Drama

Crime

Thriller

Interwood Productions

Universal International Pictures

United States of America

English

Joan Fontaine

Patric Knowles

Herbert Marshall

Richard Ney

Cedric Hardwicke

Lucile Watson

Sara Allgood

Henry Stephenson

Rosalind Ivan

Lilian Fontaine

Molly Lamont

Una O'Connor

Isobel Elsom

Alan Napier

Lois Austin

Lydia Bilbrook

Matthew Boulton

Ralph Brooks

Colin Campbell

Paul Cavanagh

David Cavendish

Herbert Clifton

Claire Du Brey

Alan Edmiston

Ella Ethridge

Herbert Evans

Renee Evans

James Fairfax

Jean Fenwick

Bess Flowers

Mary Forbes

Art Foster

Gerald Hamer

Lumsden Hare

Holmes Herbert

Boyd Irwin

Kenner G. Kemp

Charles Knight

Carl M. Leviness

James Logan

Charles Mendl

Clive Morgan

Harry Hays Morgan

Alberto Morin

Gavin Muir

William H. O'Brien

William J. O'Brien

Manuel París

Jack Perrin

Elsa Peterson

David Ralston

Leonardo Scavino

Wallace Scott

C. Montague Shaw

Wyndham Standing

Brick Sullivan

David Thursby

Norma Varden

William Wagner

Eric Wilton

Judith Woodbury

Marie Belloc Lowndes

Sam Wood

William Cameron Menzies

Ralph Dawson

Daniele Amfitheatrof

Russell Metty

David S. Horsley

Charles Bennett

David Tamkin

Bud Westmore

Ted Offenbecker

Richard H. Riedel

Orry-Kelly

Russell A. Gausman

Polly Burson

John Sherwood

Carmen Dirigo

William Hedgcock

Charles Felstead

Evil influences are gathering.

Ivy is directed by Sam Wood and adapted to screenplay by Charles Bennett from the novel The Story of Ivy written by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It stars Joan Fontaine, Patric Knowles, Herbert Marshall, Richard Ney, Cedric Hardwicke and Lucile Watson. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and cinematography by Russell Metty.

Ivy Lexton (Fontaine) has a hunger to be wealthy, and setting her sights on well-to-do Miles Rushworth (Marshall), Ivy plots a fiendish plan that spells trouble for her husband Jervis (Ney) and her lover Roger (Knowles). 

Well worth discovering, Ivy showcases the dark side of Fontaine’s acting prowess for great entertainment rewards. The beautiful Madame Fontaine actually disowned the movie, and this after she stepped in to the role of Ivy Lexton after her sister Olivia de Havilland turned it down. Her lack of affection for the picture goes some way to explaining why it has remained largely forgotten, which is a shame because it’s a high end gaslight noir propelled by a femme fatale of some considerable substance. 

The budget was high, and it shows, in the cast list, the costuming and the stunning turn of the century production design by William Cameron Menzies. Metty’s low-key photography cloaks the Edwardian settings with atmospheric snugness, while Amfitheatrof underscores the drama with music that is appropriately tinged with chills. Thematically the piece is focusing on obsessions, by way of man’s ignorant lust and woman’s pursuit of wealth above all else. All characters are defined not by fate here, but by their actions, making for a hornet’s nest of murder and adultery. 

1947 was a stellar year for film noir, with big hitting movies like Out of the Past, Nightmare Alley, Kiss of Death, Odd Man Out and Brighton Rock further cementing the growing popularity of noir as a style of film making. As is often the case with the great noir years from the classic cycle, there’s still little gems hidden away waiting to be brought out into the open, Ivy is one such film. Fontaine and the sumptuous noir visual style ensure this to be the case. 8/10

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Ivy

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Cast

Joan Fontaine

Patric Knowles

Herbert Marshall

Richard Ney

Cedric Hardwicke

Lucile Watson

Sara Allgood

Henry Stephenson

Rosalind Ivan

Lilian Fontaine

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