This original version of the Robert Sherwood play is quite different than the more famous MGM remake starring Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor. The story is more efficiently told, and without flashbacks, such that this film is nearly half an hour shorter.
It was directed by James Whale, and the screenplay was written by Benn Levy and Tom Reed. The most notable aspect of this movie is Mae Clarke's terrific performance as the conflicted streetwalker Myra Deauville; Kent Douglass aka Douglass Montgomery is pedestrian as the soldier from a wealthy family she meets, Roy Cronin, who's unaware of her (oldest) profession.
Whereas the later film version of the play has Myra and Roy meet and fall in love before she turns to prostitution, as her only means of support, after she's been led to believe that he's died in the war, in this one they meet after the former chorus girl had already been walking the streets for a couple of years, with friend Kitty (Doris Lloyd). Myra meets Roy on the titled London bridge during an air raid while both help an old woman (Rita Carlisle aka Carlyle) to the safety of a shelter. They then spend some innocent time together in her shabby apartment, interrupted by her landlady Mrs. Hobley (Ethel Griffies), who'd earlier asked for Myra's back rent. Naive Roy sees Myra as an out of work chorus girl who's just down on her luck, but she refuses to take advantage of his innocence, is insulted by his offer to pay her bills, and even throws him out, before they reconcile briefly and he leaves on friendlier terms.
Roy is only nineteen, and even though he's no longer under the illusion that the war in France is a fun adventure, he's still worlds away from the weary realist that Myra has become. In their brief time together, Roy fell hopelessly in love with Myra and he pursues her with flowers and a new pink dress she'd mentioned in that prior meeting. Neighbor Kitty emboldens Roy's savior complex, and plants the seed that all Myra needs is a (wedding) ring. Later, Roy tricks Myra into visiting his family's estate in the country, where she reluctantly meets his mother Mary (Enid Bennett), sister Janet (Bette Davis), and father-in-law Major Fred Wetherby (Frederick Kerr). Ruth Handforth plays Augusta, their maid. Roy's family welcomes her with open arms but Myra's guilt about "what she is" causes her to tell Mary that she's not really a chorus girl. The next day, it's clear that Mary hasn't told the others what Myra had shared about her life. Finding herself still accepted among Roy's family is too much for Myra and, still feeling unworthy, she flees back to London by train.
Myra is conflicted, she tries but can't seem to go back to doing what she always had. Roy returns to Myra's apartment in London, but finds only Mrs. Hobley, who tells him what he didn't know about the woman with whom he'd fallen in love. But still, he searches for her. Myra successfully avoided Roy until she can't help but try to glimpse him as his regiment meets to leave for the front on Waterloo Bridge. He sees her and makes her promise to marry him when he returns. An air raid begins just as the troop truck has driven away, and Myra is killed by a bomb dropped from a German Zeppelin (in lieu of Leigh's suicide) as the film ends, her monogrammed purse and white fox fur lay on the pavement.
It was directed by James Whale, and the screenplay was written by Benn Levy and Tom Reed. The most notable aspect of this movie is Mae Clarke's terrific performance as the conflicted streetwalker Myra Deauville; Kent Douglass aka Douglass Montgomery is pedestrian as the soldier from a wealthy family she meets, Roy Cronin, who's unaware of her (oldest) profession.
Whereas the later film version of the play has Myra and Roy meet and fall in love before she turns to prostitution, as her only means of support, after she's been led to believe that he's died in the war, in this one they meet after the former chorus girl had already been walking the streets for a couple of years, with friend Kitty (Doris Lloyd). Myra meets Roy on the titled London bridge during an air raid while both help an old woman (Rita Carlisle aka Carlyle) to the safety of a shelter. They then spend some innocent time together in her shabby apartment, interrupted by her landlady Mrs. Hobley (Ethel Griffies), who'd earlier asked for Myra's back rent. Naive Roy sees Myra as an out of work chorus girl who's just down on her luck, but she refuses to take advantage of his innocence, is insulted by his offer to pay her bills, and even throws him out, before they reconcile briefly and he leaves on friendlier terms.
Roy is only nineteen, and even though he's no longer under the illusion that the war in France is a fun adventure, he's still worlds away from the weary realist that Myra has become. In their brief time together, Roy fell hopelessly in love with Myra and he pursues her with flowers and a new pink dress she'd mentioned in that prior meeting. Neighbor Kitty emboldens Roy's savior complex, and plants the seed that all Myra needs is a (wedding) ring. Later, Roy tricks Myra into visiting his family's estate in the country, where she reluctantly meets his mother Mary (Enid Bennett), sister Janet (Bette Davis), and father-in-law Major Fred Wetherby (Frederick Kerr). Ruth Handforth plays Augusta, their maid. Roy's family welcomes her with open arms but Myra's guilt about "what she is" causes her to tell Mary that she's not really a chorus girl. The next day, it's clear that Mary hasn't told the others what Myra had shared about her life. Finding herself still accepted among Roy's family is too much for Myra and, still feeling unworthy, she flees back to London by train.
Myra is conflicted, she tries but can't seem to go back to doing what she always had. Roy returns to Myra's apartment in London, but finds only Mrs. Hobley, who tells him what he didn't know about the woman with whom he'd fallen in love. But still, he searches for her. Myra successfully avoided Roy until she can't help but try to glimpse him as his regiment meets to leave for the front on Waterloo Bridge. He sees her and makes her promise to marry him when he returns. An air raid begins just as the troop truck has driven away, and Myra is killed by a bomb dropped from a German Zeppelin (in lieu of Leigh's suicide) as the film ends, her monogrammed purse and white fox fur lay on the pavement.