going to film the book, howls of protest emerged from the Catholic Church and other organizations devoted to film censorship. Undeterred, Fox went ahead with the film--and what emerged was, surprisingly, a lavish, witty, and bittersweet look at a daring young woman tripped up by her romantic heart.

Originally, the lead role was to have been played by the young British actress Peggy Cummins. (And actresses as diverse as Maureen O'Hara and Angela Lansbury have admitted they had hoped to win the role.) After filming began, however, Cummins was replaced by Linda Darnell, playing her first lead role in a big-budget, prestigious picture. Darnell--a native of Texas and nearly a ten-year veteran of the screen in 1947, although she was only in her mid-20s--makes a memorable impression in the role. Her bearing is regal, her accent (though not truly British) is cultured--and she is spectacularly gorgeous in the many stunning gowns and hair-dos designed for her.

The technical aspects of the film are also memorable. Director Otto Preminger (he and Darnell never did get along well) makes effective use of a sort of sooty, shadowy Technicolor; certain scenes resemble the paintings of the 17th century. And David Raksin's majestic score is among the finest ever written for a film, period.

I heartily recommend Forever Amber!

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FROM THE LUSTY NOVEL., September 11, 2002

By	"scotsladdie" (GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

The naughty (and controversial) first novel by the much-publicized and photogenic Kathleen Winsor came out in 1944: it was an instant best-seller competing with the likes of Maugham's THE RAZOR'S EDGE & A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN by Betty Smith. It became THE top selling book of 1945 and eventually sold a total of over 3 million copies in both hardback and paperback versions. Linda Darnell plays Amber St. Clair, a poor English lass who sees promiscuity as the only way to wealth and happiness. Amber bed-hops her way through lovers Wilde, Russell and Langan and eventually winds up as the favourite concubine of Sanders, who plays King Charles II. But promiscuity has its price...The lavish 7 million dollar budget (which included lush Technicolor) was a sort of consolation prize: the film suffers from its inability to detail the eroticism of the source material - which gave the novel its distinction. Originally the English actress Peggy Cummins was cast (and partially filmed) as Ms. St. Clair, but it was decided that she wasn't quite right for the role. Regretfully, the beautiful Darnell was somewhat miscast as well: her performance is rather lacklustre and her naturally lovely looks were altered for the part by bleaching her raven-black hair an unsuitable blonde (they would do the same thing to Elizabeth Taylor - in 1949 - when she portrayed Amy in LITTLE WOMEN: neither actress looked particularly convincing as a blonde, somehow).

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forever Amber, December 16, 1999

By	Trudi Neff (USA) - See all my reviews

I have seen this movie only once....probably 25 years ago. This was one of the best movies I had ever seen (right up there with Gone With The Wind). It was on TBS and that was all I ever heard or saw of that movie. I do remember that Linda Darnell was absolutely great and that the story line was one that captured you immediately. There was a lot of intrigue. The costumes were wonderful, the acting superb. I look forward to seeing this again.