Man of Evil

This was a love story tempered with reality, or should it be called a story of real life with a little romance thrown in? Either way, you get a story that's neither upbeat nor a downer, but rather one of class distinction, moral ambiguities, dreams in the face of reality, and those who have the guts to make those dreams come true.

This movie's also a soap opera, with secret lives behind respectable facades, illicit affairs, illegitimacy, fights, murder, dueling, true love vs. Family duty, enough to keep you entertained.

You also get some good acting by Phyllis Calvert in the title role, Stuart Granger as the hero of the story and James Mason playing the role he plays so well, that of the villain. Who can forget him answering the question of the woman (Fanny's former employer and also her adulterous stepmother, played by Margaretta Scott) who threw away her comfortable life for him when she asks if he feels any love for her at all? He looks into her eyes, kisses her hand and says, "No." That's James, alright!

The ending is a bit hokey but what the heck?

This one's worth checking out!

This is a response to the reviewers who write things like "This movie is good for its time." Works of art reflect their era. That is an axiom, not a weakness, and "Fanny by Gaslight" very much reflects the morals and class system of Victorian England. But it also explores timeless themes: loyalty, greed, forgiveness, and love both romantic and familial.

Ironically, the viewers who air such views suffer from the very thing they accuse the movie of: being stuck in their own era. Perfect example, the reviewer who called this movie "stilted and rather tame." If you watch it on its terms, it is neither. Another began the review, "This is a story that doesn't age well," then proceeded to praise the presentation of the protagonist: "With every revelation, she has to make a choice about whether to live her life honestly or prudently." That is a timeless theme.

"Fanny by Gaslight" is admirable as cinema as well: finely paced and structured by director Anthony Asquith; beautifully shot by Arthur Crabtree (a Hitchcock protégée); and with sensitive portrayals by all the actors, even minor roles.

This Victorian melodrama has enough plot to fill several volumes and is, what you might call, 'a rum yarn'. Anthony Asquith's "Fanny By Gaslight" was based on a best-selling novel by Michael Sadleir and was a huge hit in its native Britain and it's an exemplary example of its kind. Phyllis Calvert is Fanny and let's just say what happens to her in the course of this tale would put any Dickens heroine to shame or to quote Thelma Ritter, 'all that's missing is the bloodhounds snapping at her rear end'. Stewart Granger is the young man who loves her and James Mason, the nasty brute who would like to ruin her and others in the fine cast include Wilfred Lawson, Jean Kent, Margaretta Sccott, Cathleen Nesbitt and Nora Swinburne. Given that it's basically a soap opera, Asquith handles it with considerable aplomb and the performances are first-rate. If it's a guilty pleasure, it's certainly a highly enjoyable one.

I greatly enjoy the Gainsborough films, especially those "bodice rippers", and with Mason as such a terrific heavy, making every moment of his limited screen time count, this is most enjoyable escapism.

Of course it is Phyllis Calvert as Fanny who dominates the film, ably supported by a well-chosen supporting cast. I much regret that my favorite contemporary British director, Ken Russell, was never able to realize his last major project -a new version of "Moll Flanders", but seeing this 1944 costume picture some 80 years after courtesy of YouTube makes up for it thanks to a very fine British print.

Fanny (Phyllis Calvert) is a lovely young lady who, through no fault of her own, is persecuted throughout the story due to her heritage. It seems that her father was an important nobleman and she didn't even know it. That is because his family annulled his marriage to a commoner....and the pregnant woman later remarried and her new husband raised Fanny as his very own. She only learns of all this after the death of her mother and step-father. She is, briefly, introduced to her biological father and they spend time together...though unfortunately not enough time. Soon, he, too, is dead and Fanny is out fending for herself. However, a lovely nobleman (Stewart Granger) falls for her and promises her a life of ease and love....but at the cost of him being disowned by his family. What is Fanny to do? After all, she loves him but won't stand in his way. And, what about the incredibly evil Lord Manderstoke (James Mason), as he and the boyfriend's family seem bent on destroying Fanny.

This film is a lovely story...very much like an old fashioned love story. This is NOT meant as an insult...such stories can be very satisfying if well written and the characters enjoyable...which they definitely are here.