Madame Bovary (1949)

★ 6.8 1h 46m IMDb

In 19th-century France, doctor's wife Emma Bovary seeks to escape her dull provincial life through various extramarital affairs and extravagant spending, leading to tragic consequences.

Madame Bovary

Where to Watch

Netflix Netflix
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video
Disney Plus Disney Plus
HBO Max HBO Max
Max Max
Hulu Hulu
Paramount Plus Paramount Plus
Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus
Peacock Peacock
Showtime Showtime
Starz Starz
Paramount+ with Showtime Paramount+ with Showtime

Rent / Buy

Rent

Apple TV Apple TV
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies
Amazon Video Amazon Video
YouTube YouTube
Vudu Vudu
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Buy

Apple TV Apple TV
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies
Amazon Video Amazon Video
YouTube YouTube
Vudu Vudu
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Cast

Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones as Emma Bovary Died 2009 · Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Phylis Lee Isley (March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), better known by her stage name Jennifer Jones, was an American actress. A five-time Academy Award nominee,...
James Mason
James Mason as Gustave Flaubert Died 1984 · Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK James Neville Mason, known as James Mason, was an accomplished English actor who made a significant impact on both British and American cinema. He was born on May 15, 1909, in Huddersfield, Yorkshire,...
Van Heflin
Van Heflin as Charles Bovary Died 1971 · Walters, Oklahoma, USA Emmett Evan “Van” Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor whose steady craftsmanship and versatility made him a respected character play...
Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan as Rodolphe Boulanger Died 2015 · Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcoc...
Alf Kjellin
Alf Kjellin as Leon Dupuis Died 1988 · Lund, Sweden Alf Kjellin (28 February 1920 - 5 April 1988) was a Swedish film actor and director, who also appeared on some television shows. Kjellin was well established as a film actor when he occasionally took...
Gene Lockhart
Gene Lockhart as J. Homais Died 1957 · London, Ontario, Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957) was a Canadian-American character actor, singer, and playwright. He also wrote the lyrics to a number of p...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 9/10 Jul 12, 2015
Do you know, Charles, why that clock strikes? To announce the death of another hour.

Madame Bovary is directed by Vincente Minnelli and adapted to screenplay by Robert Ardrey from the Gustave Flaubert novel. It stars Jennifer Jones, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Alf Kjellin, Gene Lockhart and James Mason. Music is by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography by Robert H. Planck.

It's most interesting now watching Minnelli's picture and being able to place it in the time it was made. Also of major interest is reading up on what the critics of the time had to say about it. This version is an undoubted lesson in the technical crafts of film making, the visuals, the sound, art design, costuming and a literary pumped screenplay that allows the cast to play it classical. It's also black hearted, perfectly in keeping with the gathering storm of the era that was film noir.

Here is the monster.

Some of the complaints about the film, to me anyway, just don't add up. Why do we need to care about anyone in this story? It's a dark tale of illicit passions, greed, betrayals, bad parenting and etc. Is this frowned upon in some circles because of love for the classic novel? Or because there's some esteem held for other versions? The criticism of Jones is also very suspect given it's a classic femme fatale performance, Emma is cold and driven and shallow to others feelings, Jones works it perfectly.

As Rózsa's beautiful lush and poignant musical arrangements drift and hover over the various story instalments, Minnelli brings the film making guile. His camera work is sublime, like a ghost moving about the characters for the more vibrant scenes, tracking and roving, dizzyingly beautiful. At others it's close and personal, imbuing Emma's claustrophobia, with the black and white contrasts superbly photographed by Planck.

So it doesn't capture the essence of Flaubert's intent, then? Emma Bovary a figure of hate instead of sympathy, the lack of a caustic aside on a society of double standards? So what! Outstanding film making is just that, especially when it can tune into a style of film making prevalent at its birth. Madame Bovary - maybe the most film noir movie not actually considered a film noir. Brilliant. 9/10

Similar Movies