| Waterloo Bridge | |
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Original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Mervyn LeRoy |
| Produced by | Sidney Franklin |
| Written by | S. N. Behrman Hans Rameau George Froeschel Robert E. Sherwood (play) |
| Starring | Robert Taylor Vivien Leigh Lucile Watson Virginia Field Maria Ouspenskaya C. Aubrey Smith |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Cinematography | Joseph Ruttenberg |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | May 17, 1940 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,164,000 |
| Box office | $1,250,000 (Domestic earnings) $1,217,000 (Foreign earnings) |
Waterloo Bridge is a 1940 remake of the 1931 film of the same title, adapted from the 1930 play of the same title.
The film was made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sidney Franklin and Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay is by S. N. Behrman, Hans Rameau and George Froeschel, based on the Broadway drama by Robert E. Sherwood. The music is by Herbert Stothart and cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg. The film stars Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh, her first film after the success of Gone with the Wind. MGM bought the 1931 version from Universal when they did this remake.
Waterloo Bridge tells the story of a dancer and an officer who meet in a chance encounter on Waterloo Bridge. This initial encounter occurs during an air raid in World War I. But because of the Hays Code, which had not been in effect when the 1931 film version was made, the plot of the 1940 version had to be changed and somewhat sanitized. In the original play and film, Myra is an ordinary chorus girl of easy virtue, and Roy is too naive to realize this until near the end. In the 1940 version, Myra is a ballerina in a prestigious dance company, who descends into prostitution after mistakenly believing that Roy has been killed. In the first film, Myra is accidentally killed; in the 1940 version, she commits suicide in order not to involve Roy in a scandal.
Waterloo Bridge was a success at the box office and nominated for two Academy Awards — Best Music for Herbert Stothart and Best Cinematography. It was also considered a personal favourite by both Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor.
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World War II has just broken out and a soldier stops on Waterloo Bridge to reminisce. The film then cuts to a flashback to World War I with the young soldier Roy Cronin (Taylor) who has stopped on the bridge. An alarm sounds signaling an air raid and a group of girls pause on the bridge, arguing about what they should do. They turn to Roy and he tells them they should find cover. One of the girls in the group, Myra Lester (Leigh), drops her purse in the road and dangerously retrieves it, along with her good luck charm, a billiken. Roy chastises her and the two run for the underground.
Once in the underground, Roy and Myra talk together and Myra invites Roy to her ballet performance. Roy declines, stating he has a dinner with a colonel, and expresses his regret. They part as Myra gives him her good luck charm. However, he dismisses the colonel's dinner and attends the performance. Afterwards, he sends a note to Myra asking her to dinner. The note is taken by Madame Olga Kirowa (Maria Ouspenskaya). Madame Kirowa orders Myra to write Roy a note declining the invitation. Meanwhile, Roy is waiting anxiously for word and, receiving the letter, begins to walk dejectedly away. However, Kitty (Virginia Field) stops him and arranges the date for Myra.
Myra and Roy spend a pleasant evening together, ending with a kiss. As they part, Roy explains he is to return to the battle-front. The following day, Myra, dejected, looks out her rainy window and sees Roy standing beneath it. She runs to him and the two agree to marry. She does not attend her ballet performance. Instead she goes to the train station to say farewell to Roy, as she may never see him again, upon her return to the theater Madame Kirowa dismisses her from the ballet. Kitty stands up to Madame Kirowa, to explain the situation, and is also dismissed.
Myra and Kitty rent a small apartment and Myra receives flowers from Roy. While waiting in a tea shop to meet Roy's mother (Lucile Watson) for the first time, Myra reads in the paper that Roy has been killed. The proprietor of the tea shop gives her wine to revive her. Moments later Roy's mother arrives and a distressed Myra appears to behave apprehensively and impudently towards her, and slightly drunk into the bargain, while actually keeping from her the news of her son's death. Dejected, Roy's mother leaves and shortly thereafter Myra faints. Back at her apartment Myra grows depressed and Kitty buys her medicine with income she earned as a prostitute. Kitty lies to Myra and tells her that she has been working as a performer. Myra attends the performance of the play in which Kitty is supposedly acting, and comes back to the apartment, asking questions about the play. Myra then confronts Kitty. Kitty confesses and Myra, too, becomes a prostitute as a means of coping with their financial circumstances.
Myra works at Waterloo Station and, in the midst of attempting to pick up potential customers, sees Roy coming from the train. He greets her warmly and takes her to lunch where she acts strangely towards him. He assumes their engagement will go on as planned and Myra accepts his offer after his questions on whether or not she has moved on. The two go to his home in Scotland where she again meets his mother. His mother apologizes for leaving Myra at the restaurant as she had not known that Roy had falsely been reported as "dead". Myra and Roy’s mother become friends. Myra dances at a ball and speaks with Roy's uncle who tells her they are a proud and esteemed family, the Cronins, and that a sweet ballerina will be the perfect wife for Roy. Myra feels guilty and speaks with his mother, telling her the truth of her position. Myra then decides she can no longer carry on her facade. Roy sees her one last time and tells her of his excitement, before returning her good luck charm, stating that now that they will be married it doesn't matter which one of them has it.
Myra leaves and Roy, frantic, looks for her. He recruits Kitty's help and she takes him to Myra's haunts. He soon learns of her double life, but he still wishes to marry her and continues searching frantically for her. Myra, meanwhile, is on Waterloo Bridge and, seeing an approaching convoy of army ambulances, commits suicide by walking into their path.
The film cuts back to Roy, years later, standing on the bridge, holding the good luck charm, and reminiscing of a love lost.
Waterloo Bridge was dramatized as a half-hour radio play on two broadcasts of The Screen Guild Theater, first on January 12, 1941 with Brian Aherne and Joan Fontaine, second on September 9, 1946 with Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor. It was also presented as a half-hour broadcast of Screen Director's Playhouse on September 28, 1951 with Norma Shearer.
The film is known as 魂斷藍橋 (traditional Chinese characters), or 魂断蓝桥 (simplified Chinese characters). In 1940, Waterloo Bridge was released for the first time in United States. On the November of the same year, the film was shown in China. According to some reports, it was more successful and welcomed in China than in U.S. It was also adapted for two forms of Chinese traditional opera – "Yue opera" and "Shanghai opera". One of the film's theme songs, "Auld lang syne," is extremely popular in both Taiwan and China. The film's popularity with audiences in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan was sustained for decades. Forty years after its release, well into the 1980s, it was still being shown in Taiwan's major movie theaters.
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