If Winter Comes

Director: Victor Saville Victor Saville

Overview

In this drama, set in England, an honorable textbook writer in a village becomes friends with a pregnant girl. The friendship costs him his marriage. Later, the girl dies, and the authorities wonder if it is murder. A coroner's inquest is held, and for a while the writer's social and professional standing sets on the brink of ruin. In the end, he is finally cleared and is therefore free to court his true love.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/10/2012
UPC:	0883316470596
Original Release:	1947
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:59:00
Sales rank:	38,886

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Walter Pidgeon	Mark Sabre
Janet Leigh	Effie Bright
Deborah Kerr	Nona Tybar
Binnie Barnes	Natalie Bagshaw
May Whitty	Mrs. Perch
Angela Lansbury	Mabel Sabre
Rene Ray	Sarah, `Low Jinks',Sarah, "Low Jinks"
Virginia Keiley	Rebecca, `High Jinks'
Reginald Owen	Mr. Fortune
John Abbott	Mr. Twyning
Rhys Williams	Mr. Bright
Dennis Hoey	Tiny Wilson
Hugh French	Lord Tony Tybar
Nicholas Joy	Mr. Pettigrew
Halliwell Hobbes	Coroner
Hugh Green	Freddie Perch
James Wethered	Harold Twyning
Owen McGiveney	Uncle Fonraker
Victor Wood	Mr. Fargus
Pat Aherne	Grimes, the Chauffeur,Grimes, the Chauffeur
James Fairfax	George
Alex Frazer	Clint
Phyllis Morris	Mrs. Fargus
Joe Strauch Jr.	Fat Youth
Ian Wolfe	Doctor
Virginia Kelly	Rebecca, "High Jinks"
Elspeth Dudgeon	Mrs. Ward
Cyril Smith	Truck Driver
Cyril Thornton	Jury Foreman
Major Sam Harris	Clerk in Book Shop

Technical Credits

Pandro S. Berman	Producer
Victor Saville	Director

Editorial Reviews

Noble suffering is the order of the day in If Winter Comes, but in a rather unusual twist for films of this genre, the main "sufferer" is a man rather than a woman. That's about the only bit of originality that can be found in Winter, a dully routine little "weeper" that becomes increasingly wearying as it goes along. Despite a few half-hearted attempts to give some depth to the characters, most of what we see on the screen is black-and-white throughout (and that's not a reference to the photography, which by the way is rather good, courtesy of George Folsey). The hero is entirely too good, the woman who loves him too ready to suffer nobly, the wife too much of a hardhearted witch. This is no criticism of Walter Pidgeon, Deborah Kerr and Angela Lansbury, their respective portrayers, who all do a fine job and without whose presence Winter would indeed b e a very chilly affair. They simply can't do much with the material. Somehow a very young Janet Leigh does manage to make something of her clichéd part; hers is the strongest performance and is quite worth seeing. The supporting cast, including Binnie Barnes and Dame May Whitty, also make some nice contributions. Victor Saville's direction is lifeless and by-the-book.