Vivien Leigh, C. Aubrey Smith, Lucile Watson

On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he was at the beginning of World War I and the young ballerina he met just before he left for the front...( read more  read more... ). Myra stayed with him past curfew and is thrown out of the corps de ballet. She survives on the streets of London, falling even lower after she hears her true love has been killed in action. But he wasn't killed. Those terrible years were nothing more than a bad dream is Myra's hope after Roy finds her and takes her to his family's country estate.

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89% liked it

3,784 ratings

Critics

80% liked it

5 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 43 min.

Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy

Release Date: May 17, 1940

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Flixster Reviews (217)


  • February 3, 2008
    I love tragic romances, and this is one of the best. A tearjerker about a WWI soldier (played by the BEAUTIFUL Robert Taylor), and the woman he loves (played by the almost as beautiful Vivien Leigh), who meet during an air raid in London, but then are separated by the same war th...( read more)at brought them together. It is also a good example of the damage the English class system of the time could do to relationships under the guise of "trying to help" and "it's for the best", and also the sacrifices people are willing to make for the ones they love. I loved this film, and I plan to re-watch it at every opportunity.
  • November 2, 2007
    Classic romantic trajedy. Vivien Leigh is outstanding.
  • March 14, 2008
    A classic romance starring Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh.
    Roy and Myra meet during an air raid. They agree to marry after he comes back from the front, but when Roy is mistaken for dead Myra has to turn to prostitution to survive.
    Overall a very good film although one thing ...( read more)did annoy me, it's set during WW1 yet the characters have 1940s clothes and hairstyles!
  • July 23, 2009
    This is a beautiful, touching love story. Vivien Leigh was as lovely as ever and her acting is superb. Her eyes act as windows into her soul. Robert Taylor also gives a more-than-adequate performance. He really fits well into the role. Call me sentimental, but I thought this trag...( read more)ic romance was very well done. Several of the shots are really gorgeous to look at, almost like a painting. Should be up there with the top classic romances of all time.

  • July 22, 2009
    This remake of the 1931 version stars Vivien Lee as the ballerina turned street walker when her soldier-fiancee is presumably killed in the war...expect the unexpected naturally and have a box of kleenex close by. Miss Lee looks ever so lovely in this old classic.
  • July 22, 2009
    i am an optimist and i hated it.
    i am a movie fanatic, and i loved it.
  • March 26, 2009
    Tragic and beautiful when you watch it young, but when you get older and look back at all these fundamentalist virgin-type stories you start to look at the social mechnism behind it and maybe question: if this lady is so concerned with her purity why couldn't she find a better jo...( read more)b, say, a nurse during the war? And if she really cares about her lover couldn't she go to the church and do the confession and perhaps have all the forgiveness and start it anew? I mean all these possibilities might still exist in an actual society. This story is immensely celebrated in China, coz it just resonates with millions of Chinese opera stories of tragic women defending their honor at all costs. It was a common practice to erect monuments for chaste women who committed suicide or remained unmarried for their husbands, whereas at the same time a civil servant or scholar was supposed to kill themselves if the dynasty changed. There was a time when such practices were beautiful and necessary, but for those who believe in the holiness of life itself, or have seen things from other angles, it might invite a suspicious eye. --- but of course, ballet stories often depict ladies as such too, then let it be categorized as semi-religious ethic romance...
  • February 5, 2009
    I think this is my ultimate favorite classic romance.
  • January 29, 2009
    Un avejentado capitán mira nostálgico una figurilla en su mano, desde el puente de Waterloo, en Londres. De ahí, irá hacia los recuerdos de una relación que lo dejó marcado para siempre. Todo es perfecto en esta escena, de las primeras que abren Waterloo Bridge (1940), un dramón ...( read more)romántico en donde el realizador Mervyn LeRoy supo hacer un sabio uso del artificio.

    Remake de la película dirigida por James Whale en 1931 -que no he visto-, la versión de LeRoy es realmente notable, escrita por los guionistas S.N. Behrmann, George Froeschel y Hans Rameau, basándose en la obra teatral de Robert E. Sherwood. Al parecer, comparando ambas versiones, la segunda resultó más noble e inocente. En la primera película, la desafortunada protagonista era una prostituta que conseguía clientes rondando por el puente de Waterloo, para enamorarse de un soldado de buena familia. En el filme de LeRoy, una talentosa bailarina de ballet acaba convertida en prostituta por el amor del capitán Roy Cronin, interpretado excelentemente por Robert Taylor.
    El único reproche que le hago a este excelente filme romántico, es la ingenuidad del guión, de cierta torpeza con la que trata a sus personajes a la hora de enfrentarse a un tema tabú en esa época: la prostitución. Ni Myra, ni Roy, ni algún otro personaje, pueden siquiera articular la endemoniada palabra ?prostituta?. La lengua parece dolerles ante tal hecho. Lo peor, es que ante la censura, los guionistas y el realizador pretendían hacer creer al espectador que los personajes, sin mayor explicación, sobreentendían de lo que hablaban: del ?oficio más viejo en la Tierra?, sin siquiera pronunciar la palabreja.
    Más en pantallanueve.blogspot.com
  • November 11, 2008
    I don't understand Myra! If only she had read the column carefully. And why didn't she tell her future mother in law? And why did the mother in law give up on her so easily? Why didn't she tell the truth and beg for forgiveness? If he loved her, her past wouldn't have mattered to...( read more) him. I saw the ending coming from a mile away. What a depressing movie yet very well done!

Comments


  • espionage64
    February 13, 2007
    I've been thinking and this film is like Moulin Rouge (well it's set out like it, and slightly similar story lines)...

    It begins at the end; however it isn't as narative so you don't quite know the ending.

    It tells the story (v. gd BUT sad! Y must she kill herself???)...

    ...and then it ends where it began...


    Eitherway I love this film...

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Waterloo Bridge Trivia


  • Whats the nane of the wartime drama staring Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor  Answer »
  • Who played the male lead in "Waterloo Bridge"?  Answer »
  • What actress has appeared in the following movies: Caesar & Cleopatra, Dark Journey, That Hamilton Woman, Waterloo Bridge, & The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.  Answer »
  • Vivien Leigh said the following in what film?: "People who are very beautiful make their own laws."   Answer »

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