Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939)

At only 70 minutes "Intermezzo" is short even by the standards of the thirties. The story is simple and its moral equally so. Holger Brandt is a famous Classical violinist who falls in love with Anita Hoffman, his daughter's attractive young piano teacher. Holger leaves his wife and family for Anita, and they tour Europe together, with her acting as his accompanist. Anita, however, has a guilty conscience about having been responsible for splitting up Holger's marriage. She leaves him so that he can return to his family, who forgive him. The message is that individual happiness cannot be based upon the unhappiness of others.One contributor on this board states that he would not normally approve of a film about adultery, in which case his choice of viewing matter must be rather limited. His choice of reading matter must be even more limited, as adultery has always been one of the great themes of literature. The great literary chroniclers of adultery, however- Flaubert, Tolstoy, Fontane, Hardy, Balzac, Alas, Lawrence- treated the subject with much greater frankness, and with much greater depth, than do the makers of this film. (Perhaps because those writers had no Production Code to worry about). "Intermezzo" presents us with a rather sanitised version of adultery, in which at the end of the day no-one gets hurt and there is a happy ending for everyone- even for Anita, whose renunciation of the man she loves is presented as a noble gesture which will enable her to live in future with a clear conscience. The film has been described as a "weepie" or a "tear-jerker", but it seemed to me that there was precious little in it to shed tears over.Most literary treatments of adultery (Anna and Karenin, Emma and Charles, Sir Clifford and Lady Chatterley) paint a portrait of a deeply dysfunctional marriage; this film, however, paints a highly idealised one. The opening scenes of Brandt, his adoring wife Margit and their two children could be taken straight from an advert depicting the ideal family. There is no attempt to suggest any marital discord which might have contributed to Brandt's infidelity; adultery is simply presented as "one of those things that happen", like an accident.This is not Ingrid Bergman's greatest film, but her vibrant, lively personality shines through and she does enough to show why she was to go on to become a major Hollywood star. (Ironically, her career was to be damaged ten years later when she herself became involved in an affair with a married man, Roberto Rossellini). Leslie Howard, however, seems too much the perfect gentleman with no suggestion of a passionate nature below the surface. One cannot really imagine him as the sort of man who would jeopardise a seemingly idyllic marriage for a guilty fling.This film is a remake of a Swedish film of the same name, made three years earlier in 1936. The main purpose of the remake was to allow David O. Selznick to introduce to the American public his big new star, Ingrid Bergman, who had also starred in the Swedish version. Tom Cruise did something similar recently when, wanting to introduce to the American public a big new star, Penelope Cruz (who also happened to be his girlfriend), he produced, under the title "Vanilla Sky", an English-language remake of her previous Spanish hit "Abre los Ojos". There is, however, a difference. Cruise's film transferred the action from Spain to America and included several well-known Hollywood stars, including himself. The American version of "Intermezzo" by contrast, kept the Swedish setting of the original film. Moreover, none of the leading actors were American. Apart from Bergman, the two leading roles are played by British actors, Leslie Howard and Edna Best. Clearly, in 1939 there was no automatic assumption on the part of Hollywood filmmakers, as there is today, that American audiences took no interest in countries other than their own.It might, in fact, have been easier if the action had been transferred to America, as it would have spared the filmmakers the dilemma of how to refer to the European political situation. The film was made at a time when Europe was threatened by war, and actually opened a few days after war was actually declared. The view of Europe in 1939, however, is as sanitised as that of the Brandts' marriage. We see a continent at peace, with no reference to Nazism or the approaching conflict, beyond one brief allusion to "the time when Vienna was a happy city". This has been taken as a reference to the Anschluss in the previous year, although Vienna was probably not a particularly happy place under the authoritarian pre-1938 Dollfuss/Schuschnigg regime.In style the film is a romantic melodrama, complete with lush Classical music playing in the background. It is reasonably well made, but I was rather unhappy with its treatment of its subject-matter. In one of a number of musical metaphors, Anita says that she was just an intermezzo in Brandt's life. Most extra-marital affairs in real life are rather more than that. If only the damage done by infidelity could be repaired as easily as it is in this film. 6/10

For her first American film, David O. Selznick was taking no chances with his Swedish import Ingrid Bergman. Her debut film was to something she had previously done in Sweden, giving her a role she had already done and was comfortable while presumably she learned English. As we all know Ingrid Bergman learned it quite well indeed.Intermezzo is the story of a world famous concert violinist played by Leslie Howard who comes home from a world tour with his piano accompanist John Halliday to wife Edna Best and children Ann Todd and Douglas Scott. By a stroke of coincidence Ann Todd's piano teacher Ingrid Bergman is also Halliday's pupil. At a party Bergman plays and Howard picks up the violin to accompany her.That's it for him, the beautiful music they make together kindles a romance. She goes on tour with him and it's a romantic idyll. Except of course for Best and the kids.This version of Intermezzo is a faithful remake of the original Swedish film and the reviews that Ingrid Bergman garnered insured her American stardom. This was a busy years for Leslie Howard and David O. Selznick with both of them also involved with Gone With The Wind.The theme from Intermezzo is most often done as an instrumental, but words were actually written for it and Tony Martin made a hit record of it at the time film was out in theater.Seen today Intermezzo and its romantic story hold up well today. Bergman and Best are at their best fighting for the same man and Leslie Howard's charm still comes through after almost 70 years. Intermezzo got two Oscar nominations for black and white cinematography and film editing, but this was the year of Gone With The Wind.You didn't think David O. Selznick should have taken all the Oscars home from 1939. He grabbed enough of them that year as it was.

This movie about the world renowned violinist and his daughters piano teacher is beautiful. Leslie Howard did an amazing job and Ingrid Bergman looked lovely. Although their acting showed no real chemistry between the two... it went along with the story of how she was only an "intermezzo" in his life. I have never seen such a beautiful film about love, affairs, and pain brought to all those involved. It was moving and every bit theatrical as the title presumes. Besides Gone With The Wind it is Howards most lovely film and I suggest to all they see it. Intermezzo was simply... dazzling with its theme and truths. It showed real life in a way that most films of the day were afraid to.

"Intermezzo" is a duly old-fashioned, if a bit clumsy piece of melodrama. It's a remake of the same name Swedish film made three years earlier, in which Ingrid Bergman played the same role. Her glowing on the screen is the main reason that makes "Intermezzo" worthwhile. Fortunately the film is only 70 minutes long. In this case, more would have been hard to sit through.