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Waterloo Bridge (1931 film)

Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge (1931 film).jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by James Whale
Produced by Carl Laemmle, Jr.
Written by Benn Levy
Tom Reed
Based on the play by Robert E. Sherwood
Starring Mae Clarke
Kent Douglass
Doris Lloyd
Bette Davis
Music by Val Burton
Cinematography Arthur Edeson
Edited by Clarence Kolster
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
September 1, 1931 (1931-09-01)
Running time
81 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $252,000

Waterloo Bridge is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by James Whale. The screenplay by Benn Levy and Tom Reed is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Robert E. Sherwood.

The film was remade twice, under its original title in 1940 and as Gaby in 1956. Both remakes were made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which bought the 1931 version from Universal. Today, the rights to all three films are held by Warner Bros. and their subsidiary Turner Entertainment.

Unable to find work in London at the height of World War I, American chorus girl Myra Deauville resorts to prostitution to support herself. She meets her clients on Waterloo Bridge, the primary entry point into the city for soldiers on leave. During an air raid, she meets fellow American Roy Cronin, a member of the Canadian Army, and he joins Myra in her apartment.

Describing herself simply as an unemployed chorus girl, Myra gains Roy's sympathy, and he offers to pay her overdue rent. After she rejects his offer and he departs, Myra returns to the streets. The following morning, Roy returns to visit her, and landlady Mrs. Hobley lets him into her apartment. There he meets Myra's friend and neighbor Kitty, who tells him Myra needs someone to love and protect her. Myra later berates Kitty for interfering and rejects her advice to marry Roy to ensure a better future for herself.

Roy brings Myra to visit his mother Mary and sister Janet at their country estate, where he proposes to Myra, who later that night tells Mary the truth about herself. Mary is sympathetic but implores Myra not to marry Roy. The following morning, Myra slips away and returns to London by train. Eventually Roy visits her and asks her to explain her abrupt departure. Because he is on the verge of returning to the battlefields in France, he begs Myra to marry him immediately. She agrees, but escapes from her apartment through a window while he waits for her in the hallway. Seeking the rent, Mrs. Hobley enters and, believing Myra has run off to avoid her financial obligation, reveals her true profession to Roy.


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