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

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

starring

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 (193 ...

and

Ann Blyth Ann Blyth (born Anne Marie Blythe; August 16, 1928) is an American retired actress and singer. She began her career in radio as a child before transitioning to Broadway, where she appeared in Lillian Hellman, Lillian Hellman’s ''Watch on the R ...

. It 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. He was known professionally as Roy Baker until 1967, when he adopted Roy Ward Baker as his screen credit. Early life Baker was born i ...

. Power plays Peter Standish, an American atomic scientist who is transported to the 18th century, where he falls in love. 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 Muriel Browne (23 February 1891 – 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 ...

reprised her role as Lady Anne Pettigrew from the 1933 version. It used a similar technique to the 1939 film ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'', 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 family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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 natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

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 make 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 in 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 Bromley, London. Its famous history has inspired several horror books, films, and television series, most notably ''Bedlam (194 ...

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

crux ansata The ankh or key of life is an ancient Egyptian Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieroglyphic symbol used to represent the word for "life" and, by extension, as a symbol of life itself. The ankh has a T-shape topped by a Drop (liquid), droplet-shaped loop ...

to remind him of her love for him. While he is being taken away, lightning strikes again and Peter returns to the present. There, Forsyth tells him he has been acting like a madman 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 AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

and

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-born naturalized American actress who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate b ...

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 – 21 February 2024) was a French actress. She was sometimes billed as Micheline Prelle. Starting her career in 1937, she starred or appeared in over 150 films ...

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, Oa ...

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. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...

decided she was not experienced enough and replaced her with

. Initially,

Jean Simmons Jean Merilyn Simmons (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Britain during and after the ...

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 some ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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 In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' 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, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

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

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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 1950s and 1960s 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 English-language romantic drama films English-language romantic fantasy films English-language fantasy drama films English-language historical romance films Films based on works by Henry James