MovieChat Forums > The Forsyte Saga (1969) Discussion > ONE MORE RIVER (1934)

ONE MORE RIVER (1934)

posted 13 years ago by Harold_Robbins
1 reply | jump to latest

Turner Classic Movies recently broadcast this 1934 film directed stylishly by James Whale and adapted (by R.C. Sherriff) from the final, posthumously-publised novel in Galsworthy's "Forsyte Chronicles".

Very nicely done film: beautiful sets, lighting, cinematography and costumes, and a terrific cast that included the luminous Diana Wynyard, Colin Clive (in an unsympathetic role), Frank Lawton, Jane Wyatt (in her film debut) and such British stalwarts as C. Aubrey Smith, Henry Stephenson (TCM host Robert Osborne mentioned that at one time he wondered if Smith and Stephenson weren't actually one and the same!), Lionel Atwill, and Reginald Denny. It also featured one of the screen appearances of the legendary stage actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell (for whom the role of Eliza Doolittle was written) – however, she comes across as very hammy and theatrical, throwing the scenes she’s in somewhat out-of-balance. As he did in some other films, Whale often filled the camera-frame with flowers, and the camera often moves fluidly around the sets (particularly the Old Bailey). I only remembered snippets of the novel (which I read some 8 or 9 years ago) as the film went along, but flipping through the book it appears the adaptation did scale down the story a bit.

(ONE MORE RIVER was published in England as OVER THE RIVER - the title became ONE MORE RIVER when it was published in the US, and the film, made in Hollywood by Universal Pictures, retained that title.)

"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."

[–] ameilius 12 years ago

I'd love to see this movie sometime. I've read all three books in END OF THE CHAPTER and enjoyed them very much. The writing isn't as good as in THE FORSYTE SAGA and A MODERN COMEDY but there are some great characters all the same. Dinny, the heroine, is a nicer and more unselfish person than either Irene or Fleur so it's easy to root for her. Michael's parents, Sir Lawrence and Lady Mont, figure largely in the storyline too and inject a lot of humor. Wilfrid Desert, the cynical poet once in love with Fleur, returns here to court Dinny. And then there's the Marquess of Shropshire, Marjorie Ferrar's grandfather, who wants to "electrify" the whole world. He shows up again in the first part of the trilogy and though over 80, he's now studying Einstein! Fleur, also, has quite a few memorable scenes,along with Michael and Kit their son. At the end of SWAN SONG she's depicted as a broken person, but in END OF THE CHAPTER you see how she has managed to rebuild her life.

The movie you mentioned, ONE MORE RIVER, is based on the concluding title of END OF THE CHAPTER. Here Dinny finally moves on past heart break and finds some happiness. However, the main plot has to do with her beautiful sister Clare, who must be freed from a sadistic and abusive husband. Clare's situation could provide material for something very interesting, with a daring and "modern" theme. Of course, being an older film, some of the more shocking details would've been "watered down" by the censorship of the day but still, this movie sounds good.