scriibe
I saw this movie on TV many years ago on a local late-night movie program which followed the 11pm news. It was during the week between Christmas and New Years, so my mind was occupied with other matters so all I really remembered was that it starred John Mills and that it took place over the span of several decades, but something about the movie stuck in my head. Thanks to IMDb I was able to identify it as "So Well Remembered", and that it was out on DVD.John Mills is great as George Boswell, reform-minded newspaper editor and member of the town council in a bleak Lancashire mill town, who falls in love with the daughter of the town pariah, a corrupt industrialist.Based on a James Hilton (Lost Horizon) novel, the film has it's share of soap opera-like moments, but enough of its literary heritage to tell a highly compelling story. The story also has a certain relevance today with the political and social elements, and it is a little depressing to see how things have not changed since 1919.
MartinHafer
This is a wonderful little film about an extremely decent man who puts himself on the line to defend a family against the anger of a small village. However, what makes it interesting is NOT this confrontation between the good man and the prejudiced town,...this is only the beginning of the plot. He marries the daughter of the most hated man in town and the average viewer will probably THINK they know where the film is heading--and it takes a sharp turn in another direction. It turns out that there might be something to this hatred by the town, as the new bride slowly reveals herself to be an evil harpy who is hell-bent on revenge upon the townspeople.Excellent acting, direction, writing and the MGM polish make this a film well-worth your time.
info-3163
Hectic House in Macclesfield bought an original print of this film and have released it on VHS & DVD- primarily as a historic record of the town in the 1940s. It has been suggested that Macclesfield was chosen as the location for "the Lancashire mill town of Bowdley" in 1946, as the Luftwaffe had paid no visits in the preceding years - and much of the film is set in the 1920's. The quality is not fantastic, and it has a sepia tint which may or may not be original. The film went out of copyright, and was unavailable in the UK for many years. Could the film's disappearance have anything to do with Dmytryk's trouble with HUAC?
jbalmer
It's a shame that this film is not available on DVD or VHS. It can be seen now and then on TCM. John Mills and Trevor Howard head up a stellar troupe of actors in the British RKO-MGM co-production based on the novel by James Hilton, who also wrote "Lost Horizon". Story is centered on the consequences of a mis-matched romance and marriage between an idealistic reformer, intent on improving living conditions for the working class inhabitants of his hometown, Bowdley (an English mill-town), and the daughter of the war-profiteering owner of the mill, a certain Mr. Channing. Portrays the price paid for political and economic ambition in a way that is current today as when it was in 1947.
AD
