Rent Blanche Fury (1948)

Historical Melodrama. - Blanche Fury review by Steve

This is an independent production intended to imitate the popular Gainsborough melodramas of the forties. So there is a tyrannical aristocracy, a band of troublesome gypsies, intense, transgressive passions and illicit meetings in the stables as the protagonists struggle for the wealth and privilege that comes with land and status.

There is a detailed and colourful recreation of a historic English country estate, but the revenge narrative is so sordid it could be film noir. The events are loosely based on a real case from Victorian times. Valerie Hobson plays the poor cousin of rich relations, who takes a position as their family governess.

While she is quietly ambitious and marries the creepy heir (Michael Gough), she longs for the manager of the estate (Stewart Granger) who is tormented by the awful burden of being an illegitimate offspring. He looks after the horses while making plans to seize his thwarted inheritance. Leading to a sweet plot twist at the climax.

The colour photography is dramatic, especially of Hobson and Granger who sparkle darkly together. Valerie gets to wear some luxurious gowns once she is established in the master's bedroom. Everything is overstated and degenerate, and invariably set on horseback. Gainsborough couldn't have done it better.