Best movie ever!

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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

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 (Valerie Hobson) gets invited to Clare mansion by her uncle Simon (Walter Fitzgerald) to be governess to his grand-daughter Lavinia (Suzanne Gibbs). His son, Laurence (Michael Gough), stands to inherit the estate and sees Blanche as his future wife. The surname that they take is "Fury", after generations of descendants with that name, and Blanche is told to adopt the new surname. However, Simon is not a true "Fury". The only person with a claim to being a true "Fury" is Philip Thorn (Stewart Granger) who is the illegitimate son of Adam Fury. Simon keeps Philip employed as a servant and both he and Blanche are warned not to socialize by Simon. The story sees Philip trying to prove his rightful inheritance while Blanche is pushed into a marriage with Laurence.....however, destiny intervenes for Philip and Blanche....Its a good story thats well-acted by all. The version that I watched was slightly too dark in that I couldn't really make out what was happening in the night scenes. However, the colour, costume and settings add to the atmosphere - you may guess the ending but it doesn't take any of the enjoyment away from the story.It was a better film than I thought it would be.

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.