Sign In / Sign Up

I Live in Grosvenor Square

I Live in Grosvenor Square
Release date: 1945-07-20
Rating: 7.1
Votes: 8
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
The WW II romance set in Grosvenor square aka Eisenhower's home where the GIs stayed in London. Neagle loves Harrison. There arrives patriot GI Dean Jagger to rouse things up in the square. Snotty British Neagle and Jagger clash and fall for each other. What will Harrison have to say or do about these? What will the consequences be? Will the three finally become two and which two in this extremely patriotic love and war story.

Reviews

CyrusPK

CyrusPK

This seems to be something of a forgotten film despite being a major moneymaker of its year and starring Anna Neagle, a massively famous British star who never managed to conquer the American market. Evidently written as a means of encouraging co-operation and mutual understanding between British citizens and the American troops stationed in their homes during the massive build up to D-Day, the first half of the film as a result suffers badly from some forced comedy around linguistic and geographical differences. The actors all look a little uncomfortable in these sequences. The first half of the film is largely devoted to this strained humour and the building of a romance between an English woman (Neagle) and an American flyer (Dean Jagger.) Much time is also given over to Rex Harrison’s character who is engaged to Neagle and campaigning for election as the local MP for a rural constituency, the latter overseen by his father (Robert Morley) – a kindly but very tradition-bound individual. I was finding all of this to be a little labored until the final third of the film which suddenly changes gears to become a minor masterpiece of sentiment and emotion. At that point I realised the writers have deliberately spent a lot of time setting up the characters and their interactions so that when the key moments occur they are underpinned by real knowledge of who these people are. Several scenes in this final act are played to emotional perfection; • Nancy Price as a harridan of a housekeeper revealed to have a deeply caring relationship with the American pilots in her care, so much so that she wants to leave her savings to one who she regards as a son. • Robert Morley almost casually placing a watch on a man’s wrist and mentioning that it belonged to his son who died in the First World War. • Rex Harrison giving up his chance at marriage to stage a simple meeting between the two people he knows to be in love. • Anna Neagle writing down a list of names of deceased air crew she is receiving over the phone as part of her military duties, pausing only slightly at the identity of one of them who is known to her. As a very talky piece the need for good performances is essential. Neagle carries with her a great weight of emotion constantly visible in her eyes, Morley (four years younger than Neagle) plays her father with great sincerity and emotion and Rex Harrison shows both class and dignity in his role. Production values are adequate but there is a reliance in one important scene on very scratched stock footage. Overall, this is a sentimental piece that will grab at your heart in ways least expected.

Movie Recommendation

  • The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
    The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
    1947-05-25
    In 1900, young widow Lucy Muir learns that her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.
    More...
  • Titanic
    Titanic
    1997-11-18
    101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.
    More...
  • Back to the Future
    Back to the Future
    1985-07-03
    Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.
    More...
  • Shutter Island
    Shutter Island
    2010-02-14
    World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by troubling visions and a mysterious doctor.
    More...
  • Joker
    Joker
    2019-10-01
    During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.
    More...
  • Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
    Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
    2019-07-24
    Los Angeles, 1969. TV star Rick Dalton, a struggling actor specializing in westerns, and stuntman Cliff Booth, his best friend, try to survive in a constantly changing movie industry. Dalton is the neighbor of the young and promising actress and model Sharon Tate, who has just married the prestigious Polish director Roman Polanski…
    More...
  • Oppenheimer
    Oppenheimer
    2023-07-19
    The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer's role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
    More...
  • The Breakfast Club
    The Breakfast Club
    1985-02-15
    Five high school students from different walks of life endure a Saturday detention under a power-hungry principal. The disparate group includes rebel John, princess Claire, outcast Allison, brainy Brian and Andrew, the jock. Each has a chance to tell his or her story, making the others see them a little differently -- and when the day ends, they question whether school will ever be the same.
    More...
  • Batman Begins
    Batman Begins
    2005-06-10
    Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new identity, a symbol of fear for the criminal underworld - The Batman.
    More...
  • The Devil's Advocate
    The Devil's Advocate
    1997-10-17
    Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that his boss has something far more evil planned.
    More...
  • Dune: Part Two
    Dune: Part Two
    2024-02-27
    Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
    More...
  • The Godfather
    The Godfather
    1972-03-14
    Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.
    More...
  • Rambo III
    Rambo III
    1988-05-24
    Combat has taken its toll on Rambo, but he's finally begun to find inner peace in a monastery. When Rambo's friend and mentor Col. Trautman asks for his help on a top secret mission to Afghanistan, Rambo declines but must reconsider when Trautman is captured.
    More...
  • The Killing
    The Killing
    1956-06-06
    Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.
    More...
  • 8 Mile
    8 Mile
    2002-11-08
    For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.
    More...
  • The Great Beauty
    The Great Beauty
    2013-05-21
    Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
    More...
  • The Exorcist
    The Exorcist
    1973-12-26
    When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
    More...
  • The Nightmare Before Christmas
    The Nightmare Before Christmas
    1993-10-09
    Tired of scaring humans every October 31 with the same old bag of tricks, Jack Skellington, the spindly king of Halloween Town, kidnaps Santa Claus and plans to deliver shrunken heads and other ghoulish gifts to children on Christmas morning. But as Christmas approaches, Jack's rag-doll girlfriend, Sally, tries to foil his misguided plans.
    More...
  • The Truman Show
    The Truman Show
    1998-06-04
    An insurance salesman begins to suspect that his whole life is actually some sort of reality TV show.
    More...
  • The Shawshank Redemption
    The Shawshank Redemption
    1994-09-23
    Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.
    More...

Similar Movies