Waterloo Bridge (1940)

Running and kissing in the rain, contemplating by the window, love at first sight, in short, all those clichés…. Have you ever wonder where did it come from? Probably you roll your eyes while seeing all of it, repetitively, all over again, thinking “Isn’t there any better idea?” Well, there is not. At least I guess. In order to better understand the mechanisms working in this film, remember that what to us is obvious, once was incredibly new and even scandalous due to social standards and morals. I would like to present an absolute classic, romantic masterpiece, the reason of sobbing in the dark corners of the cinema. No, it’s not Titanic but Waterloo Bridge, an American production from 1940. 

The polish translation of the movie title is “The Goodbye Waltz”, which already brings to mind something nostalgic, ephemeral. These associations are most certainly suitable and will be present during the whole session. How much I adore movies like this one, so pure, so faithful to its genre!!

The story, which has melted my heart down, is about a young ballerina and the soldier, who after first meeting at London’s Waterloo Bridge fell in love in just one day. The historical background of the First World War, the beautiful classical music, the black and white colors all these factors together create the perfect melodramatic tone.

Over the last eighty years, they said everything about Vivian Leigh’s beauty and talent. So let me just add, how amazing was she in this movie! She created a character built and developed so wonderfully, it’s dynamic and moving. Her eyes could play more than other actresses can express through the monologue. This movie is nothing but a harbinger of her acting abilities, which two years later she confirmed in “Gone with the Wind”.

Even though the movie is more than 75 years old, and some conventions faded into oblivion together with the period of war, we can’t help but give the characters an enormous empathy. With indescribable pleasure, I observed the main character surrounded by her dancer-friends who gossip, dream and fall in love just like we do now.