Personal Affair (1954)

An age old, but timeless state of affairs. This drama directed by Anthony Pelissier expounds the evil of gossip. A teenage schoolgirl Barbara Vining(Glynis Johns)develops a passionate affection for one of her professors. Stephen Barlow(Leo Genn)is a suave, middle aged man happily devoted to his charming wife Kay(Gene Tierney). Barlow is flattered, but has no real concern for the young girl other than being his pupil. But on the other hand, the professor does nothing to discourage the smitten young lady. He mentions what may be happening to his wife, who comes unraveled when Barbara disappears. Harsh gossip rears its ugly head as the community is all but certain the lass is victim of foul play; and her professor is responsible of trying to cover up a tawdry affair...that didn't even happen.Well written dialogues, with characters you can find apathy and sympathy for. The screenplay belongs to Lesley Storm. Other players include: Pamala Brown, Walter Fitzgerald, Megs Jenkins and Michael Hordern.

Impressionable Barbara Vining (Glynnis Johns) has a crush on her Latin teacher, Stephen Barlow (Leo Genn) but only his wife, Kay (Gene Tierney) seems to realise it. When Barbara comes over for extra tuition Kay questions her about her feelings and the girl flees the house. I kept thinking that an actress like Celia Johnson, Phyllis Calvert or Margaret Leighton would have been better suited for the role, in keeping with a more reserved British feeling. Tierney did quite well but she seemed too glamorous for Genn and it just didn't ring true that she felt he would have returned gauche Barbara's feelings. Also she seemed to know from her first meeting with Barbara that there was something between them and even though, as the movie progressed, Stephen did confess to having feelings about Barbara, it wasn't at all obvious initially. Tierney was overshadowed by other, more powerful, performances and towering over them all is Pamela Brown's neurotic Aunt Evelyn. She is Barbara's spinster aunt who has been nursing a broken love affair for 20 years and now hopes, in her own twisted way, that Barbara will follow in her footsteps.When Barbara fails to return home, Stephen confesses that he met with her to convince her the crush was pointless and he saw her safely onto the bus but she doesn't go home and within a few days rumour and accusations are flying around the village, Barlow has been let go by the school and the lake is soon to be dragged. Until now Aunt Evelyn has seemed like the rock of the Vining family - cool, calm and collected when mother (terrific Megs Jenkins) becomes such a wreck she is being kept in her room and the father, who works on a local paper doesn't know where to turn or what to believe. She sees Barbara as the village lovelorn heroine and is probably half hoping that she is found drowned in the lake. She forces the father to take notice when a couple of babbling schoolgirls come to impart all the gossip they have heard and at the end visits Kay and lets all her pent up neurosis fly when she tells what she thinks (in her own mind) really happened to Stephen and Barbara.The end is tied up a little too neatly - Barbara returns after fleeing to London for a few days to sort herself out. Stephen and Kay embrace on the little bridge - but he had been sacked, how are they both simply going to pick up the pieces and start again after this - especially in a small village where the gossip was too easily believed. Everything seemed fixed up within a few minutes. Even Aunt Evelyn is given her marching orders - to which she responds "I'll go now, I have lots of friends" but would she? Would a person like her have any life outside the family?There have been a few comments about Glynnis Johns ability at 30 to portray a teenage girl but I thought the very versatile Miss Johns did tremendously well. With her little girl voice and very youthful looks, I don't think she would have found it at all hard.Highly Recommended.

This film suffers from so many basic defects that it is difficult to understand how it was ever made.The casting is a major problem.Leo Genn and Gene Tierney have no chemistry and fail to make one believe that they are married or ever cared for each other.Glynis Johns is nearer 30 than the 17 years of the character and consequently looks far too old to be a teenager.There are so many unresolved issues left hanging in the air.Mainly whether or not Genn was in love with Johns and whether they had any sort of affair.The fact that this question is never fully addressed is a major flaw which undermines the whole script.As is often the case with British films of the fifties a fading American star is brought in to play a leading role in the hope that this will secure an American distributor.

This next to unknown feature from Two Cities Films is an intelligent, mature, and well-made feature about secrets, sex, and gossip. Leo Genn delivers a finely nuanced performance as Stephen Barlow, a schoolteacher who has a budding relationship with student Barbara (Glynis Johns). Stephen also has an American wife (Gene Tierney) who is both jealous and suspicious, and she quickly discerns that he is taking a special interest in the teenager. When Barbara disappears after meeting with him late one night, jaws start flapping, the police begin an investigation, and the girl's father (Walter Fitzgerald) suspects foul play. Beautifully shot by Reginald Wyer, Personal Affair also benefits from superb supporting performances from Megs Jenkins and Pamela Brown as Barbara's mother and aunt.