Main Cast: Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, John Halliday, Ida Lupino, Douglas Dumbrille
Release Year: 1935
Country: US
Run Time: 88 minutes
Plot
"I'll See You in My Dreams" could well have been the theme music of Peter Ibbetson, the second film version of George du Maurier's 1891 novel. Peter Ibbetson (Gary Cooper) is an architect who, while working on a restoration job for the British Duke of Towers (John Halliday), discovers that The Duchess of Towers (Ann Harding) is actually Mary, his childhood sweetheart. The jealous duke pulls a gun on Ibbetson, but Peter kills him. He is sent to prison for life, certain that he'll never meet his Mary again. But both lovers are reunited in one another's dreams, which connect them spiritually. The years pass, but the aging Peter and Mary remain ever youthful in their dreams. Upon their deaths, they are reunited in the afterlife. Somehow this fragile fantasy works, thanks to the steady guiding hand of director Henry Hathaway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Hailed by some (including Luis Buñuel) as an absolute masterpiece, Peter Ibbetson is certainly unique and fascinating, but it is also flawed and at times irritating. Chief among its flaws is a stiff, superficial performance from Gary Cooper. Usually a fine actor, Cooper is miscast here, entirely too American and, worse, too "solid" for a film as ethereal as this. Although he does create some sparks with Ann Harding, this is one of his least involved performances, and the film suffers greatly from this. Harding, however, is marvelous, perfectly capturing the surreal qualities of the film while still remaining steadfastly grounded. The screenplay and direction are both a little of two minds; the reality and the fantasy don't always mesh as well as they should, and occasionally the film feels slightly clunky. But when things click, Ibbetson soars as few other films do, becoming a mystical and poignant flight of fancy that is quite unlike any other film. A great deal of the film's success is due to cinematographer Charles B. Lang and art directors Hans Dreier and Robert Usher, whose work is nearly flawless. Whether or not one holds Ibbetson in as high regard as Buñuel, it's still a lovely, one-of-a-kind movie. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Doris Lloyd - Mrs. Dorian; Dickie Moore - Gogo; Elsa Buchanan - Mme. Pasquier; Christian Rub - Major Duquesnoit; Donald Meek - Mr. Slade; Gilbert Emery - Wilkins; Elsa Prescott - Katherine; Marcelle Corday - Maid; Adrienne D'Ambricourt - Nun; Theresa Maxwell Conover - Sister of Mercy; Colin Tapley - 1st Clerk; Clive Morgan - 2nd Clerk; Ambrose Barker - 3rd Clerk; Thomas Monk - Clerk; Blanche Craig - The Countess; Stanley Andrews - Judge; Marguerite Namara - Mme. Ginghi; Virginia Weidler - Mimsey
Credit
Hans Dreier - Art Director, Robert Usher - Art Director, Henry Hathaway - Director, Stuart Heisler - Editor, Ernst Toch - Composer (Music Score), Nathaniel W. Finston - Musical Direction/Supervision, Charles B. Lang - Cinematographer, Louis D. Lighton - Producer, Gordon Jennings - Special Effects, Constance Collier - Screenwriter, Vincent Lawrence - Screenwriter, Edwin Justus Mayer - Screenwriter, John Meehan - Screenwriter, Waldemar Young - Screenwriter, George du Maurier - Book Author, John Nathaniel Raphael - Play Author
This tale of a love that transcends all obstacles relates the story of two young lovers who are separated in childhood and then drawn together by destiny years later, even after they die. The movie's transitions between reality and fantasy are captured by the cinematography of Charles Lang, as discussed in the documentary Visions of Light (1992).
Gogo is a young boy of English extraction growing up in Paris. He is friendly with the neighbor girl, Mimsey. Gogo is taken to England by his uncle, who gives him an English name based on his mother's maiden name, transforming Gogo into Peter Ibbetson.
"So ended the first chapter in the strange foreshadowed life of Peter Ibbetson."
Now an adult Englishman, Ibbetson (Gary Cooper) is an architect working in Paris on a restoration job for the British Duke of Towers (John Halliday). He discovers that the Duchess of Towers (Ann Harding) is Mary, his childhood sweetheart. Mary keeps the dress she wore at their last childhood meeting in the dresser beside her bed.
The Duke becomes jealous and pulls a gun on Ibbetson. Ibbetson manages to kill the Duke in self-defense.
"So Death ended the second chapter. And then, in a prison on the bleak English moors..."
Ibbetson is sentenced to life in prison, and despairs that he will never see Mary again. However, the lovers are reunited in one another's dreams, which connect them spiritually. Peter can leave prison to join Mary in sunlit glades and meadows, but only in his slumbers.
"...and so, many years went by."
Though the years pass, Peter and Mary remain youthful in their dreams. Mary speaks to Peter from beyond. Then Peter joins her there.
Critical reception
The film was well received by film critics.
Critic Andre Sennwald, in for The New York Times, liked Henry Hathaway's adaptation of the novel on film, his direction, and the acting. He wrote, "Mr. Hathaway bridges the spiritual gulfs between that rousing super-Western and the fragile dream world of duMaurier's sentimental classic with astonishing success. With his directness and his hearty masculine qualities, he skillfully escapes all the lush pitfalls of the plot and gives it a tenderness that is always gallant instead of merely soft. The photoplay, though it scarcely is a dramatic thunderbolt, possesses a luminous beauty and a sensitive charm that make it attractive and moving. Under Mr. Hathaway's management Miss Ann Harding, who has been losing prestige lately, gives her finest performance, while Gary Cooper fits into the picture with unexpected success."[2]
The musical Dream True, by Ricky Ian Gordon (music and additional lyrics) and Tina Landau (book and lyrics), is a loose adaptation of the novel, reset in in the United States from the 1940s through the 1980s, with a gay subtext (the Peter and Mary characters are both male). It played at the Vineyard Theatre in New York in 1999. The cast was led by Jeff McCarthy, Daniel Jenkins, and Judy Kuhn.[3]
