1947 film by Martin Gabel
The Lost Moment is a 1947 American melodramatic psychological thriller film with elements of horror directed by Martin Gabel and starring Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorehead.
The film was not well received at the time but its reputation has risen in recent years.[3]
Plot
The movie mirrors some details of its source material and the broad outline of its plot, but it radically alters the characters, adding schizophrenia, a murder, and a fire.[4]
A publisher, Lewis Venable, travels from New York to Venice, seeking to buy the 19th-century love letters of the late poet Jeffrey Ashton to a woman named Juliana Bordereau. He learns from a living poet, Charles Russell, that Juliana is still alive at 105.
Without announcing his intentions, Lewis assumes a false identity. He takes lodging at Juliana's and meets her great-niece Tina, a pianist.
In time, he discovers that Juliana is in dire need of money. She even offers to sell him a valuable painting at far too low a price. He also learns that Tina has dissociative identity disorder; at times believing that she is Juliana and the object of Ashton's love letters.
Charles tries to blackmail Lewis by threatening to reveal his true identity and his interest in acquiring the letters.
Lewis eventually grabs his chance to take the letters and prepares to flee with his loot. This leads to the climatic scene where we discover the fate of Ashton, and the aged Juliana accidentally sets the house on fire. Lewis manages to rescue her from the burning house, but she dies almost immediately. The precious letters are consumed in the conflagration, and Tina, freed from the past, steps into Lewis' embrace.
Production
The film was produced at Universal Pictures by Walter Wanger, from a screenplay by Leonardo Bercovici based on the 1888 novella The Aspern Papers by Henry James. Bercovici wrote the script in 1946 for Charles Feldman who developed several projects for the property. Wagner bought the script in January 1947 for a reported $200,000. (In fact no money changed hands - Wanger bought the script in exchange for a scenario called The Washington Flyer.[5])
The script was called The Lost Love. Wagner said the script would be directed by Martin Gabel, who had just worked as producer on Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman for Wanger; that film starred Susan Hayward who would be in the new movie as well.[6]
Wagner said the character of James Aspern was a combination of Shelley, Keats and Byron. He would change the name of Aspern to Ashton to avoid "exploitation of the Bayer product."[7]
In late February, Robert Cummings signed to make the film, which was then called The Lost Love. (He was scheduled to do The Big Curtain for Edward Alperson afterwards.) Filming began March 10, 1947.[8]
The set was not a tranquil one, with Hayward and Gabel quarreling over his interruptions of her line readings. After warning her director to stop, she reportedly picked up a lamp and threw it at him.[9] Gabel never directed another motion picture.
In April the film was retitled The Lost Moment.[10]
The music score was by Daniele Amfitheatrof and the cinematography was by Hal Mohr. The film stars Robert Cummings and Susan Hayward with Agnes Moorehead, Joan Lorring, Eduardo Ciannelli and Minerva Urecal.
The eerie atmosphere in the Venetian home was achieved through "tenebrous lighting, solemn rhythms and emphasis in music and sounds".[11] Agnes Moorehead's makeover by Bud Westmore into the 105-year-old woman was the subject of magazine articles for months after release.[11][12]
Reception
Critical
The film was not well received by critics upon release, "written off as being rather gloomily literary."[13] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times considered the film to be "little more than the average horror", believing that Robert Cummings and Susan Hayward had little chemistry, saying "Miss Hayward performs as the daft niece with a rigidity that is almost ludicrous, and Mr. Cummings has the unctuous manner of a nice young undertaker as the publisher. Eduardo Ciannelli is professional, at least, as a priest."[11] Newsweek said: "Frankly, admirers of Henry James have cause for complaint, and the average moviegoer will probably complain of boredom." The New Republic said that "Robert Cummings gives a performance that is probably meant to be sensitive but turns out to be unctuous". The New York World Telegram called the film "ponderous, majestic and thoroughly dull".[14]
The film has sometimes been seen in a more favorable light. Time Out said that the film is a "remarkably effective adaptation of Henry James' The Aspern Papers, closer to the shivery ambience of The Innocents than to the oh-so-discreet charm of Daisy Miller or The Europeans."[15] David Thompson said that the film was "beautifully shot".[13] Hayward's filmographer Eduardo Moreno felt that the subtle characterization of the baffling heroine was one of her finest performances.[16]
Box Office
The film recorded a loss of $886,494.[1]
