''The Lost Moment'' is a 1947 melodramatic

psychological thriller film Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and ...

with elements of horror directed by

Martin Gabel Martin Gabel (June 19, 1911 – May 22, 1986) was an American actor, film director and film producer. Life and career Gabel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Rebecca and Isaac Gabel, a jeweler, both Jewish immigrants. He married Arlen ...

and starring

Robert Cummings Charles Clarence Robert Orville Cummings (June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990) was an American film and television actor who appeared in roles in comedy films such as ''The Devil and Miss Jones'' (1941) and ''Princess O'Rourke'' (1943), and in d ...

Susan Hayward Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories. After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...

and

Agnes Moorehead Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900April 30, 1974) was an American actress. In a career spanning four decades, her credits included work in radio, stage, film, and television.Obituary ''Variety'', May 8, 1974, page 286. Moorehead was th ...

. The film was not well received at the time but its reputation has risen in recent years.

Plot

The movie mirrors some details of its source material and the broad outline of its plot, but it radically alters the characters, adding schizophrenia, a murder, and a fire. A publisher, Lewis Venable, travels from New York to Venice, seeking to buy the 19th-century love letters of the late poet Jeffrey Ashton to a woman named Juliana Bordereau. He learns from a living poet, Charles Russell, that Juliana is still alive at 105. Without announcing his intentions, Lewis assumes a false identity. He takes lodging at Juliana's and meets her great-niece Tina, a pianist. In time, he discovers that Juliana is in dire need of money. She even offers to sell him a valuable painting at far too low a price. He also learns that Tina has

dissociative identity disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

; at times believing that she is Juliana and the object of Ashton's love letters. Charles tries to blackmail Lewis by threatening to reveal his true identity and his interest in acquiring the letters. Lewis comes to believe that Ashton was murdered and buried in the garden. As he prepares to leave, in a chaotic scene the house catches fire. He manages to save Juliana from the blaze, but the precious letters are lost.

Cast

as Lewis Venable *

as Tina Bordereau *

as Juliana Bordereau *

Joan Lorring Joan Lorring (born Madeline Ellis; April 17, 1926 – May 30, 2014) was an American actress and singer known for her work in film and theatre. For her role as Bessy Watty in ''The Corn Is Green'' (1945), Lorring was nominated for the Academy Aw ...

as Amelia *

Eduardo Ciannelli Eduardo Ciannelli (30 August 1888 – 8 October 1969), was an Italian baritone and character actor with a long career in American films, mostly playing gangsters and criminals. He was sometimes credited as Edward Ciannelli. Early life Ciannelli ...

as Father Rinaldo * John Archer as Charles *

Frank Puglia Francesco Giuseppe "Frank" Puglia (9 March 1892 – 25 October 1975) was an Italian-American film actor. He had small, but memorable roles in films including ''Casablanca'' (a Moroccan rug merchant), ''Now, Voyager'' and ''The Jungle Book''. ...

as Pietro *

Minerva Urecal Minerva Urecal (born Florence Minerva Dunnuck; September 22, 1894 – February 26, 1966) was an American stage and radio performer as well as a character actress in Hollywood films and on various television series from the early 1950s to 19 ...

as Maria * William Edmunds as Vittorio

Production

The film was produced at

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Walter Wanger Walter Wanger (born Walter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production of '' Cleopatra,'' his last film, in 1963. He began at Para ...

, from a screenplay by

Leonardo Bercovici Leonardo Bercovici (January 4, 1908, Brooklyn, New York, USA – November 22, 1995, Los Angeles, California, USA) was an American screenwriter, film director and producer. Blacklisting and aftermath Bercovici was called to testify before the Ho ...

based on the 1888 novella ''

The Aspern Papers ''The Aspern Papers'' is a novella by American writer Henry James, originally published in ''The Atlantic, The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1888, with its first book publication later in the same year. One of James's best-known and most acclaimed lo ...

'' by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

. Bercovici wrote the script in 1946 for

Charles Feldman Charles K. Feldman (April 26, 1905 – May 25, 1968) was a Hollywood attorney, film producer and talent agent who founded the Famous Artists talent agency. According to one obituary, Feldman disdained publicity. "Feldman was an enigma to Holly ...

who developed several projects for the property. Wagner bought the script in January 1947 for a reported $200,000. (In fact no money changed hands - Wanger bought the script in exchange for a scenario called ''The Washington Flyer''.) The script was called ''The Lost Love''. Wagner said the script would be directed by Martin Gabel, who had just worked as producer on ''

Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman ''Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman'', also called ''A Woman Destroyed'', is a 1947 American drama film with elements of film noir that tells the story of a rising nightclub singer who marries another singer and becomes an alcoholic after sacrifici ...

'' for Wanger; that film starred

who would be in the new movie as well. Wagner said the character of James Aspern was a combination of Shelley, Keats and Byron. He would change the name of Aspern to Ashton to avoid "exploitation of the Bayer product." In late February, Robert Cummings signed to make the film, which was then called ''The Lost Love''. (He was scheduled to do ''The Big Curtain'' for Edward Alperson afterwards.) Filming began March 10, 1947. The set was not a tranquil one, with Hayward and Gabel quarreling over his interruptions of her line readings. After warning her director to stop, she reportedly picked up a lamp and threw it at him. Gabel never directed another motion picture. In April the film was retitled ''The Lost Moment''. The music score was by

Daniele Amfitheatrof Daniele Alexandrovich Amfitheatrof (russian: Даниил Александрович Амфитеатров, October 29, 1901 – June 4, 1983) was a Russian-Italian composer and conductor. Early life Amfitheatrof was born in Saint Petersburg ...

and the cinematography was by

Hal Mohr Hal Mohr, A.S.C. (August 2, 1894 in San Francisco – May 10, 1974 in Santa Monica, California) was a famed movie cinematographer who won an Oscar for his work on the 1935 film, '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He was awarded another Oscar for ...

. The film stars

and

with

and

. The eerie atmosphere in the Venetian home was achieved through "tenebrous lighting, solemn rhythms and emphasis in music and sounds". Agnes Moorehead's makeover by

Bud Westmore Bud Westmore (January 13, 1918 – June 24, 1973) was a make-up artist in Hollywood, and a member of the Westmore family of makeup. Life and career Son of George Westmore, a member of the Westmore family prominent in Hollywood make-up, h ...

into the 105-year-old woman was the subject of magazine articles for months after release.

Reception

Critical

The film was not well received by critics upon release, "written off as being rather gloomily literary."

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 ...

'' considered the film to be "little more than the average horror", believing that Robert Cummings and Susan Hayward had little chemistry, saying "Miss Hayward performs as the daft niece with a rigidity that is almost ludicrous, and Mr. Cummings has the unctuous manner of a nice young undertaker as the publisher. Eduardo Ciannelli is professional, at least, as a priest." ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' said: "Frankly, admirers of Henry James have cause for complaint, and the average moviegoer will probably complain of boredom." ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'' said that "Robert Cummings gives a performance that is probably meant to be sensitive but turns out to be unctuous". The ''

New York World Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

'' called the film "ponderous, majestic and thoroughly dull". The film has sometimes been seen in a more favorable light. '' Time Out'' said that the film is a "remarkably effective adaptation of Henry James' ''The Aspern Papers'', closer to the shivery ambience of '' The Innocents'' than to the oh-so-discreet charm of ''

Daisy Miller ''Daisy Miller'' is a novella by Henry James that first appeared in '' The Cornhill Magazine'' in June–July 1878, and in book form the following year. It portrays the courtship of the beautiful American girl Daisy Miller by Winterbourne, a s ...

'' or ''

The Europeans ''The Europeans: A sketch'' is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the "new" world of New England ...

''." David Thompson said that the film was "beautifully shot". Hayward's filmographer Eduardo Moreno felt that the subtle characterization of the baffling heroine was one of her finest performances.Moreno p. 122.

Box Office

The film recorded a loss of $886,494.

References

;Additional sources *

External links

*
''The Lost Moment''
at TCM
''The Lost Moment''
at Letterbox DVD {{DEFAULTSORT:Lost Moment, The 1947 films 1940s thriller drama films 1940s historical horror films 1947 horror films 1940s psychological thriller films American thriller drama films American historical horror films American horror thriller films Films based on short fiction Films based on works by Henry James Films produced by Walter Wanger Films scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof Films set in Venice Universal Pictures films American historical thriller films American psychological thriller films 1947 directorial debut films 1947 drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films