The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934 film)

The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySidney Franklin
Screenplay byDonald Ogden Stewart
Ernest Vajda
Claudine West
Based onThe Barretts of Wimpole Street
1930 play
by Rudolf Besier
Produced byIrving Thalberg
StarringNorma Shearer
Fredric March
Charles Laughton
CinematographyWilliam H. Daniels
Edited byMargaret Booth
Music byHerbert Stothart
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • September 14, 1934 (1934-09-14)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$820,000[1][2][3]
Box office$1,258,000 (Domestic earnings)[1]
$1,085,000 (Foreign earnings)[1]

The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a 1934 American romantic drama film directed by Sidney Franklin based on the 1930 play of the same title by Rudolf Besier. It depicts the real-life romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett (Norma Shearer) and Robert Browning (Fredric March), despite the opposition of her abusive father Edward Moulton-Barrett (Charles Laughton). The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Shearer was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. It was written by Ernest Vajda, Claudine West, and Donald Ogden Stewart, from the successful 1930 play The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolf Besier, and starring Katharine Cornell.

In 1957, Franklin directed a color remake in CinemaScope and Metrocolor starring Jennifer Jones, John Gielgud, and Bill Travers.

  1. ^ a b c Glancy, H. Mark When Hollywood Loved Britain: The Hollywood 'British' Film 1939-1945 (Manchester University Press, 1999)
  2. ^ Glancy, H. Mark (1992). "MGM film grosses, 1924-1948: The Eddie Mannix Ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 12 (2): 127–144. doi:10.1080/01439689200260081.
  3. ^ Glancy, H. Mark (1992). "Appendix". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 12 (S2): 1–20. doi:10.1080/01439689208604539.