Waterloo Bridge 1931

     The setting of this film is London UK in WWI.  It is an adaption of a Broadway play with the same title written by Robert E. Sherwood.  The play opened at the Fulton Theatre on January 6,1930 and ran for 64 performances.  Sherwood based his play on his own wartime experiences during 1918 including the chance meeting with an American girl.  Myra was working as a chorus girl but the show has closed.  Now she just makes a meager living picking up men on Waterloo Bridge.  She meets Roy during a Zeppelin air raid.  He is a naïve young American who enlisted in the Canadian army. They begin to fall in love and Roy tricks Myra into visiting his family.  His family lives in a country estate outside of London.  Roy’s stepfather is a retired British Major.  Roy’s mother senses right away how Myra is making her living.  She knows that Myra will make the right decision about marrying Roy.  

     There is a LOT of tension in London during this time period.  Everyone is on edge constantly because the air raid sirens go off at any time of the night or day. The only safe place for anyone is in a shelter.  Waterloo Bridge was the primary entry point into the city for soldiers on leave.  Myra and Roy meet just as the air raid signal is going off.  There are happy moments and sad moments in this film.  4* (I really liked this movie)   

      

81 min, Drama directed by James Whale with Mae Clarke, Douglass Montgomery, Doris Lloyd, Frederck Kerr, Enid Bennett, Bette Davis, Ethel Griffies, Rita Carlyle, Ruth Handforth.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 73% audience, Three Movie Buffs average 4* out of 4*, Leterboxd 3.5* out of 5*, Combustible Celluloid 3.5* out of 4* Jeffrey Anderson, Journeys In Classic Film 4*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 87 review.

Special Note:  This movie is a pre-Code black and white drama filmed in Pasadena, California.  There is a later version from 1940.  Rita Carlyle played the old woman on the Bridge in this film and she had a role in the 1940 film.  She dropped her potatoes in 1931 film and she was the flower lady in the 1940 version.  Mae Clarke spoke in 1985 about working with James Whale.  She knew that James was one of England’s very best actors.  She also knew that the play was a great success.  Working together their objectives became ‘What did the author want and what did he not say and assumed we would?’  They forgot about themselves as they acted as the characters.