Valerie Hobson is the poor daughter of the family, called to the estate to be governess to little Sybille Binder; after her uncle and his son, Michael Gough, the girl is the heir. But Miss Hobson is ambitious, as, as is the estate's manager, surly Stewart Granger. He is the natural son of the last owner, and hungers to be master. So Miss Hobson marries Gough, but begins a passionate affair with Granger. Neither does she object when Granger, his legal courses closed off to him and ordered from the estate for no clear reason, murders Gough and his father.
It's one of two movies that Marc Allégret, a successful and commercial French director did in England, and a fine example of the sort of dark, romantic shopgirl fiction that made successful movies in the era, full of great, baronial halls and beautiful people filled with dark passions in rich, antique clothing. Granger and Miss Hobson do a swell job of that. Most of its strength lies in its beautiful camerawork, full of strong colors and broad vistas, For that we can credit its two directors of photography, Guy Green and Geoffrey Unsworth, as well as the lead camera operator, Oswald Morris.
It's one of two movies that Marc Allégret, a successful and commercial French director did in England, and a fine example of the sort of dark, romantic shopgirl fiction that made successful movies in the era, full of great, baronial halls and beautiful people filled with dark passions in rich, antique clothing. Granger and Miss Hobson do a swell job of that. Most of its strength lies in its beautiful camerawork, full of strong colors and broad vistas, For that we can credit its two directors of photography, Guy Green and Geoffrey Unsworth, as well as the lead camera operator, Oswald Morris.