So Well Remembered (1947) User Reviews

A worthy addition to Britain's cinematic library

[barryrd · 7/10 · 23 August 2010]

I viewed this 1940's movie on TCM last evening and was impressed by the quality of the film-making and the leading character's integrity and social conscience. These qualities led the youthful councillor, played by John Mills, to defend the woman he would fall in love with, Martha Scott, little knowing the consequences he would face in later life.

John Mills always seemed so gifted at portraying classy British gentlemen and this is certainly the case in this role. Martha Scott was less convincing as his wife, whose later character was at odds with her former self. Her son Charles, by a second marriage, was much too old for the part and looked more like a brother than a son.

The movie shows how two people come into conflict over personal values and family crises. The film-making is superb and the opening shots drew me into the story because each was a perfect black/white photograph. The quality of the movie made me think it was re-mastered and did not show the faded, sepia-tone look that some reviews were critical of. The rain was so real it gave me a chill just looking at the screen as the young couple went running through the cobblestone streets and took refuge under a bridge.

Though somewhat flawed, this movie is a worthy addition to the library of British black/white cinema from the mid-20th century. Thank goodness for TCM bringing them back to the screen.

So Well Remembered in Great British Film Making With Unevenness ***

[edwagreen · 8/10 · 30 August 2008]

The British Rank Organisation came up with a gem of a 1947 film, "So Well Remembered." Interesting to see the usually kind and sympathetic Martha Scott playing a nasty sort of woman here. You wouldn't think that from the beginning of the film when Scott as Olivia seems to be a victim of her father's imprisonment.

Sociologists would enjoy this film tackling the housing situation in Britain circa the post-World War 1 period. The areas shown are slums with diphtheria running rampant.

John Mills is our hero here. He sacrifices a very lucrative career in parliament to devote his energies to improving housing in his area and therefore trying to solve the problem of poverty. He weds Olivia who can't seem to bring their young son to a clinic when the diphtheria epidemic strikes. After the child dies, she leaves her husband, remarries and has a son by that film, played by an adult, Richard Carlson. Carlson is extremely good here,especially in his disfigured scenes when mother Scott becomes totally possessive.

Trevor Howard shines as an alcoholic doctor. The unevenness of the film may be shown from the problems of poverty to the all-possessive Olivia who tries to smother her war-injured son.(Carlson). She is finally rebuked in her effort to do this by Mills, who should have done this years before.

An interesting film, well acted.

Superb British film written and narrated by James Hilton

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 11 January 2012]

What an interesting film in a number of ways. Author James Hilton narrated! It was filmed in location in England, giving the viewer a really good sense of what England looked like at the end of WWII. And, the film disappeared and was thought lost until 2004 when a full print (in good condition) was found in Tennessee! The opening of the film is put in a very nice historical perspective with some interesting photography.

As WWII closes, the mayor, newspaper editor, and reformer (John Mills) looks back on his years of knowing, marrying, and divorcing Martha Scott. It begins with him defending her when she applies for the job of assistant library job; many won't consider it because her father had owned the huge mill works there and had gone to prison for years for speculating with the money of the locals. Soon, however, Mills falls in love with her and proposes on the very night that her father is killed when he is being driven into town by the local doctor (Trevor Howard) and the washed-out road reaches out and drags the car down into the river during a heavy storm (keep that in mind). Olivia then agrees to marry George.

Once married, Scott pushes her husband to run for Parliament, but an epidemic of diphtheria in the town's filthy slums sidelines him...and takes their own son's life when mother fails to have him inoculated in a mere public clinic. Scott ends the marriage, remarries to a rich man and has another son, (Richard Carlson), who is badly scarred in the war. In the hospital, his mother latches on to him in a predatory way, at first stymieing a relationship between the son and the foster daughter of the village doctor. Meanwhile, Scott has returned to the family mansion and reopened the dangerous and dilapidated mill. Mills intervenes and helps the young couple marry, and only then learns that Scott knew the road had washed out and that her father was likely to be killed using the road, but intentionally did not warn him...thus, murder.

And that last factor is the only part of the movie which I felt was handled poorly. Yes, the viewer knew that Scott had just used the road, but it could have washed out after she used it, and so (at least to me) it came as a bit too much of a plot twist, which could have been resolved by simply giving us a couple of clues.

John Mills is excellent here. His co-star, Martha Scott is, as well, but the role of such a controlling, domineering, ...well, you know the word, leveled her to being totally unlikable in this film. In a sense, a rather courageous choice of a role to take. For the first part of the film I kept thinking what a good role this would have been for Greer Garson, but of course, Garson would have never taken a role that was so totally unlikable. Richard Carlson plays the injured son perfectly. Trevor Howard had the only role (of the doctor), which I felt was NOT played well. One of the best performances, though the character's death early in the film made it short, was that of Frederick Leister as Scott's father, who played a broken man after his many years in prison.

Oh, and BTW, this is one of those films where the leading man slaps the leading lady...twice...and deservedly so, although when the scene where it happens begins, the viewer will assume it will be the other way around.

This is an excellent film...and I say that as a person who is not very fond of British cinema.

Too rarely seen

[roberts-1 · 6 July 2002]

A typically well-made British drama (with an Anglo-American cast including John Mills, Martha Scott and Trevor Howard); rarely seen today and deserves a far wider audience. Based on a novel by James Hilton ("Lost Horizon"), who also does the narration, "So Well Remembered" captures perfectly the gloom of a poverty-stricken British village; chronicles the efforts of a newspaper editor (Mills) to fight for better living conditions. Great atmospheric black-and-white photography; good performances by Mills and Martha Scott as his ambitious, class-conscious wife who grows ever resentful of her husband's dedication to his village. A small dramatic gem. (Unfortunately not available on video, but was released on laserdisc as part of the now out-of-print RKO Classic Collection).

So Well Remembered

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 8 January 2023]

Told by way of a retrospective, we join John Mills ("Boswell") who has spent the last twenty five years - including those of WWII - trying to improve the lives of his mill town inhabitants. Back in the day, he is the editor of the local newspaper, and a town councillor, who finds himself defending the job opportunities of "Olivia" (Martha Scott), slated for a position as assistant librarian but finding herself the victim of prejudice. Her mill owning father had been responsible for the building of some of the slum housing in the town. The two fall in love and marry, but things start to take a more serious turn for the couple when an outbreak of diphtheria impacts on both their ambitions (for parliament) and their family leaving the couple separated, and him even more focused on enriching the lives of his local electorate. It is only much later, when conditions in one of her mills deteriorate and a strike looms, that they meet again and he - with the help of his friend "Dr. Whiteside" (Trevor Howard) starts to realise that some of the tragedy that has followed him throughout his life might not have been quite so accidental as he had thought. This film benefits from two strong leading performances and some solid supporting from Patricia Roc ("Julie") and Richard Carlson ("Charles" - the son of "Olivia" upon whom she has come to dote and depend). It's narrated by the writer (James Hilton) and that adds just enough to fill in the gaps as the story of ambition and sadness reaches quite a powerful and touching conclusion. Certainly one of Mills' better efforts, and together with offering us an interesting social commentary of post industrial revolution life in 1930s Engand, makes for a decent watch.

Recently for me an unknown film

[howardmorley · 6/10 · 15 February 2010]

I bought this film on eBay.co.uk and its cover revealed it is distributed by "Onyx Media International" under the banner of "2 Classic British Movies", the other being "The Rakes Progress" with Rex Harrison, Lilli Palmer, Griffith Jones & Jean Kent.But to "So Well Remembered", like other reviewers I was mildly surprised that I had not heard of this film until now, especially as I am a connoisseur of 1940s films.

In 1947 Britain was almost bankrupted by the second world war and only managed to repay its war debt in 2006.For this reason producers who wanted higher production values sometimes had to compromise on cast and market films like this to the U.S.(our biggest creditor), which had the money, to market to American audiences.For this reason and despite a plethora of British acting talent available at the time, they cast Martha Scott (born in Missouri) to play the Cheshire born wife Olivia of John Mills (George Boswell).It is hard enough for even English actresses to get the Lancastrian/Cheshire intonation right and in "Coronation Street" the long running (50 years!) British soap, they tend to cast authentic Lancashire born actresses for the sake of social realism.By the same token casting Richard Carlson as Charles Winslow, I found his American speech patterns destroyed what should have been a realistic story set in a grim northern English setting.Those two actors (not their fault just circumstances) completely destroyed the illusion, making the story seem almost surreal.

Another reviewer points out that the fictitious town of "Browdley" was actually shot on location in Macclesfield, now considered an affluent enclave of Cheshire (which borders Lancashire).It is where rich Lancastrians tend to gravitate e.g. premiership footballers.

I was pleased to see Patricia Roc (Julie Morgan) and Trevor Howard (Dr.Richard Whiteside) who gave top support billing to Mills & Scott.Also the ever reliable Beatrice Varley (Annie) whose favourite role of mine was as "Aunt Prowd" in "Gone to Earth" (1949).Even the minor actors got my attention, there was Roddy Hughes ("Quiet Wedding" 1941 and "A Girl Must Live" 1939") and Ivor Barnard popping up playing "Spivey" the type setter.Ivor appeared most notably in David Lean's "Great Expectations"(1946) playing "Wemmick" who was "Jaggers" clerk, again with John Mills as Pip.

There was a social message in the film which portrayed the abject poverty and disease prevalent amongst the poor between the two world wars.Major improvements to housing and health were urgently required and the pacifist British Governments of the 20s & 30s put this as paramount in their social order (but ignored the threat from Germany).I marked this film 6/10.

so well remembered

[mossgrymk · 6/10 · 12 December 2023]

Apparently it is not enough for screenwriter John Paxton and director Edward Dmytryk that Olivia Winslow (nee Boswell, nee Channing) has ruined her husband's life and murdered their child through social climbing and anti vax snobbery. No, she has to go and ruin the town of Browdley, as well. Indeed, Olivia is such a scourge that by film's end she is being compared by her ex to the Nazi hordes and slapped around by him into the bargain. In other words, this film is just a leeeetle bit on the misogynistic side, wouldn't you say? Think "Harriet Craig does The Midlands." Which wouldn't be so bad if Crawford were playing her. That way it might have been campy fun. But Martha Scott not only lacks the proper stature and heft for the role but her English accent comes and goes (mostly the latter), as well. Mills is solid, as usual and Trevor Howard is good as a drunken doc slash moral conscience. Their performances make this long, sexist fable at least somewhat watchable. C plus.

A very well done "between two wars" film...

[AlsExGal · 9/10 · 2 April 2023]

... starring John Mills as George Boswell, politician and newspaper publisher. The film examines his life in the time between the two world wars - From 1919 to 1945. Boswell was raised in the slums of the mill town of Browdley, and as such he wants to improve the situation of the residents there. It is his passion. As a town councilman in Browdley, he starts out the film arguing that the town should not refuse to hire Olivia Channing (Martha Scott) as one of the town librarians just because her father, once owner of several of the town textile mills, went to prison for embezzlement. He wins the day and she is hired. Later Olivia comes to the newspaper he publishes to thank him and they begin to spend time together, fall in love, and are married. About this same time George's good friend, Dr. Whiteside (Trevor Howard) begins drinking heavily.

George is an observant, thoughtful person who is all about righting social injustice in Browdley, and in particular trying to rebuild the slums of Browdley - "company housing" owned by the mills - into something better. The problem is that he thinks that the enemies of what he is trying to do are far off and ephemeral, when in fact, George is literally sleeping with the enemy.

Suffice it to say that Olivia, over time, shows her true colors of believing that she is part of the British aristocracy and is willing to do anything and use anyone to get that position back that she lost when her father went to prison and the family lost its money. It is not so much the more identifiable American trait of wanting great wealth. It is the position she wants back and wealth and power are just a couple of the trappings. For example, she is quite tied to the rotting Channing family mansion on the hill - Ferncliff. It represents position to her. She would never think of replacing it with something more modern, comfortable, or convenient.

Rather unexpected here is Martha Scott playing the part of subtle manipulative temptress. She handles this part well, but somehow seems as out of place as that bow she is always wearing in her hair when she is playing young Olivia.

I've been enjoying watching some British films lately, but I will say that they are an acquired taste for this American viewer. British films are not going to spoon feed you themes or character motivations. Take this film for example - George is not trying to be "well remembered", but because he chooses to stay in Browdley and try to fix his home town to the extent that he can, even when overcome by events such as WWII, he probably will be just that.

This is one of my favorite films - I love the mill town atmosphere and the brooding orchestral score, the cups of tea, and most of all John Mills as a good man who needs twenty five years to see clearly the forces arrayed against him and in particular one person that he once loved as a kindred spirit who turned out to be anything but that. Highly recommended.

.....And So Timely Revived

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 4 September 2009]

The biggest question I have about So Well Remembered is why this film was lost all these years? Usually 'lost' films are from the silent and early sound era. I've never heard of a film done as late as 1947 being lost. And sad too because from this talented cast I've seen some of the best performances from them.

Another thing that puzzles me as far as the film being lost is that James Hilton was such a popular author on both sides of the pond. I would have thought this film would have been as frequently revived as Random Harvest, Goodbye Mr. Chips, and The Lost Horrizon.

Hilton narrates the film and for both British and American audiences it was a familiar voice, they heard it many times on radio. Hilton was never shy about promoting his own work on the best media available to him.

Like Random Harvest the story takes place in the years between the World Wars. John Mills is an earnest young reformer who both wants to do some good in this old world for the people of the small Lancaster mill town that he comes from. They are a poor lot, many living on the dole because the factories have closed and they were swindled out of their life savings by Frederick Leister who was the owner and chief employer of the town. Leister went to prison and upon this the story begins as his attractive young daughter Martha Scott is looking for employment as a librarian.

The towns folk want to visit the sins of the father on her, but Mills is a forgiving sort and persuades the town to hire her. This leads to romance and they marry. But gradually over the course of the movie, the two are shone to be a bad match with their different agendas.

Martha Scott is an actress sad to say pretty much forgotten. My first memory of her is hosting a short anthology series, Modern Romances in the early days of television. Up to now I thought her best film role was as the dutiful minister's wife in One Foot In Heaven. But in So Well Remembered her part as the scheming manipulating wife is best described as a combination of Regina Hubbard from The Little Foxes and Estella from Great Expectations. And that this performance was lost all these years didn't help Martha Scott for posterity's sake.

Trevor Howard plays Mills's best friend, the alcoholic town doctor, no doubt a character Hilton borrowed from many a Hollywood western. Howard serves as the film's conscience however, he's seen too much and lived too much in poverty to be charitable. Except he does perform one good act of charity in the film.

The hero/protagonist that John Mills plays would have been done by Jimmy Stewart if So Well Remembered had an American setting. Mills is like so many Capra heroes, the decent and honorable man on whom the people look for leadership and who has his flaws as well. At one point he does fall victim to temptation in a crisis brought on indirectly by the scheming Scott. But Mills realizes what he's done and pulls back from temptation.

Patricia Roc and Richard Carlson play an attractive pair of young lovers, connected to the others and whose lives have been directed by the foibles of the older generation. So Well Remembered is a fabulous restored classic and a tribute to its author James Hilton, a man so well remembered and so well loved in the UK and the USA.

A Re-Discovered Masterpiece

[tony-670 · 9/10 · 15 November 2004]

First of all let me tell you that the copy I watched on video is produced by Hectic House Records and sold in the town of Macclesfield, England, - the location at which the movie was shot. Bear in mind that this film has recently been re-discovered, owned by a private collector. The production is in Sepia (that sort of brownish/greenish effect that is neither colour or black and white). The quality of sound is absolutely appalling. Even using a high quality video/TV/separate powered speakers a lot of patience and forgiveness is required by the viewer.

Now on to the movie. What can I say? It is an absolute gem. John Mills' portrayal of George Boswell is almost reminiscent of his performance as Willy Mossop in "Hobson's Choice" (although dare I say even better). Trevor Howard once again plays a doctor (recalling "Brief Encounter"), except this time a sullen, often drunken character; but nevertheless a highly moralistic and commendable Dr. Richard Whiteside. Martha Scott's performance as Olivia Channing reminds males of all ages how it is always possible for a weeping, vulnerable pretty young woman can be a devil in disguise! Great performances from the rest of the cast, including a 'natural' performance from Hayley Mills as baby Julie.

Macclesfield as a Town has changed considerably since 1947; in fact it's one of the wealthiest areas of the whole of the UK in 2004. But scenes in "So Well Remembered" do remain recognisable.

This movie deserves a complete make-over as it is so outstandingly good.

The setting of the movie.

[cleftref · 5/10 · 29 January 2007]

The film was the big cinematic claim to fame of my home town of Macclesfield, Cheshire, England where the exteriors were shot.

It portrays the often grim reality of life in a northern mill town when poverty and disease tool a grim toll and a Doctor (played by Trevor Howard) could be a really vital link between life and death contrasted with the ambitious figure of Mills as the would be Mayor. The film starts with him as Mayor looking back on his life, so a lot of it is therefore a flash back.

I won't spoil the story. The acting shows the young and developing talents of both Mills and Howard before they were the legends they were to become.

Following its rediscovery it has been released on video. I don't think it has yet been released on DVD.

Much to recommend it

[jaykay-10 · 1 August 2000]

This is a picture of intelligence and substance that deserves to be better known. It includes exceptional performances by two of the finest actors of our time, John Mills and Trevor Howard. Flawed, perhaps, by a less-than-clear rendering of the Olivia Channing character (whose attitudes, emotions and actions lack consistency), it is nevertheless deeply moving.

In any number of scenes director Edward Dmytryk reveals the strong influence of Orson Welles' narrative and cinematic methods in "Citizen Kane." Such can only add to a film's effectiveness, even if less than totally original.

I Absolutely Love this Movie!

[bestactor · 10/10 · 6 September 2009]

I am so glad that TCM is beginning to program this wonderful film with some regularity. I first saw this movie on laserdisc and I really thought it was one of those great films that had been left in obscurity. I watched it several times on laser and then have continued to watch it on TCM. There is something very therapeutic in being engrossed in a story in which the major character is an unrepentant progressive liberal who never gives up his ideals of what people can accomplish or become. James Hilton's stories all speak to me, but this one in particular reaches so deeply. This is probably the least sentimental of all Hilton's novel to film stories. The ending is truly bittersweet and yet so satisfyingly authentic.

John Mills is absolutely perfect for this performance. Other actors would not achieve the believability to sustain this narrative from beginning to end. He is an actors' actor who worked until his end, leaving behind an incredibly wide range of performances, the last (I believe) in the film version of the musical Cats. His performances were always great, and never showy. He always deferred to the character and the material of the piece. I crave the DVD release of The Chalk Garden with Mills, Hayley Mills, Deborah Kerr and Dame Edith Evans!

Trevor Howard is another great film actor who never received the recognition he deserved.

A man's discovery of his true self exposes the misplaced faith in his spouse

[ivorybigsis · 10/10 · 5 May 2010]

Martha Scott was an actress that has been acknowledged consistently as a "Good Actress", yet never achieved the Superstar status that she truly deserved- not for celebrity, but for sheer acting skill alone. She is excellent here as a narcissistic, maneuvering woman who lacks the depth to appreciate the man she has pledged herself to in marriage. When she seeks to cheat the Law of sowing what you reap, you see the machinations of a woman desperate to evade the loneliness that she herself has unwittingly planned.....John Mills, the unsung hero here, is wonderful as the pragmatic, yet compassionate man who would redirect himself if need be to follow this true heart. Trevor Howard is once again first-rate, entirely believable in the role of a beleaguered doctor....Well-written,and inspirationally cast, this film is a keeper!

Ladies and babies, slums and factories, alcoholics and war invalids, from a gentlemanly view of James Hilton.

[clanciai · 9/10 · 8 August 2017]

This is an oddity among James Hilton's novels, the closest he got to a social and Dickensian novel with perhaps the only crook he ever produced, and she is more stealthily disguised as such than any villain in Shakespeare or Dickens. This is a psychological drama charting the psyche of a very dangerous woman - she is born rich and powerful and can never do without that as a kind of birthright, and when she is thwarted she is destroyed. Until she is thwarted she destroys all her men including her children.

This is a thriller in disguise. James Hilton was the most gentlemanly author in England's 20'th century together with John Galsworthy, and also this Bleak House drama is told very suavely with a gentleman's kind politeness all the way. You have to love Olivia Channing as much as John Mills does, until he has to face the facts when almost everything is too late.

To see this novel realized on screen I experienced as a miracle. I knew it existed and searched for it for years, and suddenly it was there - with even James Hilton himself as speaker, with his gentle and perfectly clear Cambridge diction. I always enjoyed James Hilton almost more than any other English author of that century for his always musical language, which even that is fully realized in the film.

A few years later Edward Dmytryk, exiled from Hollywood, made his masterpiece "Give Us This Day" about Italian immigrant workers in New York 1929 completely filmed in London (with New York recreated in studios), another important milestone of social realism (see my review). This is less dramatic and pathetic and tells a less upsetting story but is instead more convincing. Trevor Howard had just made his "Brief Encounter" perfect gentleman of a doctor, while he here is hard on the bottle from the beginning to end, although John Mills after twenty years only has to carry him home from the pub twice a week.

Martha Scott finally is perfect as Olivia, beautiful, charming and mysterious, giving from the beginning quite a good impression of herself as a beauty of mysteries that could be dangerous not only for your peace of mind.

Trouble at Mills

[richardchatten · 4/10 · 5 August 2017]

Produced and directed by two of the Hollywood Ten, with a score by Brecht's regular collaborator Hanns Eisler, one might have expected something juicier, but 'So Well Remembered' lives up to its rather twee title by serving up soap opera rather than agit-prop. Nevertheless, it's one of a number of politically engaged films at that time to reflect the new broom sweeping British politics during the premiership of Clement Attlee.

Based on a 1945 novel by James Hilton (who also narrates), it compares interestingly with the Boulting Brothers' adaptation of Howard Spring's 'Fame is the Spur', released a couple of months later, in which as Hamer Shawcross, Michael Redgrave as the film progresses is made up more and more to resemble Ramsey MacDonald as he ditches his early revolutionary principles to rise to the top. George Boswell (played John Mills) by comparison, despite pressure from his self-centred, patrician wife, remains true to his youthful idealism, resigns from his parliamentary seat and is content to settle for becoming Mayor of the fictional Lancashire mill town of Browdley (actually shot in Macclesfield).

The film's cynicism about the compromises required to get on in Westminster are sadly as relevant today as ever; as is attested to by the public support Tony Blair's New Labour received from lifelong Tory voter John Mills in the 2001 General Election.

Available Again

[info-3163 · 26 September 2004]

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?

Superb Screenplay, Superb Acting

[jbalmer · 10/10 · 20 July 2004]

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.

A cinematic victim of the House Un-American Activities Committee?

[tarmcgator · 8/10 · 24 August 2008]

I have been fortunate enough to catch SO WELL REMEMBERED a couple of times on TCM, and I hope they will add it to their "rotation" of popular films. It deserves more attention, and I doubt many Americans have paid it, either when the film was released in 1947, or today. (If indeed it was thought to be lost, a big "Hoorah" for the person who found it.)

Many Hollywood films touch on class conflict, but usually in the romantic contexts of poor-boy-woos-rich-girl (e.g., THE GREAT GATSBY, A PLACE IN THE SUN) or rich-boy-woos-poor-girl (KITTY FOYLE, WORKING GIRL). The British obsession with political class struggle surfaces only occasionally, usually in Depression-era films like MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, MODERN TIMES, or THE GRAPES OF WRATH. As some film historians have demonstrated, when Hollywood's main audience began to shift from working class to middle class around 1920, class conflict as a political and economic issue (as opposed to a romantic and social concern) all but disappeared from American movies.

But the portrayal of British class conflict is not the main reason to watch SO WELL REMEMBERED (which, in fact, also sets forth the conflict largely in terms of romantic relationships). It's one of those multi-generational sagas with a twist ending, and while the story is rather predictable, the characters that inhabit it are quite interesting and well-played. (John Paxton adapted James Hilton's novel for the film, and Hilton -- best known as the author of LOST HORIZON -- also narrates some portions.) John Mills makes an appropriate working-class hero, trying to remain loyal to his origins while at the same time tempted by the opportunities presented to him to rise above them. During the course of the quarter-century covered in the film, his character matures realistically. Trevor Howard, however, steals the film as an alcoholic doctor -- he makes the most of every moment on the screen. Martha Scott -- a very active actress who nonetheless did not become especially well-known to the public -- has the most difficult part in the film, transitioning from a sympathetic young woman into a selfish (and, horrors! classist) shrew as the film progresses. Patricia Roc was one of England's most popular film performers in the '40s but was rarely seen in the United States. She is pleasant enough but nothing special here. It's difficult to understand why Richard Carlson never became a major star, along the lines of Glenn Ford or Charlton Heston. He had the looks and he certainly had the voice, and he is fine here as Roc's love interest. And give a hearty nod to Frederick Leister, who has a brief but important part in the opening minutes. It would have been interesting to know more about his character, who, in some ways, is at the root of the story.

One should also congratulate director Edward Dmytryk and his collaborators for the gritty location photography, another feature that makes this film worth more than one viewing.

SO WELL REMEMBERED also is notable for the collaboration of Dmytryk and producer Adrian Scott. Right after this film, this RKO duo made CROSSFIRE (with another Paxton screenplay), one of Hollywood's most notable "social consciousness" films of the late 1940s. And about the time SO WELL REMEMBERED was first being shown in the United States, Dmytryk, Scott and eight screenwriters -- the celebrated "Hollywood Ten" -- would be ruled in contempt of the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities for refusing to answer the committee's questions regarding Communist involvement in Hollywood. All of the Ten served jail time, although Dmytryk eventually decided to tell the committee what it wanted to hear and thus avoided the film-industry blacklisting that the other nine men would endure for several years. The blacklisting connection also extended to the film's soundtrack. Composer Hanns Eisler (1898-1962), a German Communist who fled the Nazis in 1933 and eventually settled in the United States, also was called before "HUAC" and wound up being deported to Communist East Germany in March 1948.

Considering the class-conflict background of SO WELL REMEMBERED, perhaps it's not surprising that this film has been so well overlooked (one wonders how long it actually played in American theaters in 1947). I doubt many Americans today (except, perhaps, the disciples of the late Jesse Helms) would find this film in any way "communistic," but the political atmosphere in the United States was different and more fearful in 1947. (Yes, I know, but the current Bush-era hysteria doesn't begin to compare with the 1947-1954.)

The Fight Against Exploitation is a Noble One.

[mrpentax · 9/10 · 3 October 1999]

One man's quest to change the environment of the slum he grew up in, against all odds. Unthinkably, the woman he used to love becomes an almost insurmountable obstacle. A great film with plenty of great characters carefully and skillfully intertwined to tell a powerful story. Not so predictable you'll be bored, and great settings in spite of being shot in B&W. Try it. You'll like it.

once again, an excellent Hilton novel brought to life by MGM

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 12 September 2005]

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.

Fine, Compelling Melodrama

[scriibe · 26 October 2011]

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.

Great Classic Film

[whpratt1 · 8/10 · 24 September 2006]

This film had a great story about a small English town and its people during WWII and the poor living conditions for the average family and the poor health conditions. There was the Channing Family who ran a Mill in this town and were very rich and treated the local people over the years very poorly. Times were starting to change and the Channing family were going to lose their large mansion high on a hill over looking this town. John Mills,(George Boswell) ran a newspaper in town and fell in love with Martha Scott,(Olivia Channing) and they eventually were married. Olivia wanted her husband George to advance himself in Parliment and lift himself up to a higher position in life. Unfortunately, there became many problems facing this marriage and some very very dark secrets were uncovered about Olivia Channing. There was great acting performed by John Mills, Martha Scott, and many other great veteran actors.

Buying the Video

[tombancroft2 · 15 November 2007]

A web search for Hectic House Records will bring up their website. They are based in Macclesfield and on their site is some excellent detail about the film with some stills included. You can order the VHS tape on line or they give addresses of stockists if you live in the UK and are within striking distance of Maclesfield. It's worth asking if they have it on DVD yet - I wouldn't be surprised if they have. Because they are based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, they have a good reason for keeping the film alive as all the exterior footage was shot in the area and it provides an excellent historical record of how the town looked in the 1940's. Try www.macc.me.uk to find them.