Lydia (film)
| Lydia | |
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theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Julien Duvivier |
| Produced by | Alexander Korda |
| Written by | Leslie Bush-Fekete Julien Duvivier |
| Screenplay by |
Ben Hecht Samuel Hoffenstein André De Toth (uncredited) |
| Based on | Story: Un Carnet de Bal |
| Starring |
Merle Oberon Edna May Oliver Alan Marshal Joseph Cotten George Reeves |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
| Cinematography | Lee Garmes |
| Edited by | William Hornbeck |
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Production
company |
Alexander Korda Films
London Films |
| Distributed by | United Artists (UK/US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Lydia is a 1941 drama film, directed by Julien Duvivier. It stars Merle Oberon as Lydia MacMillan, a woman whose life is seen from her spoiled, immature youth through bitter and resentful middle years, until at last she is old and accepting. It is a remake of Duvivier's Un carnet de bal (1937), which starred Marie Bell as the leading character.
An elderly woman named Lydia Macmillan (Merle Oberon), who is running a children's home, gets an unexpected visit from a long lost acquaintance, Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick (Joseph Cotten). They haven't seen each other for forty years, when they were young and in love. The story of their lives unfold as they remember the past with great fondness.
Lydia remembers her three lovers as a young woman. First there was Bob Willard (George Reeves), a football quarterback. Then there was Frank Audry (Hans Jaray), who was a musician. The third, Richard Mason (Alan Marshal), was an adventurous traveler. Lydia and Michael decide to have tea together, but when she arrives at his home, she finds both Bob and Frank there waiting for her.
It turns out all of the men have proposed to Lydia at one time in their life, and she has turned them all down. The topic of their conversation now at their reunion is her reason for rejecting them. Lydia tells them that she has only truly loved one man in her life, which is adventurer Richard Mason.
Lydia starts telling her story to the men, beginning when she met Michael in Boston in 1897. At the time Lydia was living with her rich grandmother Sarah (Edna May Oliver). Before an upcoming ball, Lydia and her grandmother argue about the dress but are interrupted when the family butler presents his son Michael, who has just graduated from medical school.
The grandmother instantly takes a liking to the boy, and he is put on staff as the family physician. Lydia persuades the young man to accompany her to the ball, but he soon discovers that Lydia is in love with a footballer by the name of Bob Willard. However, not long after the ball, grandmother meets Bob and wants Lydia to break up with him, mainly because of his ill and drunken manners.
Lydia plans to elope with Bob and tries to involve Michael in her scheme. Instead of helping he sees to it that she cannot go through with marrying Bob in a nearby town. The disappointed couple have to return to Boston, and split up after a quarrel at the hotel where they have their "wedding" dinner.
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