The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

I'm sorry, but the scenes with Norma Shearer and Fredric March simply fall flat. Shearer's "fey" acting style is contemptible at the best of times, but her overacting in every single scene simply destroys the fabric of this otherwise well written melodrama. Who saves the day? Charles Laughton of course! His is truly the only performance which shines in this movie. Uno O'Connor and a ravishingly beautiful Maureen O'Sullivan try their best to keep the project afloat, but Norma Shearer absolutely ruins the movie. There is some welcome comic relief given by Mary Clayton Anderson, an actress w…

CinemaSerf

7.0

Jul 4, 2025

I thought that there was something almost claustrophobic about this film as we are introduced to a well-off family who live in a grand villa in London’s west end. There are nine siblings, all well into adulthood, and all under the thumb of their oppressive windowed father (Charles Laughton). His red line rule is that none of them are ever to marry, which up until now has not mattered so much. When eldest daughter, and the apple of his eye, “Elizabeth” (Norma Shearer) who is a successful but bedridden poet, is introduced to the appreciative “Browning” (Frederic March) though, this dynamic begin…