The Constant Nymph (1943)

Very Cool!!!

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I know a lot of folks like this film. I am not saying they're at all wrong...it just didn't work for me. Much of this was because the relationship between Albert and Tessa was just a bit creepy to me...and wasn't always convincing.When the film begins, Albert (Charles Boyer) is a struggling composer. And, when he goes to visit an old friend and his children, the old man dies...leaving the daughters to stay with their grandfather. But Albert decides to spend more time with them...sort of like a godfather. The problem is that 14 year-old Tessa (Joan Fontaine) is smitten with him and longs to become his lover one day. This is when it got a tad creepy for me. Fortunately, Albert didn't reciprocate. However, after Albert marries, his marriage is a bit rocky...and all the while Tessa is watching him...longingly.My other problem with this very slickly made film is that I hate the idea of actresses in their mid-20s playing 14 year-olds. This rarely works well and I think an 18, 19 year-old could have pulled it off better. Mind you, Fontaine isn't bad (except when she occasionally stares off into space...something that she did here and in "Rebecca"...and I have no idea why)...in fact she's MUCH more convincing than Ginger Rogers in "The Major and the Minor"...a film than many love but which I think is among Billy Wilder's worst movies because of this. So, overall you have a very slick love story that many folks love...but I didn't. I didn't hate it...but that's hardly a glowing endorsement. Plus what do I know? The Academy thought Fontaine was just fine....

I watched about 45 minutes of this long lost cult classic more out of curiosity than anything else. I couldn't help think it was the strangest film I ever saw. Nothing seemed to work - at all. I couldn't make head or tail of the characters or the story and all I kept thinking was why there was so much running around by barefoot girls. Finally, when I realized that Joan Fontaine of all people was one of the scampering girls I was really shocked. This was the girl from Rebecca? No way Jose! But yes it was and so I kept watching just to see why in heaven's name Joan Fontaine was cast as a starry-eyed teen who would go all weak in the knees the moment Charles Boyer showed up. Finally, I stopped watching and went to TCM to read the full synopsis of the film and learned everything I needed to know. It was written in 1924 by a woman and apparently became an instant classic women's tear-jerker which was made into films and plays and heaven knows what else. That was enough for me not to go back to the film.

This is one of those films I have been waiting for years to see, having been out of circulation for at least 50 years. It was well worth the wait. Joan Fontaine is the type of actress that just doesn't exist anymore. She plays exquisitely fragile, ethereal, delicate types of women with depth, passion, soul and devotion. This is yet another impeccable performance that rated her an Academy Award nomination and I cannot think of another actress who could have pulled off, entirely successfully, playing a 14 year old girl. She is haunting, beautiful and tragic. Charles Boyer and Alexis Smith are fine in their roles but it is Fontaine who carries the film and Edmund Goulding directs in a luxurious style highlighting the delicate relationship between Fontaine and Boyer. They could never make this type of film anymore and that's alright because they wouldn't know how to deal with the subject matter. Music, poetry, art, disillusion, loss, heartache and romance between a pubescent girl and adult man is something mainstream Hollywood no longer knows how to make interesting to the public and for that matter it seems like the public doesn't really crave this any longer. Joan Fontaine is still alive and she must have been ecstatic to know that this film has garnered so much acclaim and interest. My only disappointment being that since Miss Fontaine is still alive why hasn't she been interviewed? You know she hasn't many years left. She must have amazing stories and insight to share with her public. Would kill to see her interviewed on TCM. I have a feeling Robert Osborne has contacted her since he seems to pay attention to detail and I imagine she has been approached but most likely has declined - please, please be persistent in getting a live interview and with her and her sister as well. They are the last of the greats from Hollywood's golden era.

This film is one of the hardest to find great films of its day. Joan Fontaine considers it to be one of her two best performances, the other being her work in Letter From An Unknown Woman. Both films share an abundance of similarities. In each, she devotes her life to her love of a musician. Music is as significant and intrinsic to the films as any major character. In addition, the two films both allow Fontaine the dramatic luxury of playing her characters as children. She pulls this off more successfully than any other actress I have seen. In fact, my favorite parts of both films were the early scenes in which she was playing her characters at their most youthful. The Constant Nymph offers some fascinatingly complex characterizations, including Alexis Smith's Florence, whom we hate and feel sorry for at the same time (for stealing away Charles Boyer from Joan Fontaine). This is a very special film with some truly beautiful music. Catch it if you can!