| All This, and Heaven Too | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Anatole Litvak |
| Produced by | David Lewis Anatole Litvak |
| Written by | Casey Robinson Rachel Field (novel) |
| Starring | Bette Davis Charles Boyer Barbara O'Neil |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | Ernie Haller |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | July 4, 1940 |
| Running time | 141 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
All This, and Heaven Too is a 1940 American drama film made by Warner Bros.-First National Pictures, produced and directed by Anatole Litvak with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer. The screenplay was adapted by Casey Robinson from the novel by Rachel Field. The music was by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Ernie Haller.
The film stars Bette Davis and Charles Boyer with Barbara O'Neil, Jeffrey Lynn, Virginia Weidler, Helen Westley, Walter Hampden, Henry Daniell, Harry Davenport, George Coulouris, Montagu Love, Janet Beecher and June Lockhart.
Rachel Field's novel is based on actual persons and events.
Contents |
When Mademoiselle Henriette Deluzy-Desportes (Bette Davis), a French woman, starts teaching at an American girls school, she is confronted with tales and gossip about her, which have become common knowledge among her pupils. Provoked by them, she decides to tell them her life story.
Mademoiselle Deluzy-Desportes once was governess to the four children of the Duc de Praslin (Charles Boyer) and his wife, the Duchesse de Praslin (Barbara O'Neil) in the last years of the Orleans monarchy in Paris. As a result of the Duchesse's constantly erratic and temperamental behavior, all that remains is an unhappy marriage. However, Duc de Praslin stays with his wife because of their children.
Through her warmth and kindness, Henriette wins the love and affection of the children as well as Duc de Praslin - and the jealousy and hatred of the Duchesse de Praslin. The governess is forced to leave, but the Duchess has refused to give a letter of recommendation to any future employer. The Duc confronts her, but her invention of two alternate letters of opposing attitudes, which it turns out she has not written, or intends to write, enrage him and leads to her murder.
The Duc de Praslin is in a privileged position; as a peer his case can only be heard by other nobles. He refuses to confess his guilt, or openly admit to his love for Henriette, but this is his means of protecting her as she is under suspicion of complicity in the murder of the Duchess. Ultimately the Duc takes poison to prevent himself confessing the truth to the authorities, but lives long enough to reveal it to another of his servants Pierre (Henry Davenport), a kindly old man who had earlier warned Henriette to escape from the de Praslin household. Henriette is released.
Her French class is totally moved by the account she gives of her life. An American minister Henry Field (Jeffrey Lynn), to whom Henriette had expressed a loss of faith while in prison, was responsible for recommending her for the post 'in the land of the free'. He proposes they marry, and Henriette accepts.
A successful but expensive costume drama,[1] it was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture; O'Neil was nominated for Best Supporting Actress; and Ernest Haller for Best Cinematography.