In seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.In seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.In seventeenth-century England, Amber St. Clair aims to raise herself from country girl to nobility, and succeeds, but loses her true love in the process.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
- Lord Redmond
- (as Edmond Breon)
- Bess
- (scenes deleted)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTo recreate the foggy British atmosphere on the set, the crew used a mixture which was vaporized over the place, but became rapidly laxative. As a result, half of the crew got diarrhea after breathing and swallowing the artificial fog.
- Quotes
King Charles II: [at a royal ball] Look at them. My loving subjects. You'd never know that half of them danced in Puritan garb while my father went to the chopping block.
Amber St. Clair: [moved] No wonder you seek solace in amusement, sire.
Amber St. Clair: [slyly] Can a common trollop help you to forget?
- Crazy creditsPrologue: "1644--The English Parliament and Oliver Cromwell's army have revolted against the tyrannical rule of Charles I. England is aflame with civil war..."
- Alternate versionsA couple of weeks after its record breaking premiere, studio heads finally caved into Catholic protests and re-cut the movie. Among the changes:
- References to Amber's sex life and any acts of non-marital romance were cut.
- SPOILER: A new ending in which Amber watches her son go off with Bruce.
- Redubbed dialogue in the form of Cornell Wilde repentative of his behaviour: "In Heaven's name, Amber, haven't we caused enough unhappiness?" and "May God have mercy on us both for our sins."
- Also a prologue was added that condemned the character's actions: "This is the tragic story of Amber St. Claire... slave to ambition.. stranger to virtue... the wages of sin is death".
- ConnectionsFeatured in Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)
I would agree with the reviewer who pointed out the similarity of the plot to that of "Gone with the Wind", with Amber as a seventeenth-century Scarlett O'Hara and her lover Lord Bruce Carlton as the Rhett Butler figure, the one man whom the heroine truly loves but eventually loses. Amber's obsession with Bruce brings out the best in her character- she courageously and selflessly nurses him through the plague- but also the worst, seen in her unsuccessful attempts to destroy his relationship with his new American wife Corinne. It also ruins her chances of happiness with any other man, leading to the deaths of her elderly husband and a fiancé (killed in a duel) and to the loss of the King's favour. (He cannot bear the idea that his mistresses might have feelings for other men).
The ending of the film, in which Amber loses her young son to Bruce and Corinne, seems to have been added by the film-makers to placate the League of Decency, showing her being punished for her sins. It also provides the pretext for a display of American patriotism, with the implication that the boy will enjoy a morally purer life in the New World away from the aristocratic decadence of the Old. This contrast between the innocence and purity of Young America and the cynicism and corruption of Old Europe is, of course, a common theme in American popular culture, but I was rather surprised to find it pushed as far back into history as the good old colonial days of the sixteen-sixties. As young Bruce junior was destined to become the master of a Virginia plantation built on slave labour, I doubt if his new life in the colonies was any morally purer than the life he might have led as an English aristocrat and the son of the King's mistress.
As a historical melodrama, "Forever Amber" is not in the same class as "Gone with the Wind". This is partly because of the look of the film- the colour is rather dark and muddy- but mostly because the leading actors could not bring to their roles the same depth that Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable brought to Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler. I found it ironic that Peggy Cummins was sacked from the part of Amber because she was not "worldly enough", as I felt that Linda Darnell also came across as too young and innocent, particularly in the later scenes where Amber has matured into a scheming courtesan. It perhaps might have been a better film if the slightly older and more experienced Susan Hayward (who was also considered) had got the part. As for Cornell Wilde, he made a rather uncharismatic Bruce, and I found it difficult to conceive of him as the great love of Amber's life. The other characters do not make much impression, with the exception of George Sanders' King Charles. He was perhaps slightly too old for the part (Charles was only thirty at the time of the Restoration) but his cynical, saturnine interpretation of the role was probably closer to the real Charles than the dashing "merry monarch" of the popular imagination. Him apart, however, this film is a largely forgettable historical melodrama. 5/10
- JamesHitchcock
- Dec 20, 2005
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Amber, die große Kurtisane
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $6,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 18 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1