A classic example of a very well-made historical drama of the late 1940's. In every respect it is faultless, given the constraints of time and the story compression inherent in all movie making. There are simply no movie actors or actresses today who could play the star roles with the same enormous presence, dignity, grace, self-assurance, and acting skill manifested by the superb and striking Hobson and Granger---not to mention their precise and exemplary articulation of the English language. These were manifestly adults, not today's mumbling urchins posing as adults. Photography, production values, and historical accuracy are beyond praise. This was Valerie Hobson's personal favorite of her film performances.
40 Reviews
Costumer-drama with breathtaking scenarios and magnificent performances
ma-cortes18 December 2008
This Rank production is an interesting tragic drama during the 19th century , concerning about Blanche Fury (Valerie Hobson) , a young poor and ambitious woman . She receives an invitation by his cousins , the father , Simon Fury (Walter Fitzgerald) and son , Laurence (Michael Gough) for a job as governess at the Fury mansion . But there resides the headstrong Philip Thorn (Stewart Granger) , an obsessive steward who aspires to possession the manor , but he gets rights for his condition of illegitimate son . Blanche marries to wealthy son but then the illicit relationship between Blanche and Thorn originates a string of fateful happenings .
This is an entertaining Gothic-drama-romance plenty of passion , tragedy , murder and plot twists . Marvelous cast with top-notch acting . Excellent Stewart Granger as the vengeful and obstinate Philip and obsessed for the manor . Granger was in his English period when he usually played lush costumer (Saraband for dead lovers , Madonna of the seven moons , Caesar and Cleopatra , Fanny by Gaslight) and the main protagonist , Valerie Hobson (Werewolf of London , Bride of Frankestein) , after she married John Profumo , then Churchill's junior minister , she left the cinema when married , and later his resignation from politics caused by known 'Profumo scandal' in 1963 , after that , she dedicated behalf to mentally handicapped kids . Furthermore , it appears : Michael Gough , a future star in the British horror movies and Maurice Denham as Major Fraser . This haunting story packs impressive production design with attention to period detail , as enjoyable palaces and sweeping outdoors . The film is based on a 1939 novel of the same name by Joseph Shearing , a pseudonym for Marjorie Bowen . A prolific writer with a taste for the Gothic, Bowen also wrote "Moss Rose" which came to the screen in 1947 . Colorful and beautifully cinematography in pastel color , well photographed interiors shot at Pinewood studios , London , by Guy Green (David Lean's usual cameraman) and exteriors by Geoffrey Unsworth who replaced Ernest Steward . Evovative and descriptive musical score by Clifton Parker with habitual conductor musical of the Philharmonic Orchestra of London : Muir Matheson. The picture was wonderfully mounted and well directed by Marc Allegret . Rating : Better than average, well worth watching.
This is an entertaining Gothic-drama-romance plenty of passion , tragedy , murder and plot twists . Marvelous cast with top-notch acting . Excellent Stewart Granger as the vengeful and obstinate Philip and obsessed for the manor . Granger was in his English period when he usually played lush costumer (Saraband for dead lovers , Madonna of the seven moons , Caesar and Cleopatra , Fanny by Gaslight) and the main protagonist , Valerie Hobson (Werewolf of London , Bride of Frankestein) , after she married John Profumo , then Churchill's junior minister , she left the cinema when married , and later his resignation from politics caused by known 'Profumo scandal' in 1963 , after that , she dedicated behalf to mentally handicapped kids . Furthermore , it appears : Michael Gough , a future star in the British horror movies and Maurice Denham as Major Fraser . This haunting story packs impressive production design with attention to period detail , as enjoyable palaces and sweeping outdoors . The film is based on a 1939 novel of the same name by Joseph Shearing , a pseudonym for Marjorie Bowen . A prolific writer with a taste for the Gothic, Bowen also wrote "Moss Rose" which came to the screen in 1947 . Colorful and beautifully cinematography in pastel color , well photographed interiors shot at Pinewood studios , London , by Guy Green (David Lean's usual cameraman) and exteriors by Geoffrey Unsworth who replaced Ernest Steward . Evovative and descriptive musical score by Clifton Parker with habitual conductor musical of the Philharmonic Orchestra of London : Muir Matheson. The picture was wonderfully mounted and well directed by Marc Allegret . Rating : Better than average, well worth watching.
The wrong side of the blanket
bkoganbing11 June 2015
Like his contemporary James Mason who came up roughly the same time as he did, Stewart Granger seemed to be born to play in these romance novel roles. In Blanche Fury he's got a nasty grudge against the Fury family who have kept him working as a groom on their estate. He's one of them, but born on the wrong side of the blanket as they said in those days.
There's a dual focus in this film and it's on Valerie Hobson playing the title role as well. She's also knocked about a bit kind of like George Eastman in An American Tragedy, she's one of them, but only distantly. Still she's on the right side of the blanket and she determines to marry Michael Gough the heir to the estate for a life of ease and comfort.
Granger like the real life James Scott the Duke of Monmouth searched for a connection to his father King Charles II to prove he was heir to the throne. Didn't happen for him and didn't happen for Granger But what does happen is that he gets Hobson's mojo going far more than the insipid and privileged Gough does.
These are the ingredients of Blanche Fury and if you like these movies and read these novels you can pretty much guess what happens. Hobson and Granger are a stirring romantic pair, but Granger in his desire to improve his station goes quite a bit off kilter. Hobson has a choice to make and she makes it.
As for who gets the Fury estate. For that you have to see Blanche Fury.
There's a dual focus in this film and it's on Valerie Hobson playing the title role as well. She's also knocked about a bit kind of like George Eastman in An American Tragedy, she's one of them, but only distantly. Still she's on the right side of the blanket and she determines to marry Michael Gough the heir to the estate for a life of ease and comfort.
Granger like the real life James Scott the Duke of Monmouth searched for a connection to his father King Charles II to prove he was heir to the throne. Didn't happen for him and didn't happen for Granger But what does happen is that he gets Hobson's mojo going far more than the insipid and privileged Gough does.
These are the ingredients of Blanche Fury and if you like these movies and read these novels you can pretty much guess what happens. Hobson and Granger are a stirring romantic pair, but Granger in his desire to improve his station goes quite a bit off kilter. Hobson has a choice to make and she makes it.
As for who gets the Fury estate. For that you have to see Blanche Fury.
Eerie Gothic melodrama with several bizarre and unsettling twists.
verna5528 September 2000
This dark, engrossing drama centers on a beautiful English girl(Valerie Hobson) who goes to live at her uncle's Gothic estate where she engages in an illicit affair with the head-strong steward(Stewart Granger). This is one of the Rank Studio's most impressive Gothic melodramas. It's rich in creepy, menacing atmosphere, and features solid direction by Marc Allegret and terrific performances by the multi-talented British cast. Most of these classic '40's British dramas were rightfully filmed in black and white. BLANCHE FURY was filmed in color, but color actually suits this film well and makes the wonderful Gothic architecture all the more enjoyable.
God Bless The Marc
writers_reign7 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
It seems clear that someone with clout had the good sense to import Marc Allegret to direct this over-heated Gothic wet dream and thus invest it with a touch of class. Allegret - elder brother of Yves, also a fine director and the first husband of Simone Signoret - enjoyed a long and illustrious career punctuated by titles such as Fanny (the second of the great Pagnol trilogy Marius-Fanny-Cesar), Entree des artistes, Gribouille, etc and his touch is evident in the stunning camera-work especially the early scene-setting. The leads Valerie Hobson and Stewart Granger acquit themselves well enough despite a lack of chemistry but on the other hand Hobson continually strived toward the genteel and didn't do sensual whilst Granger more or less plays himself, an arrogant, vain narcissist. No doubt it has its admirers.
BLANCHE FURY (Marc Allegret, 1948) ***
Bunuel197624 January 2010
This is another title I inexplicably missed out on over the years (a local Sunday matinée' TV screening and a late-night Italian-subtitled broadcast on the renowned "After Hours" program come to mind) which, having watched now, I was quite enthralled with. BLANCHE FURY is a typical yet reasonably absorbing Gothic melodrama – given added luster by its dazzling color photography, inventive décor, and even the odd stylistic flourish by Frenchman Allegret – made in the wake of the famed "Gainsborough school" romantic period pieces which began with THE MAN IN GREY (1943; a viewing of which accordingly followed this one in short order, since I had already by-passed it last year on a couple of anniversaries tied with star James Mason!) though, plot-wise, the film seems to have at least as much to do with that which is virtually the template for this type of fare i.e. "Wuthering Heights". In fact, here we have Stewart Granger (who was also in THE MAN IN GREY) forced to work as a stable-boy in his own family's estate – since he is illegitimate – while the present unrelated masters have taken up their name!; of course, he is contemptuous of this situation, though he finds a surprising ally – and love interest – in a cousin of the new landlords (Valerie Hobson) who turns up on the premises ostensibly to serve as governess to the little girl that stands to inherit the lot. Of course, she instantly charms the younger man of the house (a characteristically despicable Michael Gough) and proceeds to marry him, while carrying on with her Granger affair; about to be dismissed for his none-too-submissive attitude, our disgruntled hero conspires with Hobson to get rid of all the obstacles to their running the estate (since he intends to marry her himself) – the blame of which he proposes to lay at the door of a gypsy troupe who had been causing trouble in the area and even threatened the family specifically! – but, while she concedes to the death of Gough and his father, she takes exception to Granger's ruthlessness in the matter by wanting to dispose of the little girl as well. Needless to say, by reporting him to the proper authorities, she not only confesses to her own role in the plan, taints her reputation by being branded an adulteress but, most importantly, sacrifices her own happiness; the ultimate irony is that, just as Granger is being hanged, the little girl herself expires in a riding accident – leaving Hobson all alone, with-child (Granger's offspring), and sole owner of the tragic property! In conclusion, apart from the above-mentioned THE MAN IN GREY, I have SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS (1948) – yet another costumer featuring Stewart Granger – scheduled for the coming days
Solid gothic romance
Leofwine_draca22 March 2018
Warning: Spoilers
BLANCHE FURY is an engaging little 'gothic romance' type film, shot in luxurious colour and based on a novel by the long-forgotten author Marjorie Bowen, who wrote a number of fine ghost stories during her career. This one has Valerie Hobson marrying into a wealthy family, only to discover cruelty and a secret conspiracy in the mix. A youthful Stewart Granger plays the bastard son of an aristocratic line who is determined to retrieve what he sees as his birthright; Michael Gough also appears as a dastardly character in his career debut. This slow-moving production juggles drama, tragedy, thrills and romance rather successfully, building to an unpredictable and somewhat nihilistic climax that all makes good moral sense. There's at least one shocking twist and some good menace from the gypsy characters to keep the pace going.
Hammer Horror minus naked vampires
Waiting2BShocked27 August 2002
Warning: Spoilers
A pleasingly uncomplicated serving of brooding Victorian melodrama, garnished with suffrage but swathed mainly in pure Gothic, with sufficient sex and violence to make 'The Wicked Lady' look like The Singing Nun. Valerie Hobson plays a humble but socially aspiring paid companion who, by turn of fortune, is invited to serve as governess at her aristocratic extended family's estate, and fulfils her dreams of status by marrying her cousin and becoming beneficiary. She'd reckoned without disgruntled steward Granger's hereditary (but legally invalid through illegitimacy) heir though, with whom she soon entangles herself in lurid romantic complications.
Guy Green would later be director of photography on David Lean's 'Oliver Twist' and 'Great Expectations', and his framing and composition work here is extremely attractive and atmospheric and compliments the film's (then unconventionally) dour tone; even though the use of strikingly vivid Technicolour is only intermittently expressive or evocative, and even then more or less in the first half only. Whilst this film seems to be celebrated for its photography, I found the most striking effect to be the opening montage of 3 shots following the urgent course of a horse-drawn carriage; past an autumnal tree jutting out ominously against a twilight sky, through a deserted and unnaturally silent wood, up to the imposing steps of an unwelcoming manor house. This sequence is in itself a mini-movie, a precursor to the style which would come to be most closely associated with the best of the period Hammer Horror films.
This is Allegret's only notable English language film, and for the first half his directorial style faintly echoes contemporary Val Lewtonseque psychological horror as the camera prowls around 'Clare Hall', lurking and listening from the shadows and making us fear whatever emotionally and psychologically charged shocks may be lying in wait. It also puts the familiar yet bizarre 'family ghost story', based upon the house's morbid crest, in danger of becoming faintly creditable.
It is also of note as an early demonstration of the power of the star compromising the finished film. Originally, the murder was to have been committed by the Granger character in drag, but he refused to go along with this despite the narrative cohesion it would have lent the film in its dealings with plundering gypsies and subsequent courtroom proceedings. This plot angle was instead replaced with run-of-the-mill moralistic melodrama, very much contrary to the film's sombre first hour. The remaining mixture of sensationalism with plenty of retribution, but not recrimination, was still potent enough to make the film a huge commercial loss in its day (it all but sank its studio Cineguild), but the fact that the cast is merely proficient did not help. The public had a well-demonstrated fondness for over-the-top floridness in this sort of thing, and even today, only Michael Gough's despotic junior lord seems sufficiently villainous enough to rouse any audience reaction. It still however makes fascinating comparison with Rank's 'Jassy' and Ealing's 'Saraband For Dead Lovers', in terms of (then) hugely expensive colour period efforts that seemed to have been conceived for more than just costume for costume's sake.
Guy Green would later be director of photography on David Lean's 'Oliver Twist' and 'Great Expectations', and his framing and composition work here is extremely attractive and atmospheric and compliments the film's (then unconventionally) dour tone; even though the use of strikingly vivid Technicolour is only intermittently expressive or evocative, and even then more or less in the first half only. Whilst this film seems to be celebrated for its photography, I found the most striking effect to be the opening montage of 3 shots following the urgent course of a horse-drawn carriage; past an autumnal tree jutting out ominously against a twilight sky, through a deserted and unnaturally silent wood, up to the imposing steps of an unwelcoming manor house. This sequence is in itself a mini-movie, a precursor to the style which would come to be most closely associated with the best of the period Hammer Horror films.
This is Allegret's only notable English language film, and for the first half his directorial style faintly echoes contemporary Val Lewtonseque psychological horror as the camera prowls around 'Clare Hall', lurking and listening from the shadows and making us fear whatever emotionally and psychologically charged shocks may be lying in wait. It also puts the familiar yet bizarre 'family ghost story', based upon the house's morbid crest, in danger of becoming faintly creditable.
It is also of note as an early demonstration of the power of the star compromising the finished film. Originally, the murder was to have been committed by the Granger character in drag, but he refused to go along with this despite the narrative cohesion it would have lent the film in its dealings with plundering gypsies and subsequent courtroom proceedings. This plot angle was instead replaced with run-of-the-mill moralistic melodrama, very much contrary to the film's sombre first hour. The remaining mixture of sensationalism with plenty of retribution, but not recrimination, was still potent enough to make the film a huge commercial loss in its day (it all but sank its studio Cineguild), but the fact that the cast is merely proficient did not help. The public had a well-demonstrated fondness for over-the-top floridness in this sort of thing, and even today, only Michael Gough's despotic junior lord seems sufficiently villainous enough to rouse any audience reaction. It still however makes fascinating comparison with Rank's 'Jassy' and Ealing's 'Saraband For Dead Lovers', in terms of (then) hugely expensive colour period efforts that seemed to have been conceived for more than just costume for costume's sake.
You are somehow different today.
hitchcockthelegend9 October 2008
Blanche Fullerton accepts an invitation to go and work for her wealthy Uncle out on the Clare estate. Tho the estate is the ancestral home to the Fury family, the Fullerton's take the name of Fury to be their own and run the estate as the rightful heirs. Philip Thorn believes he is the rightful heir to the estate but just can't find the proof needed to claim what he feels is rightfully his. Once Blanche enters the estate the men of the home have their heads turned, and from that point on Clare estate, and the whole Fury dynasty, is in danger of going down a very dark path that can may only lead to pain and misery. Is the ape curse of the Fury's about to strike again?
There is a good chance that I'll be reviewing this picture with a hint of bias, for Blanche Fury has everything that I personally look for in a Gothic classic picture. Two lead stars firing on all cylinders, both Stewart Granger and Valerie Hobson positively ooze grace and quality amongst the glorious colour and corking costumes. The mansion of the piece is just perfect (Wootton Lodge, Staffordshire, England), a poetic stone built structure by day that is surrounded by rolling countryside, but by night it's a hauntingly monolithic place of dreams and simmering passions. The dialect perfectly befits the late 40s British setting, where the story itself is crammed with passions and dastardly motives, adulterous leanings and murderous intent. But above all else it's the ending that seals the deal, as our protagonists respective futures unravel in yet another trip down some dark twisty road.
Based on the novel written by Joseph Shearing (who was actually Marjorie Bowen), the inspiration for the story is a real life case from 1848, this itself carries with it no small amount of potency, adding still further a fleck of nastiness to the unfolding drama. Blanche Fury is very much one for those who like Gothic melodramas or uneasy mansion set thrillers, the likes of Dragonwyck, House Of Usher, perhaps even Alfred Hitchcock's wonderful Rebecca. It's tightly directed by Marc Allégret and acted accordingly, whilst also technically the picture scores high as the score (Clifton Parker) and the photography (Guy Green/Geoffrey Unsworth) gives the picture an all round quality production. Blanche Fury, as a story itself? Well it's a little gem from the golden sub-genre of Gothic melodramas. At the time of writing Blanche Fury is still searching for a wider, more appreciative, audience, so if you get the chance to see it then don't pass up the chance because it's a must for fans of the films mentioned above. 8.5/10
There is a good chance that I'll be reviewing this picture with a hint of bias, for Blanche Fury has everything that I personally look for in a Gothic classic picture. Two lead stars firing on all cylinders, both Stewart Granger and Valerie Hobson positively ooze grace and quality amongst the glorious colour and corking costumes. The mansion of the piece is just perfect (Wootton Lodge, Staffordshire, England), a poetic stone built structure by day that is surrounded by rolling countryside, but by night it's a hauntingly monolithic place of dreams and simmering passions. The dialect perfectly befits the late 40s British setting, where the story itself is crammed with passions and dastardly motives, adulterous leanings and murderous intent. But above all else it's the ending that seals the deal, as our protagonists respective futures unravel in yet another trip down some dark twisty road.
Based on the novel written by Joseph Shearing (who was actually Marjorie Bowen), the inspiration for the story is a real life case from 1848, this itself carries with it no small amount of potency, adding still further a fleck of nastiness to the unfolding drama. Blanche Fury is very much one for those who like Gothic melodramas or uneasy mansion set thrillers, the likes of Dragonwyck, House Of Usher, perhaps even Alfred Hitchcock's wonderful Rebecca. It's tightly directed by Marc Allégret and acted accordingly, whilst also technically the picture scores high as the score (Clifton Parker) and the photography (Guy Green/Geoffrey Unsworth) gives the picture an all round quality production. Blanche Fury, as a story itself? Well it's a little gem from the golden sub-genre of Gothic melodramas. At the time of writing Blanche Fury is still searching for a wider, more appreciative, audience, so if you get the chance to see it then don't pass up the chance because it's a must for fans of the films mentioned above. 8.5/10
The curse of Fury's ape.
brogmiller19 November 2020
Although not having quite as impressive a CV as his brother Yves, director Marc Allegret is noted for his technical skill, elegant execution and for nurturing the talents of some fine French actors.
Here he directs this loose adaptation of a Gothic novel which itself is based upon a true story.
It is a very stylish enterprise that boasts stunning cinematography by Guy Green and Geoffrey Unsworth and a sweeping score by Clifton Parker.
Stewart Granger teams up with Valerie Hobson. He is Adam, disinherited owing to his being born on the wrong side of the blanket and she is the Blanche of the title who has married for social position but comes to loathe her husband and father-in-law. Together they plan the perfect murder........
Granger and Hobson are very good together and are ably supported by Walter Fitzgerald, Maurice Denham and Michael Gough making his film debut.
Unfortunately a combination of a good cast and excellent production values does not guarantee a commercial success. Both Granger and Hobson felt that it didn't 'quite work' and her husband at the time, producer Anthony Havelock-Allan, said that the concept of a Gainsborough-type film with an 'edge' and featuring unsympathetic characters did not appeal to the paying public.
Sadly, the failure of this film was another nail in the coffin for Cineguild, formed in 1944 by Havelock-Allan, David Lean and Ronald Neame.
Allegret's film suffered the same fate as 'Saraband for dead Lovers', released the same year, also starring Stewart Granger. Both films can now be appreciated with the passage of time for their imagination, artistry and flair.
It is a very stylish enterprise that boasts stunning cinematography by Guy Green and Geoffrey Unsworth and a sweeping score by Clifton Parker.
Stewart Granger teams up with Valerie Hobson. He is Adam, disinherited owing to his being born on the wrong side of the blanket and she is the Blanche of the title who has married for social position but comes to loathe her husband and father-in-law. Together they plan the perfect murder........
Granger and Hobson are very good together and are ably supported by Walter Fitzgerald, Maurice Denham and Michael Gough making his film debut.
Unfortunately a combination of a good cast and excellent production values does not guarantee a commercial success. Both Granger and Hobson felt that it didn't 'quite work' and her husband at the time, producer Anthony Havelock-Allan, said that the concept of a Gainsborough-type film with an 'edge' and featuring unsympathetic characters did not appeal to the paying public.
Sadly, the failure of this film was another nail in the coffin for Cineguild, formed in 1944 by Havelock-Allan, David Lean and Ronald Neame.
Allegret's film suffered the same fate as 'Saraband for dead Lovers', released the same year, also starring Stewart Granger. Both films can now be appreciated with the passage of time for their imagination, artistry and flair.
Blanche Fury
henry8-315 October 2021
Valerie Hobson leaves a life of servitude and is welcomed into the home of her uncle - the Fury family. Here she meets Stewart Granger who just looks after the horses and believes he has a claim upon the estate and will stop at nothing to get hold of it.
Enjoyable enough, good looking but highly melo-dramatic period piece. Hobson is impressive in the lead as is Granger as the baddie - it's just that he's so constantly angry as is pretty much everyone else that the whole story is rather a downer. Not bad then and worth watching if just a little gruelling and spoiled slightly by a silly ending.
Enjoyable enough, good looking but highly melo-dramatic period piece. Hobson is impressive in the lead as is Granger as the baddie - it's just that he's so constantly angry as is pretty much everyone else that the whole story is rather a downer. Not bad then and worth watching if just a little gruelling and spoiled slightly by a silly ending.
Sumptuous, atmospheric color and style make this a must for DVD...but WHEN???
TheSmutPeddler4 May 2002
"Blanche Fury" is one of those films that is rarely aired on TV, impossible to find on video, and OUGHT to be released to DVD for magnificent production values, use of color, and all out dripping-with-Gothic eeriness. The leads are compelling (Valerie Hobson and Stewart Granger at both their primes). This is also one of those rare opportunities to see Michael Gough doing what he does best; behaving thoroughly despicably! (unfortunately, Gough is familiar to contemporary audiences pretty much only as Alfred the butler from the "Batman" films of the 90's, which is rather a crime since he's most proficient playing cads and sinister megalomaniacs).
Watching "Blanche Fury" is like diving head first into a Victorian Gothic romance novel, and is pulled off with style and panache in every sense. It's a film for revival houses, ripe for restoration and preservation on DVD/VHS, and would surely find an audience in today's society which seems pretty much preoccupied with escapism. Escape into the world of "Blanche Fury" and you might not want to resurface (yes, it's that good).
Watching "Blanche Fury" is like diving head first into a Victorian Gothic romance novel, and is pulled off with style and panache in every sense. It's a film for revival houses, ripe for restoration and preservation on DVD/VHS, and would surely find an audience in today's society which seems pretty much preoccupied with escapism. Escape into the world of "Blanche Fury" and you might not want to resurface (yes, it's that good).
Passionate Melodrama
JamesHitchcock23 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
The plot of "Blanche Fury" is very loosely based on an actual Victorian murder case. A young woman named Blanche Fuller is employed as the governess for the granddaughter of her rich uncle Simon, who has taken the surname "Fury" after inheriting a stately home and country estate from a distant relative, Adam Fury. Desperate for status and position, Blanche marries her widowed cousin Laurence, the father of the little girl she is looking after, but the marriage is not a happy one. Dissatisfied with the cold and unloving Laurence, she begins an affair with Philip Thorn, Simon's handsome steward.
Thorn, however, thinks that he should be more than just Simon's servant. He is the illegitimate son of the otherwise childless Adam Fury and believes that his parents were secretly married; if this were true he, and not Simon, would of course be the legitimate heir to the estate. When he fails to find any evidence of this secret marriage, he and Blanche conspire to murder Simon and Lawrence, believing that the local gypsies, who have a grudge against Simon, will be blamed for the killings. (The film's treatment of the gypsies, who are portrayed as violent, thieving vagabonds, would doubtless be regarded as offensive today). Thus begins a cycle of bloodshed and retribution. (One scene seems to be a deliberate borrowing from a very similar scene in "Gone with the Wind, made a few years earlier).
The British cinema during this period could often be overly restrained, even when dealing with subjects which might have called for a more openly emotional approach; "Brief Encounter" and "The Browning Version", for example, are two films which take the stiff-upper-lip approach to the subject of marital infidelity. Just occasionally, however, the British could go to the opposite extreme and produce some full-blooded, screaming melodrama, both in contemporary ("The Madonna of the Seven Moons") and in historical ("The Wicked Lady") dramas. Thorn is played by Stewart Granger, who seemed to specialise in handsome but dangerous rogues, especially in period dramas. (He also starred in "The Madonna of the Seven Moons"). Blanche is played by the lovely Valerie Hobson who, fifteen years later, was inadvertently to be caught up in a notorious scandal herself; she was the wife of John Profumo, the Conservative cabinet minister who was forced to resign over his affair with a call- girl.
Unlike some other historical melodramas from this period, such as "The Wicked Lady" or the American-made "Dragonwyck", "Blanche Fury" abandons the gloomy, Gothic, film-noir-influenced black- and-white look for vivid colour. (Like "An Ideal Husband" it can perhaps be seen as an early example of the "heritage cinema" style). It shows, moreover, just how well this alternative approach could work. Rather than using a dark, gloomy style to emphasise the dark deeds of Blanche and Thorn, director Marc Allegret chooses to contrast those deeds with the beauty of the rolling English countryside (on the Derbyshire-Staffordshire borders) and the grandeur of a Georgian stately home (called Clare Hall in the film, but actually Wootton Lodge). Allegret's reasoning was presumably that, as Thorn's motive for the murders was the sin of covetousness, it was necessary to show just what he was coveting in all its full glory. (Blanche seems to have been motivated by her guilty passion for Thorn as much as by financial greed, but in his case it is clear that he loved the estate far more than he loved her). Despite its political incorrectness, "Blanche Fury" remains a very watchable example of a passionate forties melodrama. 7/10
Thorn, however, thinks that he should be more than just Simon's servant. He is the illegitimate son of the otherwise childless Adam Fury and believes that his parents were secretly married; if this were true he, and not Simon, would of course be the legitimate heir to the estate. When he fails to find any evidence of this secret marriage, he and Blanche conspire to murder Simon and Lawrence, believing that the local gypsies, who have a grudge against Simon, will be blamed for the killings. (The film's treatment of the gypsies, who are portrayed as violent, thieving vagabonds, would doubtless be regarded as offensive today). Thus begins a cycle of bloodshed and retribution. (One scene seems to be a deliberate borrowing from a very similar scene in "Gone with the Wind, made a few years earlier).
The British cinema during this period could often be overly restrained, even when dealing with subjects which might have called for a more openly emotional approach; "Brief Encounter" and "The Browning Version", for example, are two films which take the stiff-upper-lip approach to the subject of marital infidelity. Just occasionally, however, the British could go to the opposite extreme and produce some full-blooded, screaming melodrama, both in contemporary ("The Madonna of the Seven Moons") and in historical ("The Wicked Lady") dramas. Thorn is played by Stewart Granger, who seemed to specialise in handsome but dangerous rogues, especially in period dramas. (He also starred in "The Madonna of the Seven Moons"). Blanche is played by the lovely Valerie Hobson who, fifteen years later, was inadvertently to be caught up in a notorious scandal herself; she was the wife of John Profumo, the Conservative cabinet minister who was forced to resign over his affair with a call- girl.
Unlike some other historical melodramas from this period, such as "The Wicked Lady" or the American-made "Dragonwyck", "Blanche Fury" abandons the gloomy, Gothic, film-noir-influenced black- and-white look for vivid colour. (Like "An Ideal Husband" it can perhaps be seen as an early example of the "heritage cinema" style). It shows, moreover, just how well this alternative approach could work. Rather than using a dark, gloomy style to emphasise the dark deeds of Blanche and Thorn, director Marc Allegret chooses to contrast those deeds with the beauty of the rolling English countryside (on the Derbyshire-Staffordshire borders) and the grandeur of a Georgian stately home (called Clare Hall in the film, but actually Wootton Lodge). Allegret's reasoning was presumably that, as Thorn's motive for the murders was the sin of covetousness, it was necessary to show just what he was coveting in all its full glory. (Blanche seems to have been motivated by her guilty passion for Thorn as much as by financial greed, but in his case it is clear that he loved the estate far more than he loved her). Despite its political incorrectness, "Blanche Fury" remains a very watchable example of a passionate forties melodrama. 7/10
Some Background on Blanche Fury
theowinthrop6 April 2004
The film is one I only saw partially once, two or three years ago. I wish it was on Video or DVD. Other early Stewart Granger historic films are out - SARABAND FOR DEAD LOVERS and CAPTAIN BOYCOTT. This one was based on a novel by Joseph Shearing, the female novelist who used a male pseudonym. All her books were based on actual crimes - see my comments on the contermporary film SO EVIL MY LOVE, with Ray Milland and Ann Todd. Here, Shearing turns to the murder, at Stanfield Hall, near Norwich, England of Isaac Jermy and his son (incredibly named Isaac Jermy Jermy)in November 1848. The perpetrator was a farmer, James Blomfield Rush, who was a tenant of the Jermys but was on bad terms with them for a series of debts he owed them, and attempts to claim title to the farm and other properties. Complicating the matter was that the Jermys title to their estate was subject to a law suit. Rush dressed in a disguise, and walked over two miles in the dark to the estate, where he shot the Jermys down in their home, and then shot the wife of the son and their maid. Apparently he wanted no witnesses. Unfortunately there were too many. Also, his alibi was supposed to be his children's governess, Emily Sandford, and she turned out to be more truthful at his trial than he hoped. The trial was notable because Rush insisted in defending himself. It turned out that he had a fool for a client. Rush was found guilty and hanged. The full story is not quite used in the movie, but bits and parts of it certainly are.
Not your typical love story
ldeangelis-757083 June 2022
This film adaptation of the Marjorie Reynolds novel is more a hate than love story, as Stewart Granger's character becomes more and more obsessed with gaining what was lost to him through his supposed illegitimacy, the Fury estate, where he works as a caretaker, waiting for his revenge. Meanwhile, Valerie Hobson, in the title role, goes from being poor relation to mistress of the manor, via a loveless marriage to her widower cousin, Laurence, the only consolation (besides money and social status) being her young stepdaughter, Lavinia, whom she grows to love. After a time, she can't fight her feelings for Philip, and they have an affair, which leads to tragic consequences.
I won't spoil details; I'll just say that if you're looking for the classic Hollywood style happy ending, you won't find it here.
I won't spoil details; I'll just say that if you're looking for the classic Hollywood style happy ending, you won't find it here.
"I've lost my way. Can you help me?"
richardchatten12 October 2021
Made by Cineguild between their Dickens adaptations, from the 1939 novel by Joseph Shearing, this failed to find the same favour with critics but audiences lapped it up. Directed with moody gallic elegance and passion by imported director Marc Allegret, it's definitely a cut above the competition from Gainsborough and looks fabulous, while the Technicolor camera sleekly glides about following the action (no tall order in those days; there was a terrible accident on the set when a crane carrying that monster lost it's balance). And it boasts a wonderful final shot.
Although Richard Winnington harrumphed "Let's have some bad lighting and perhaps a bit of good movie (sic)" and George Perry later called it "Cineguild's major aberration of 1948"; posterity had the last laugh when in 1990 it was proudly unveiled in a restored print at that year's London Film Festival.
Although Richard Winnington harrumphed "Let's have some bad lighting and perhaps a bit of good movie (sic)" and George Perry later called it "Cineguild's major aberration of 1948"; posterity had the last laugh when in 1990 it was proudly unveiled in a restored print at that year's London Film Festival.
Based on a difficult-to-film novel
a-east12 August 2012
Warning: Spoilers
If you want to approach the movie or the novel with virgin eyes, please be advised the following discussion may contain SPOILERS. Despite a number of changes, (some minor, some major), the movie represents a worthy effort to get the book onto film. However, commercial considerations posed obvious problems. The Blanche of the book is cold, tough, and not very likable. If her adversaries were the same or even more so, one might still root for her, but the people she regards as enemies or obstacles are simply dull and drab rather than evil. Since the movie wants to have box office appeal, and since it stars as Blanche the popular actress Valerie Hobson, the screenplay tries to soften Blanche's image, which takes some of the starch from the story. In the book, for example, the Stewart Granger character is married to an ailing wife. Since having Valerie Hobson engage in an affair with this married man would make her look bad, the movie simply eliminates the ailing wife. In the book Blanche's cousin (Michael Gough) is married to the meek, inoffensive Olivia. Blanche regards Olivia with casual contempt but since, once again, this makes Blanche look bad, Olivia is also eliminated from the script. (Michael Gough is now introduced as a widower with a young daughter.) With Olivia disposed of, the screenplay is now free to marry Blanche off to her widowed cousin but since Blanche wants the cousin out of the way so she can inherit his estate, the screenplay tries to "justify" Blanche's desire by turning this harmless drudge of a cousin into a rather mean and nasty character whose death is unlamented. A further effort is made to soften Blanche's image by having her desperately try to save little stepdaughter Lavinia from a horse-riding accident. In the book, little Lavinia is actually shot in the same "gypsy" attack which killed her father and grandfather. Finally, a pregnancy is added to the screenplay so that Blanche can be seen as somehow atoning for her sins by giving birth to a boy who will, presumably, restore his inheritance to a state of pride and purity. This continual softening of Blanche's character gives the movie a vaguely uncertain tone. One wishes it had been a bit tougher, leaving Blanche alone at the end with "the bitter fruits of self-reliance," but the screenwriters' desire to make their heroine more palatable is understandable and, despite its flaws, their movie still holds interest throughout and is, in its mounting and photography, a glory to behold.
Blanche Fury
CinemaSerf5 January 2023
There is certainly something of the Daphne du Maurier in this melodrama about a dashing, but illegitimate son (Stewart Granger) obsessed with regaining an inheritance denied him from the right side of the blanket. When the "Fuller" family, who have legally taken possession of "Clare Hall" arrive, they send for their poverty stricken but independently minded cousin "Blanche" (Valerie Hobson) to come and live with them and ultimately, to marry the son "Lawrence" (Michael Gough). She mistakes Granger ("Philip Thorn") for a family member at the outset and the story tries to reconcile her own sense of duty - and ambition - with her smouldering love for "Philip". This is a good looking film with a plot that has plenty of twists and turns, though the ending is a bit too drawn out and melodramatic which rather drags the whole thing down a bit. The lead performances, and that of Gough, are good though and I found the story was just about intriguing enough to hold my interest.
one of the best films of the forties
suppascoops1 December 2002
I first discovered this little gem on tv a few years ago and loved it , i taped it and for some unknown reason kept watching it over and over it has a kind of hypnotic pull to i mean you have to really get into, i guess its not for everybody but it has been held in some regard up until recently,martin scorseses mentioned this as one of his guilty pleasures in film comment years ago and popular film presenter and critic from australia bill collins said while presenting another film that this would have to be one of the best british films from the forties.I totally agree it has a great gothic feel and the decor is marvelous as is the estate it was filmed on it has good solid performances and stewart granger is espescially good.Take note of the gypsy elements because at the time these points were crowd pullers other granger films to watch out for with similarities - "moonfleet","caravan","saraband for dead lovers","madonna of the seven moons"
Beware Fury's Ape
boblipton2 September 2023
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.
Sounds kind of like a blaxploitation flick, doesn't it?
zetes6 September 2003
Actually, it's a British period piece that has many plot elements in common with a strain of movies of the 1940s, like Rebecca, Dragonwyck, and even Duel in the Sun. A woman working as a maid, Blanche Fuller (Valerie Hobson), discovers that she is on the fringes of a very wealthy family, the Furies. When she arrives, she discovers a strange situation. Her family, the Fullers, who come from a lower class background, have married into the Furies, all of whom have died. The only remaining Fury, or possibly a Fury, is Philip Thorn (Stewart Granger), supposedly the illegitimate son of the last living Fury. He works on their estate, called Claire, but he is trying to inherit the estate; his lawyer is researching his lineage. He's desperate to get his hands on the place. When Blanche marries her cousin, Laurence Fury, Thorn devises to seduce her. Also in his plotting he decides to use a group of Gypsies who have come into conflict with Claire and the Furies. Though it took a while for Blanche Fury to capture my wandering attention, eventually I started to get into it. The performances are what drew me in. Granger was especially delightful as the evil, scheming Thorn. I had to laugh at his clever deviousness at times. A man after my own heart, he is! Hobson is quite good, as is Michael Gough, who plays her weakling husband. The color cinematography and musical score are fine. The script feels like it came from a novel, but it was written for the screen, making it especially impressive. I like the character arc of Blanche Fury. She begins as a sort of a schemer herself, planning to get rich and wield her feminine power over the estate. Only when she comes into conflict with Thorn, a more clever and desperate conspirator, does she realize she herself has done wrong and will now have to do the right thing. The ending is weird, but rather haunting. This is an exceptional film. 9/10.
Keep it all in the family.
michaelRokeefe12 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
A Gothic melodrama set in a huge English country mansion. A young penniless woman named Blanche(Valerie Hobson)sees her life's station moving upward when she takes the position of governess from her distant cousins. The wealthy cousins took the name Fury when acquiring the home from the Fury family. Blanche will fall in love with a disinherited Fury descendant Philip Thorn(Stewart Granger), who is serving as a manservant to patriarch Simon Fury(Walter Fitzgerald). The ambitious Blanche marries her employer(and relation)the soft spoken Laurence Fury(Michael Gough). Meanwhile Philip sees his chance to gain what he thinks is rightfully his own...the ancestral home; he convinces his lover Blanche to take part in murdering her husband. Why does this sound like an old soap opera? Other players: Susanne Gibbs, Ernest Jay, Sybille Binder, Maurice Denham and Edward Lexy.
The silence and the fury.
dbdumonteil30 November 2002
Is Marc Allegret a director?Or does he simply(but smartly) use others' talents?His most memorable pre-war movies are not really his.For instance ,"Fanny" owes everything to its actor,Raimu,and its writer,Marcel Pagnol:it is actually a Pagnol movie.Ditto "Entrée des Artistes" which is remarkable by Henri Jeanson's lines ("I wear my Légion d'honneur to impress the fool" ) and Louis Jouvet's acting genius.
A short English period occurred just after the war -when he other French directors such as Renoir and Duvivier worked abroad during the war.Which leads us to "Blanche Fury".This movie is par excellence an effort in which Allégret uses the others' skills.Objections remain:an arguable editing ,too much ellipse (the relationship Lawrence/Blanche is botched,and the pace is often too fast and hasty :again the Blanche /Thorn love affair is believable only because of the actors' splendid performances).
And the screenplay,however ,is wonderful:snatches of lady Chatterley,Jane Eyre ,the turn of the screw,My cousin Rachel,Wuthering Heights and more come to mind.Even Vincente Minelli's "home from the hill"(1960)!This is a romantic story par excellence. Heredity and fatality play a prominent part is this story of silence and fury:Thorn (a great Stewart Granger) is a bastard,but Blanche( a majestic Valerie Hobson) is akin to him,because,at the beginning of the movie,she's a governess,and only marriage can provide her with a place in the sun;but her husband is probably impotent :here the writers use a metaphor.his father wants him to show his authority over their valuable property,that is to say to be a man.At the beginning of the movie,Blanche is a go-getter,but as soon as she meets Thorn,her fate is sealed,she reacts to events ,she no longer initiates them.Ultimately,she will try to stop the impending disaster ,but what she does finally backfires on herself and turns it into a final Thorn victory.Thorn is much more complex than he appears at first sight:actually he should own the property and he sees the Fury family as impostors;his attitude with animals makes us side with him for a while.Then,when he's about to win,he treats the servants as his predecessors used to do,and we discover his love for Blanche takes a back seat to his love for the domain.Then the lovers' fate is sealed.
Color treatments are visually astounding :when we go from Blanche's deathbed to a flashback at the beginning,then the final pictures,hellish glimmering red glow ;Blanche's arrival in the castle,in a snowed up,misty landscape;the barns fire ,which seems to set ablaze the darkest night.
Afterwards,Allégret's career straightly goes downhill."L'amant de Lady Chatterley" which I haven't seen but which he may have intended as "Blanche Fury II" ,poor Brigitte Bardot's vehicles ("en effeuillant la marguerite') or abysmal works(a segment of the horrible made up of sketches movie "les Parisiennes") .His brother Yves was much better ("Manèges" "Dédée d'Anvers" "une si jolie petite plage" "les Orgueilleux").
"Blanche Fury" deserves to be seen anyway.
A short English period occurred just after the war -when he other French directors such as Renoir and Duvivier worked abroad during the war.Which leads us to "Blanche Fury".This movie is par excellence an effort in which Allégret uses the others' skills.Objections remain:an arguable editing ,too much ellipse (the relationship Lawrence/Blanche is botched,and the pace is often too fast and hasty :again the Blanche /Thorn love affair is believable only because of the actors' splendid performances).
And the screenplay,however ,is wonderful:snatches of lady Chatterley,Jane Eyre ,the turn of the screw,My cousin Rachel,Wuthering Heights and more come to mind.Even Vincente Minelli's "home from the hill"(1960)!This is a romantic story par excellence. Heredity and fatality play a prominent part is this story of silence and fury:Thorn (a great Stewart Granger) is a bastard,but Blanche( a majestic Valerie Hobson) is akin to him,because,at the beginning of the movie,she's a governess,and only marriage can provide her with a place in the sun;but her husband is probably impotent :here the writers use a metaphor.his father wants him to show his authority over their valuable property,that is to say to be a man.At the beginning of the movie,Blanche is a go-getter,but as soon as she meets Thorn,her fate is sealed,she reacts to events ,she no longer initiates them.Ultimately,she will try to stop the impending disaster ,but what she does finally backfires on herself and turns it into a final Thorn victory.Thorn is much more complex than he appears at first sight:actually he should own the property and he sees the Fury family as impostors;his attitude with animals makes us side with him for a while.Then,when he's about to win,he treats the servants as his predecessors used to do,and we discover his love for Blanche takes a back seat to his love for the domain.Then the lovers' fate is sealed.
Color treatments are visually astounding :when we go from Blanche's deathbed to a flashback at the beginning,then the final pictures,hellish glimmering red glow ;Blanche's arrival in the castle,in a snowed up,misty landscape;the barns fire ,which seems to set ablaze the darkest night.
Afterwards,Allégret's career straightly goes downhill."L'amant de Lady Chatterley" which I haven't seen but which he may have intended as "Blanche Fury II" ,poor Brigitte Bardot's vehicles ("en effeuillant la marguerite') or abysmal works(a segment of the horrible made up of sketches movie "les Parisiennes") .His brother Yves was much better ("Manèges" "Dédée d'Anvers" "une si jolie petite plage" "les Orgueilleux").
"Blanche Fury" deserves to be seen anyway.
Gothic drama in technicolor
gbill-7487725 April 2024
There's a decent enough setup to this film, and Stewart Granger brings swagger and passion to the role of Philip Thorn, a property manager on an estate nursing an enormous grudge against his master. He believes he was the rightful heir to the property, you see, and is now forced to take orders from people who've not only acquired the property, they've taken the family name, Fury. Enter a family relation, Blanche (Valerie Hobson), a spirited young woman who marries the son, but whose eyes wander.
Granger's character is a nuanced one, showing moments of bravery against thieves and compassion for an injured horse, the latter in direction contrast to his master, but also moments of arrogance and violence. He carries most of this film, so much so that it probably should have been named Philip Thorn. With that said, Blanche shows strength in standing up for herself, early on with a pompous employer, later with her husband (whom she informs "I have no intention, contrary to the fashion of our times, of being ordered about my husband!"), and then even with Thorn himself. Granger and Hobson also show a degree of chemistry together, but unfortunately much of it feels muted due to the morality of the day.
Along those lines, the film doesn't quite reach the heights it could have because it stumbles into moralism down the stretch. Neither the transition to the courtroom drama nor the melodrama of little Lavinia attempting a jump with her horse worked very well for me. It felt like the film was too busy tidying up after itself when further passion, darkness, or something related to the ghost of Fury's ape would have served it better. Not bad though, if you're in the mood for gothic drama in Technicolor.
Granger's character is a nuanced one, showing moments of bravery against thieves and compassion for an injured horse, the latter in direction contrast to his master, but also moments of arrogance and violence. He carries most of this film, so much so that it probably should have been named Philip Thorn. With that said, Blanche shows strength in standing up for herself, early on with a pompous employer, later with her husband (whom she informs "I have no intention, contrary to the fashion of our times, of being ordered about my husband!"), and then even with Thorn himself. Granger and Hobson also show a degree of chemistry together, but unfortunately much of it feels muted due to the morality of the day.
Along those lines, the film doesn't quite reach the heights it could have because it stumbles into moralism down the stretch. Neither the transition to the courtroom drama nor the melodrama of little Lavinia attempting a jump with her horse worked very well for me. It felt like the film was too busy tidying up after itself when further passion, darkness, or something related to the ghost of Fury's ape would have served it better. Not bad though, if you're in the mood for gothic drama in Technicolor.
As the fury builds, so does the melodrama.
mark.waltz19 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Two rather dark characters find each other, join forces in stealing an estate, and ultimately seal their fates and loose their souls. Good performances by Valarie Hobson and Stewart Granger aide this complex Gainsborough like melodrama, rather grim and occasionally messy, starting off amusing with Hobson telling off her ancient shrew of an employer before leaving. It's not as well done as the interaction of Joan Fontaine and Florence Bates in "Rebecca", and the character histories of both Granger and Hobson is left rather vague.
It's obvious that Hobson at least has some morals, refusing to let Granger murder her young stepdaughter, even though she stood by while Granger murdered her husband (Michael Gough) after they began an affair. She quickly betrays him, setting him up for the hangman's noose, and his revenge. The color photography makes this sparkling to look at, but I found it frequently messy as motivation and character didn't always gell in a way that fully worked. Still, it's dark and morbid and fascinating, even though other similar melodramas have covered the same territory and so much better.
It's obvious that Hobson at least has some morals, refusing to let Granger murder her young stepdaughter, even though she stood by while Granger murdered her husband (Michael Gough) after they began an affair. She quickly betrays him, setting him up for the hangman's noose, and his revenge. The color photography makes this sparkling to look at, but I found it frequently messy as motivation and character didn't always gell in a way that fully worked. Still, it's dark and morbid and fascinating, even though other similar melodramas have covered the same territory and so much better.
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