Certainly old fashioned in late 1950's standards and on the surface an odd choice for a remake, this does benefit from a big screen treatment in color rather than a videotaped TV special. Director Sidney Franklin returns 23 years later to helm the remake of his 1934 classic, and is aided by the casting of Jennifer Jones as Elizabeth Barrett and John Gielgud as her domineering father who loves her, but not in a noble way, preferring to control every movement of her and her many siblings. He has his hands full when she falls in love with Robert Browning, who is played with perhaps too much boyish enthusiasm by cleft chinned Bill Travers.
You're not getting much difference in the story as it's virtually the same script, and I began to notice how much it has in common with Henry James' "Washington Square", filmed 8 years before as "The Heiress". I didn't find much chemistry between Jones and Travers (unlike Norma Shearer and Frederic March), and she gets great scenes with Gielgud who shows a different dimension than Charles Laughton did. It's a beautiful production updated with Cinemascope that brought romance and beauty back in a turbulent time.
You're not getting much difference in the story as it's virtually the same script, and I began to notice how much it has in common with Henry James' "Washington Square", filmed 8 years before as "The Heiress". I didn't find much chemistry between Jones and Travers (unlike Norma Shearer and Frederic March), and she gets great scenes with Gielgud who shows a different dimension than Charles Laughton did. It's a beautiful production updated with Cinemascope that brought romance and beauty back in a turbulent time.