断肠云雨

This dark, brooding tale about inheritance and forbidden passion is set in a rambling English country home and stars an impressive Stewart Granger as a maverick estate manager. Granger is pitted against the best that British melodrama had to offer at the time, including Valerie Hobson in the title role, Maurice Denham and Michael Gough. The late 1940s saw many examples of this type of movie, set against a backdrop of tall iron gates, with stooped retainers and timely thunderstorms. It also has the benefit of an excellent screenplay and some taut direction from Marc Allégret. Yet it's the distinctive atmosphere that lingers in the memory.