Forever Amber (1947)
6/10
it's not every period piece - refined though it is - whose cast includes Miss Daisy, Mr. Waverly and Alfred Pennyworth
7 December 2020
I did enjoy Otto Preminger's "Forever Amber" a bit while watching it. Then of course I learned that the studio changed it to assuage the Legion of Decency. Seriously, had I been around back then, I would've deliberately filled my movie with things that would've given every member of the Legion of Decency a massive heart attack. Of course, such a movie probably couldn't have gotten released (thank you very much, Hays Code!).

Anyway, this story of a girl who sleeps her way up the ladder in Restoration-era England has a lot going for it, even if it doesn't reach its full potential. I would've liked to see a version made after the Hays Code got abolished. Otherwise, the actors give great performances, despite the conspicuous differences in accents. The score received an Academy Award nomination.

In addition to Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene and George Sanders, the cast includes Jessica Tandy (a few decades before playing a woman forced to accept her African-American chauffeur), Leo G. Carroll (soon to be the boss of the men from U.N.C.L.E.) and Alan Napier (soon to be Batman's butler).
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