Forever Amber (1947) - film review

17th Century England.  The Civil War has come and gone, Cromwell has had his day and the monarchy has been restored.  Amber St. Clair is a poor girl in a nondescript hamlet, dominated by her puritanical father and forever dreaming of a better life.  One day, she has her chance when she meets the dashing Bruce Carlton and his friend Harry Almsbury, who are on their way to London to ask favours from their king, Charles II, in return for fighting on his side in the war.   Amber follows Bruce to London and enjoys a brief love affair with him before he abandons her.  Having given birth to Amber’s son and suffered a spell in prison, Amber decides to make her fortune as a courtesan...

In its day, this adaptation of Kathleen Winsor’s raunchy bodice ripper was something of a sensation, winning some notoriety on account of its subtle eroticism and far from veiled references to illicit sex.  Today, Forever Amber is no more offensive that a child’s cartoon and is more likely to induce sleep than any kind of arousal, intellectual or otherwise.  The generally stilted performances and Otto Preminger’s completely uninspired direction are grade A passion killers, but these are at least partly made up for by the impressive production standards, with sets and costumes that provide one of Hollywood’s most authentic-looking recreations of 17th Century England. 

Seriously over-long and plodding to the point of brain-atrophying tedium, Forever Amber’s biggest let-down is the casting of Linda Darnell in the female lead.  Peggy Cummins was originally cast in the role but was replaced at the insistence of studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck several weeks after the film had gone into production, thinking that she lacked the experience to carry the role.  Darnell is hardly an improvement and gives a one-note performance which soon becomes painfully tedious to watch.  By contrast, George Sanders is eminently watchable as King Charles II and rescues what would otherwise have been a total misfire.

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