''The House in the Square'' (also titled ''I'll Never Forget You'' in the United States and ''Man of Two Worlds'') is a 1951

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction f ...

about an American atomic scientist who is transported to the 18th century, where he falls in love. It starred

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include '' Jesse James'', ...

and

Ann Blyth Ann Marie Blyth (born August 16, 1928) is an American retired actress and singer. For her performance as Veda in the 1945 Michael Curtiz film ''Mildred Pierce'', Blyth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is one of ...

and was an early film for director

Roy Ward Baker Roy Ward Baker (born Roy Horace Baker; 19 December 1916 – 5 October 2010) was an English film director. His best known film is ''A Night to Remember (1958 film), A Night to Remember'' (1958) which won a Golden Globe for Golden Globe Award for ...

. It was adapted from the 1926 play ''

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent ...

'' by John L. Balderston, which was also the basis of the 1933 film ''

''.

Irene Browne Irene Browne (29 June 1896 – 24 July 1965) was an English stage and film actress and singer who appeared in plays and musicals including ''No, No, Nanette''. Later in her career, she became particularly associated with the works of Noël Coward ...

reprised her role as Lady Anne Pettigrew from the 1933 version. It used a similar technique to the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'', presenting the reality of the opening and closing sequences in black-and-white, and the fantasy sequence of the film in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

Plot

Peter Standish is an American

atomic scientist Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

who is working in a nuclear laboratory in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. His co-worker Roger Forsyth, who is worried about Peter's lack of social activities, takes him to a house in

he inherited. It is there that Peter announces his wishes of living in the 18th century among the high-class family Petigrew he has studied the last years. Because of a

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

strike, he is brought back to 1784, where he is thought to be the first Peter Standish, the American cousin of the Petigrews who, according to history, will soon romance and marry Kate Petigrew. Peter falls for Kate, but he is more interested in her sister Helen, of whom he has never found any records. Over the next few days, Peter makes several bad impressions on the family by using modern day language and revealing information he could not have known if he had actually grown up in the 18th century. Helen, however, is the only one not suspicious of Peter's presence and falls in love with him as well. Peter admits to her that the 18th century is not what he thought it would be. The narrow-minded people, the poverty and the dirt irritate him. Furthermore, he admits that he is from the future and shows Helen his hidden laboratory in the basement with modern inventions. Rather than being afraid, Helen becomes even more interested in Peter. They fall in love, despite Peter's awareness that he has to marry Kate in order to not change history. Helen begs him not to say things which makes him look odd, and that night, at a formal party, Peter tries to impress the famous Duchess of Devonshire, but he accidentally talks about her as if he is talking about her legacy, which makes her uneasy. Kate is fed up with Peter and announces that she will not marry him. Rather than trying to court her somehow, Peter is drawn to Helen, who is interested on finding out more about the future. Things start to look bad for Peter when his laboratory is uncovered. He is committed to the

Bethlem Royal Hospital Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as St Mary Bethlehem, Bethlehem Hospital and Bedlam, is a psychiatric hospital in London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films and TV series, most notably '' Bedlam'', a 1946 film with ...

. Before being brought away, he rushes to Helen's room, where she places a

crux ansata ''Crux Ansata'', subtitled 'An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church' by H. G. Wells is a (96-page) wartime book first published in 1943 by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth (Great Britain): Penguin Special No. 129. The U.S. edition was copyright ...

to remind him of her love for him. While he is being taken away, lightning strikes again and Peter is back in present life. There, Forsyth tells him he has been acting like a mad man for the past seven weeks. Peter is shocked when he meets Forsyth's sister Martha, who resembles Helen. He rushes out to the graveyard in front of his house, where he not only discovers Helen's grave, but that she died of grief shortly after he was taken away to the asylum.

Cast

Production

The film went into production in January 1945, with

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

and

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural ...

in the lead roles. The project, however, was shelved and eventually abandoned, before it was taken up in 1950. On 13 July 1950,

was announced in the lead role. French actress

Micheline Presle Micheline Presle (; born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne; 22 August 1922) is a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting in 1939, she starred in over 50 French and English language films that were made in H ...

was originally set to co-star, but she dropped out in March 1951 due to illness.

Constance Smith Constance Smith (7 February 1929 – 30 June 2003) was an Irish film actress, and contract player of 20th Century Fox in the 1950s. Early life Smith was born into a family as the first of 11 children.'' The Oakland Tribune'', 18 March 1962, O ...

shortly stepped in as her replacement, but producer

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

decided she was not experienced enough and replaced her with

. Initially, Jean Simmons was approached to co-star next to Power.

Critical reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote "Although there are obvious intimations of the lovely play, ''Berkeley Square,'' in the movie ''I'll Never Forget You,'' which came to the Roxy yesterday, there is little of its poetry or magic," and dismissed the film as "a thoroughly unmemorable event". Similarly, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' wrote "It's a terrific story but less than a terrific film. Power is given little opportunity to show any of his humor and the entire mood of the film is lethargic and a bit sombre". However,

Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

called it "A fairly haunting, if a bit slow romance"; and ''Mystery File'' wrote "It may seem at best a rather tired fantasy to you, and that’s fine. But if you let it, the film has a charm all its own."

Home media

The film was released on DVD as part of the Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection on 29 July 2008.

References

External links

*
Britmovie
{{Roy Ward Baker 1950s fantasy drama films 1950s historical romance films 1950s romantic fantasy films 1951 films 1951 romantic drama films British fantasy drama films British films based on plays British historical fantasy films British historical romance films British romantic drama films British romantic fantasy films Films about time travel Films directed by Roy Ward Baker Films produced by Sol C. Siegel Films scored by William Alwyn Films set in 1784 Films set in 1951 Films set in London Films with screenplays by Ranald MacDougall 20th Century Fox films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films Films based on works by John L. Balderston