Highly Overrated But Still Good

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Boring, long, and too preachy.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Both the 1931 and 1940 films of 'Waterloo Bridge' are very good and well worth watching in their own way. Some elements are done better in one than the other if one must compare, but despite being in the shadow of the 1940 film the 1931 version is much underrated.The 1931 version is darker, grittier, steamier and more ahead of its time (plus more faithful to the original story), but this reviewer leans a little more towards the more lavish and even more poignant 1940 film, despite it being tamer and more romanticised. There is one element that is preferred personally in the earlier version than here and that's the male lead.Robert Taylor is certainly dashing, shares a very tender chemistry with Vivien Leigh and has very rarely been more handsome, but he is also a little stiff and dull in places for my liking (Leigh apparently wanted Laurence Olivier for the role and he would have been a better choice) and Kent Douglass was more effective bringing out the character's naivety.On the other hand, it is very lavishly produced with sumptuous costumes and sets with immaculately directed. Mervyn Leroy directs with elegant simplicity, atmosphere and momentum always consistent, while Herbert Stothart's music score is even more memorable, more lush and more haunting, in perfect keeping with the more "melodramatic" feel.'Waterloo Bridge's' (1940) script is intelligent and surprisingly multi-faceted, and the execution of the story is what gives this version the slight edge over the earlier film. Despite being tamer, lacking the darkness and grit of the 1931 film due to code constraints, the story did move me a little more and the ending is less erratic, less random and less abrupt - it's incredibly moving too- if ever so slightly contrived still.The characters are very well written, and the chemistry between the two leads is remarkably tender. There is a sterling supporting cast, with a scene stealing and charmingly loyal Virginia Field, a sly C. Aubrey Smith and a sympathetic Lucile Watson. Vivien Leigh's heart-breaking performance- to me she and Mae Clarke are about equal- is the one that dominates and it one for the ages and every bit as good as her performances that garnered her Oscars.In summary, such a beautifully done and tear-jerking. If you're asking which of the 1931 and 1940 films to watch, check out both of them, they are well worth it. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I was bored tonight so looked and found this wonderful gem of a movie. The title actually is the catalyst for this drama. First we meet the star crossed lovers then we see the heroine fall from grace and at the end how the movie ends. The acting is superb and I would like to say when Miss Leigh is on the screen it crackles with life and energy and watch her eyes how she does not have to say a word as her eyes are her voice I find that is such a skill she has and in addition her eyes are mesmerizing. At the start we find her character young and full of love and happiness and then watch her fall into despair over a love she thinks she has lost but then when she finds out that her love is alive she cannot live with the shame that she brought upon herself. I was moved and this movie I could watch over and over just for Miss Leigh. Robert Taylor was good along with the fine character actors in the MGM casting. In many ways you could say that Vivien Leigh had a skill at playing the doomed heroine but she is so good and yes so gorgeous.

Great romantic drama. Moving, and ultimately quite sad - certainly not your average romantic movie. Very original, even after all these years. Also quite intriguing, as you know roughly how things are going to work out, but you don't know why, until the end (my money was on the old crone from the ballet company screwing things up...).Superb performance from the beautiful Vivien Leigh. Every sentence and expression is perfectly nuanced. Solid performance in the male lead by Robert Taylor. Good support from Virginia Field and Lucile Watson.They certainly don't make romantic dramas like they used to...

Very romantic film with fine actors. Robert Taylor is quite American, but it seems that Hollywood intentionally used Americans in films that were supposed to have all (or nearly all) British characters so that American audiences would not find the films too 'foreign.' Some of the supporting characters in Frank Capra's 1936 "Lost Horizon" come to mind, for instance. While Robert Taylor is of ideal stature and appearance in "Waterloo Bridge", a British actor like Ronald Colman would have been a better fit (though he was beginning to get on in years by 1940). Colman did appear in Mervyn LeRoy's "Random Harvest" two years later, and, interestingly, the haunting music of "Swan Lake" makes its way into that film, too. Vivien Leigh does not even seem to be acting in "Waterloo Bridge". It is as if she and the role were one, which is a supreme compliment to an actor. And it is always a pleasure to see a veteran character actor like C. Aubrey Smith, usually cast as blustery (but lovable) curmudgeons---retired generals and the like.