Peter Ibbetson (1935)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

George L. Du Maurier (novel)
John Nathaniel Raphael (play) ...

Release Date:

7 November 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Drama

Tagline:

Their love defied the world!

Plot:

Architect Peter Ibbetson is hired by the Duke of Towers to design a building for him. Ibbetson discovers that the Duchess of Towers...

Plot Keywords:

Architect | Mysticism | Based On Novel | Based On Play | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Peter Ibbetson
Ann Harding	...	Mary, Duchess of Towers
John Halliday	...	The Duke of Towers
Ida Lupino	...	Agnes
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Col. Forsythe
Virginia Weidler	...	Mimsey (Mary, age 6)
Dickie Moore	...	Gogo (Peter, age 8)
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Dorian
Gilbert Emery	...	Wilkins
Donald Meek	...	Mr. Slade
Christian Rub	...	Major Duquesnois
Elsa Buchanan	...	Madame Pasquier

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Visions of Light (1992)

Extraordinary,highly original romantic fantasy which deserves to be far better known

Sometimes you watch a film which is so good that you wonder why it isn't better known. Peter Ibbetson is such a film. It takes a concept which is highly original but undoubtedly 'out there' and makes you believe in it for just under an hour and a half. It also manages to be a truly moving love story whose basic concept,a man and a woman who are apart for most of their lives meet in their dreams,and it's message,that love does indeed conquer all, should warm the hearts {and shed the tears}of die hard romantics everywhere.

It's a bit stilted as many 30s films are,especially at first,but Charles Lang's expressionistic photography immediately creates a fairy tale feeling. The growing love between the young boy and girl is extremely touching. When they meet again as adults,it seems like the film is going to settle down into being a conventional love triangle tale {she's married}. Then the film suddenly changes,and although separated the two lovers carry out their relationship in their dreams. The film is quite subtle is depicting the dream world,although there are wonderful touches,such as the fairy tale castle that she creates with her imagination,only for it to crumble when he fails to believe in it. As for the ending,well,you would have to be very strong not to shed a tear. Like much of the film,it's almost underplayed,and is all the more moving for not being over the top.

Gary Cooper shows once again what a great actor he was in his early days {as in A Farewell To Arms},really making us feel his character's pain and joy,although Ann Harding is perhaps a bit too earthy for her role. Director Henry Hathaway was generally a solid craftsman,but here he shows real engagement in his story.A great deal of attention is paid to set design,look at the way for instance the pair are often separated by bars of some sort in the 'real'world. Also notable is the music score by Ernest Toch,suitably romantic,but quite low key and sparse-Max Steiner would have plastered the film with music,but would it have really been as effective?

Peter Ibbetson is a wonderful movie, and deserves to be ranked with some of the more better known fantasy romances of Hollywood's Golden Age. I'd actually like to see a remake of this,as it's such an amazing idea. But before that let's have a DVD release,please!