"Waterloo Bridge" is one of my ten favorite melodramas ,in the same league as "imitation of life", "magnificent obsession" (2 versions each)or "to each his own" .

I'd always thought that "That Lady Hamilton" was Leigh's third best performance (after "GWTW" and "a streetcar named desire" )but I've got to make amends :After watching Le Roy's nugget for the third or fourth time yesterday ,I think this is one of the pearls on the crown of Mrs Leigh's too small filmography.

"Waterloo bridge" is close to perfection ,so beautiful it can grab even people who do not care much for melodramas.The cinematography is dazzling,stunning:I will only mention this scene when the two lovers arrive in Cronin's desirable mansion ,it looks like a fairy tale.

There are so many unforgettable scenes in " Waterloo bridge" it's impossible to talk about all of them:

"The Farewell Waltz ",when they snuff a candle each time the dancers go round the dance hall,is one of the most romantic scene you have ever watched.

The ball ,in the manor,where Mara looks a bit like Cinderella ,with her ugly "sisters" exchanging gossips behind her back.

The search ,in all the low dives of London town,and Roy beginning to understand ...

All the cast is incredibly good:Vivien Leigh had everything going for her: acting genius,beauty,charm;Robert Taylor is ideally cast as the young dashing officer every girl dreams of.

The supporting actresses are up to scratch too:Madame Oupenskaya we have seen in Frank Borzage' s works ("the mortal storm")is extraordinary as the ruthless ballet mistress;Virginia Fields portrays a girl who sacrifices her own life for her friend's happiness;that's what friends are for :she shows compassion and emotion;we feel for her Kitty as much as we do for Mara ,it speaks volumes about this actress's talent.Lucille Watson is equally impressive as Lady Margaret ,the aristocratic lady with a big heart.

One should not forget the use of music either: the three pieces which are heard during the movie always come at the right moment: "Auld Lang Syne" (the farewell waltz) which really belongs here ,"Swan Lake" and "Let me call you sweetheart" .

Although completely different,"Waterloo Bridge" is as strong as Le Roy's earlier works "I'm a fugitive from a chain gang" or "they won't forget" .

This movie has been remade several times and I doubt if in this day and age the old fashioned plot would succeed. This is because the plot is full of lots of melodrama and situations that today just seem too unbelievable. However, being a fan of older films, I was able to suspend disbelief and just watch the movie and accept it for what it was.

Ms. Leigh is a struggling ballerina in love with a rich guy about to go off to WWI. They are desperately in love and she ultimately gives up her career for him. Unfortunately, he goes off to war and is assumed to be lost and she has no income. His family is far from welcoming and so she is forced to sell her body to support herself! Now, most people today would think "yeah, she COULD just scream and yell and demand support from his family or why doesn't she just go out and get a job?" and this is the main problem with the film. Also, it's hard to reconcile the fine romance and romantic cinematography and music with her becoming a hooker. They just don't go together. These plot holes, it turns out, are a result of a massive re-writing of the script from the 1931 film of the same name--where the character Ms. Leigh plays is already a prostitute when she meets her love AND she never was a ballerina!! However, in spite of this, it's still an excellent film and is worth seeing.

After the tremendous acclaim Vivien Leigh received from Gone With the Wind topped off with that Oscar, there was tremendous interest in what her next project would be. After working so well with Gable in Gone With the Wind, MGM decided to team her with another of their romantic heart throbs Robert Taylor. What I don't understand is how as a newcomer to the USA, Leigh rated top billing over one of MGM's biggest box office draws. In any event Taylor must have conceded the top spot to her and would have if asked because he was always the most agreeable of contract players.

Like Gable in Mutiny on the Bounty, Taylor does not even attempt a hint of a British accent. The film opens in 1939 a few days after the second World War starts. Taylor, now a field grade officer finds himself on Waterloo Bridge in London and he starts to think back to the first World War and his lost love who he met during a Zeppelin attack on London.

That lost love was Vivien Leigh, an aspiring ballerina under the tutelage of Maria Ouspenskaya, one formidable old woman. The film is Taylor and Leigh's story. They are as romantic a pair of young lovers as has ever been seen on the silver screen.

Leigh is more fragile here, more true to her own life, than she was as the independent and forceful Scarlett O'Hara. One cannot ever imagine Scarlett making the choices that Leigh's Myra Lester makes in Waterloo Bridge.

Interesting how audiences accept Taylor as British without him even attempting an accent. The old American as Canadian gambit isn't even used to justify Taylor's presence in a British story. Shows that attractive and capable players can cover a certain amount of artistic sin.