Intermezzo (1939) - film review

Holger Brandt is a world-renowned concert violinist, comfortably settled into middle age with a loving wife and two adoring young children.  On his return to his home in Sweden after a world tour, he meets Anita Hoffman, his children’s piano teacher.  Anita’s talent as a musician makes an immediate impression on Holger and he engages her as his pianist on his next international tour.  It soon becomes apparent to both Holger and Anita that they are in love and they decide to start a new life together.  Holger gives up his family; Anita surrenders a scholarship to study music.  But these sacrifices are worth it.  As they share an idyllic holiday in France, they could not be happier.  But then it slowly dawns on them that they cannot possibly stay together...

Ingrid Bergman’s remarkable career in Hollywood began in a fairly inauspicious vein with this conventional romantic melodrama, a film which would doubtless have been lost in the mists of time had it not been for the exquisite performances from the lead performers.  Intermezzo is an English language remake of an unmemorable Swedish film of the same title, released in 1936 and starring Bergman in the same role.  

The plot may have even less substance than a small ball of diet candyfloss, it may rely on the kind of daft contrivances that are endemic in low-grade soap operas, but somehow the film holds our attention.  It achieves this remarkable feat through Gregory Ratoff’s delicate and sensitive direction, Gregg Toland’s mesmeric chiaroscuro cinematography and the sublime performances from Bergman and her co-star, Leslie Howard.   The film feels like a lightweight version of David Lean’s Brief Encounter (1945), falling short of perfection only in the scripting department.     

On its first release, in what is now acknowledged as Hollywood’s golden year, Intermezzo was a both a popular and critical success.  It earned two Oscar nominations, one for its music, the other for its cinematography.  The award in the latter category went to Toland  for his work on Wuthering Heights (1939); he would later excel himself on Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1942).  The film’s theme, composed by Heinz Provost, became a hit record.  Intermezzo may now appear to be somewhat dated but it established Ingrid Bergman’s international career.  The actress’s combination of good looks, emotional strength and intelligence – not to mention that unmistakable accent – made her an unconventional but highly attractive star of the silver screen.

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