The Gainsborough melodramas were a sequence of films produced by the British film studio Gainsborough Pictures between 1943 and 1947 that conformed to a melodramatic style.Brooke, Michael. (2014). Gainsborough Melodrama. Screenonline British Film Institute. Retrieved 21 March 2020. The melodramas were not a film series but an unrelated sequence of films that had similar themes that were usually developed by the same film crew and frequently recurring actors who played similar characters in each. They were mostly based on popular books by female novelists and they encompassed costume dramas, such as The Man in Grey (1943) and The Wicked Lady (1945), and modern-dress dramas, such as Love Story (1944) and They Were Sisters (1945). The popularity of the films with audiences peaked in the mid-1940s, when cinema audiences consisted primarily of women.Strong Women and Dark Doings: 'Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures' – PopMatters The influence of the films led to other British producers releasing similarly themed works, such as The Seventh Veil (1945), Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945), Hungry Hill (1947), The White Unicorn (1947), Idol of Paris (1948), and The Reluctant Widow (1950) and often with the talent that made Gainsborough melodramas successful.
History During the mid-1940s, with many of the men fighting in the Second World War, and many of the children evacuated to rural areas, women attained more financial responsibility and independence by having to work, and Gainsborough Pictures took advantage of this by providing films with powerful images of female independence and rebellion that resonated deeply with audiences.Kuhn, Annette. & Radstone, Susannah. (1994). The Women's Companion to International Film. University of California Press p169 Retrieved 3 March 2020 via Google books Maurice Ostrer, who was head of production at Gainsborough, pushed forward escapism, in contrast to Ealing's focus on the war, as he contended that the public did not need to see "patriotic war settings" for enjoyment, since many could find it "too near home", and that audiences wanted "good themes and good laughs".Murphy, Robert. (2003). Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939–48. London. Routledge. p27. . Retrieved via Google Books
Previously, Gainsborough had made films in a variety of genres during its twenty-five-year existence, and had been particularly known for its comedy films; however, with the advent of war, and the paying viewing public consisting mainly of women, the studio rapidly became closely associated with melodrama, to the extent that these films have become synonymous with the studios, in a manner resembling the Ealing comedies (1947–1957) and the Hammer Horrors (1955–1974). Gainsborough also produced other films during the war that featured strong women as the protagonist, such as the Launder and Gilliat "unofficial trilogy", Millions Like Us (1943) Two Thousand Women (1944) and Waterloo Road (1945). The Huggetts (1947–1949) film series were also notable in this regard. However, it was the melodramas that were the biggest financial successes for Gainsborough.
The dynamics of the paying viewing public changed in 1946, with men returning from war, and this brought about a change in the successful formula of the melodramas, in that, on the release of Caravan (1946) and The Magic Bow (1946), there was more focus on men and masculinity, rather than on women, who were relegated to supporting roles.Brooke, Michael. Caravan (1946). (2014). Screenonline British Film Institute. Retrieved 18 April 2020 However, 1947 would see a return to the previous formula of putting the women front and centre, which had been central to the previous films' success. It has been argued Rank "ran the Gainsborough melodramas into the ground".
Reception The critics had a scathing analysis upon their initial reception of the films, and they were not alone, as some of the films' stars also expressed their dissatisfaction with the releases. Stewart Granger described Love Story (1944) as "a load of crap – and a smash hit!", while calling Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) and Caravan (1946) "terrible films" and saying that he "didn't like" Fanny by Gaslight (1944) because of its "drippy characters".MacFarlane, Brian. (1997). An Autobiography of British Cinema. Methuen. p 230 . Meanwhile, Phyllis Calvert said in a 1983 British Film Institute interview "I hated the films [...] in retrospect, they're even worse now than they seemed at the time. I find it very difficult to say anything nice about them."Aspinall, Sue & Murphy, Robert. (Eds.). (1983a). Gainsborough Melodrama: BFI Dossier 18. London British Film Institute. p60.Laitila, Johanna. (2018). "Melodrama, Self and Nation in Post-War British Popular Film." Taylor & Francis p23. Retrieved 3 March 2020 via Google Books
Despite this, the films were popular with the public to an extent that they catapulted Granger, Calvert and their co-stars Margaret Lockwood, James Mason, Patricia Roc, and Jean Kent into stardom, and in subsequent years the films have become the subject of more favourable study.Gaumont-British Picture: Increased Takings and Costs. (15 Nov 1944) The Scotsman (1921–1950) [Edinburgh, Scotland]: 2.Burton, Alan & Chibnall, Steve. (2013). Historical Dictionary of British Cinema. The Scarecrow Press. p178. . Retrieved 1 April 2020 via Google Books Following the positive reception by the public of The Man in Grey (1943), a number of similar pictures were made, often based on melodramatic period novels. The films dominated the British box office, out-grossing top Hollywood productions and breaking a number of records. In 2004, the British Film Institute compiled a list of the 100 biggest UK cinematic hits of all time, based on audience figures, as opposed to gross takings. Two Gainsborough melodramas appeared on this list: The Wicked Lady (1945) was placed 9th, with an estimated attendance of 18.4 million people, while Fanny by Gaslight (1944) was placed 40th, with an estimated attendance of 11.7 million people.The Ultimate Chart: 1–100. (28 November 2004).British Film Institute. Archived 3 August 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2020 via Wayback Machine, Internet ArchiveGone with the Wind tops film list. (28 November 2004) News Online. retrieved 29 March 2020James, Nick. (27 November 2004). Everything you knew about cinema is probably wrong; BFI releases definitive list of the top 100 most-seen films. Reel Classics. Retrieved 29 March 2019
In regards solely to British productions, the same list identified that the most popular films were The Wicked Lady (1945), which was ranked second of all time, just behind Spring in Park Lane (1948), and Fanny by Gaslight, ranked as 13th in the twentieth century and 15th in the all-time ranking. The first Daily Mail National Film Awards in 1946, which are seen as the predecessor to the British Film Academy Awards (later BAFTA) and inspiration for the current National Film Awards UK, saw The Man in Grey (1943) voted second in the category for "Best Film" made between 1939 and 1945,British Poll Most Popular Stars: James Mason and Margaret Lockwood (26 April 1946). Perth. p13. The West Australian. Retrieved 4 March 2013 via National Library of Australia behind The Way to the Stars (1945).Daily Mail Film Awards 1946 (1946) British PatheWilson, Cecil. (1948). Film Votes for the Million. in Jeffrey Truby (ed), The Daily Mail Film Award Annual 1948. Winchester Publications Ltd. Two other Gainsborough melodramas, Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) and They Were Sisters (1945), were voted third and fourth, respectively.Truby, Jeffrey. (ed). (1948) The Daily Mail Film Award Annual 1948. Winchester Publications Ltd.Noble, Peter. (1948). Films of 1946. in Peter Noble (ed), The British Film Yearbook 1947–48. London, Skelton Robinson Margaret Lockwood took the honour of "most popular and outstanding British actress during the war years", ahead of Phyllis Calvert in second place, and Patricia Roc, who was third. James Mason was voted as the "most popular and outstanding British actor during the war years", with Stewart Granger in third place.
In the 1947 awards, The Wicked Lady (1945) came second behind Piccadilly Incident (1946) for the "Best Film Award",Reid, John Howard. (2009). Film Noir, Detective and Mystery Movies on DVD: A Guide to the Best in Suspense. Lulu Books. p259. Retrieved 17 April 2020 via Google Books with Lockwood and Mason claiming the renamed "Best Actress Award" and "Best Actor Award"Daily Mail Film Awards 1947. (1947). British Pathe for their roles in the former film.Truby, Jeffrey. (ed). (1948) British Films of 1947. Winchester Publications Ltd.Noble, Peter. (1948). The Year in British Films. in Peter Noble (ed), The British Film Yearbook 1947–48. London, Skelton Robinson Lockwood would attain the "Best Actress Award" for a third time in a row in 1948,Daily Mail Film Awards 1948. (1948). British Pathe for her role in Jassy (1947), while her co-stars in the film, Patricia Roc and Dennis Price, were voted third and fourth in their respective Best Actress Award and Best Actor Award categories .Truby, Jeffrey. (ed). (1949) The Daily Mail Film Award Annual 1949. Winchester Publications Ltd. Despite the film coming in fourth in the "Best Film Award" category behind The Courtneys of Curzon Street (1947), Great Expectations (1946), and Odd Man Out (1947), Jassy was officially the final Gainsborough melodrama film, and the only one to be made in Technicolor.
Melodramas The first film in the sequence, The Man in Grey (1943), was based on a novel of the same name by Eleanor Smith. It tells the story of a young woman and a cold aristocrat who enter into a marriage of convenience. When the young woman falls in love with a strolling actor, her hopes of eloping to happiness are constantly wrecked by the aristocrat who cares more for the reputation of the family name, and by an old school friend who has designs on marrying her husband. The film proved to be a major success on its release. It was the seventh most popular movie at the British box office in 1943.Murphy, Robert. (2003). Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939–48. London. Routledge. p206. . Retrieved via Google Books Phyllis Calvert later recalled it "had two West End premieres. It had one premiere, got terrible notices, went through the provinces and made so much money that it had to come back to London".MacFarlane, Brian. (1997). An Autobiography of British Cinema. Methuen. p 110 . On the film's release in Australia in 1945, it was the only British film listed in the top ten most popular films.Armitage, Mary. (4 January 1947). Australia's Favorite Stars And Movies of the Year. The Mail (Sunday Magazine) Vol.35.(1,806).p9 Retrieved 21 March 2020.
Love Story (1944) was adapted from the short story "Love and Forget" by J. W. Drawbell,Baskin, Ellen. (Ed.). (2018). Enser's Filmed Books and Plays: A List of Books and Plays from which Films have been Made 1928–2001. New York. Routledge. . Retrieved via Google Books although director and co-screenwriter Leslie Arliss would later say he was also inspired by two other short magazine stories, "The Ship Sailed at Night" and "A Night in Algiers".Lejeune, C.A. (3 Oct 1943). Notes About Birds and Pictures from London. New York Times (1923–Current file) [New York, N.Y]: X3. The film explores a contemporary rivalrous love triangle between a concert pianist (Lockwood) who, due to a heart condition, has months to live, a former RAF pilot who is going blind from a wartime injury (Granger), and the pilot's childhood friend (Roc), who is secretly in love with him. The film was a huge success at the British box-office.Gaumont-British Picture: Increased Net Profit (4 Nov 1945).The Observer (1901– 2003) [London (UK)]: p3.Murphy, Robert. (2003). Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 1939–48. London. Routledge. p207. Retrieved via Google Books