''The Light That Failed'' is a 1939 drama film based on

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

's 1891 novel of the same name. It stars

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...

as an artist who is going blind.

Plot

In 1865, youngster Dick Heldar is briefly blinded when his girlfriend Maisie accidentally fires his pistol too close to his head. She later tells him that her guardians are sending her away somewhere to be educated, but she agrees when he says she belongs to him "forever and ever." Years later, Dick is a British soldier during the

Mahdist War The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. When the natives attack suddenly, he saves the life of his friend, war correspondent "Torp" Torpenhow, but receives a wound to the head as a result. He turns to painting to try to make a living. When his works start to sell, he returns to England. His realistic paintings of scenes from the war become immensely popular with the critics and the public. In London, he moves in with Torp and is reunited with a grown-up Maisie, also a painter, though not as successful. Liking the financial rewards, Dick is persuaded to sanitize his gritty realism to make his works more attractive to the masses. Torp and fellow war correspondent "The Nilghai" try to warn him about it, but he pays no heed; he becomes complacent and lazy. Maisie decides to move away and stop seeing him. One night, Dick returns to his lodgings to find a young, bedraggled woman lying on his sofa. Torp explains that she fainted from hunger outside, so he brought her in and fed her Dick's dinner. She bitterly gives her name as Bessie Broke. Dick becomes fascinated; she is the ideal model for ''Melancholia'', a painting that Maisie had struggled to complete. He hires her to pose for him. When his vision starts to blur, he goes to see a doctor who gives him a grim prognosis: as a result of his old war injury, he will go blind in a year if he avoids strain, "not very long" if he does not. Before he completely loses his sight, Dick resolves to paint his masterpiece, ''Melancholia''. He drinks heavily and drives Bessie to hysteria to evoke the desired expression. When Torp returns from his latest assignment, Dick tells him about his blindness and shows him the painting. While Dick sleeps, Bessie sneaks in and destroys it, unaware of his ailment. When he wakes up, he is blind. Torp tries to hide Bessie's act from Dick and sends for Maisie. When Dick shows her his masterpiece, she cannot bring herself to tell him it is ruined, and she leaves. One day, while he is out on a walk, Dick's servant recognizes Bessie, and Dick invites her to his home. He shows her the balance in his bank book, proposes that she take care of him and kisses her. Realizing that he will learn the truth at some point, she confesses what she has done. As the news sinks in, he changes his plans. Dick travels back to Sudan, where he wears his old uniform and hires a guide to take him to join Torp. They ride on horseback into the midst of a battle. Sensing that the British cavalry is about to deploy, Dick has Torp to direct him into the charge, where he is shot and killed by a native.

Cast

as Dick Heldar *

Walter Huston Walter Thomas Huston ( ;According to the Province of Ontario. ''Ontario, C ...

as Torpenhow *

Muriel Angelus Muriel Angelus (born Muriel E S M Findlay, 10 March 1912 – 26 June 2004) was an English stage, musical theatre, and film actress. Born in Lambeth, South London, to Scottish parentage, her father was a chemist. She was educated at the Urs ...

as Maisie *

Ida Lupino Ida Lupino (4 February 1918Recorded in ''Births Mar 1918'' Camberwell Vol. 1d, p. 1019 (Free BMD). Transcribed as "Lupine" in the official births index – 3 August 1995) was an English-American actress, singer, director, writer, and producer. T ...

as Bessie Broke *

Dudley Digges Sir Dudley Digges (19 May 1583 – 18 March 1639) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1629. Digges was also a "Virginia adventurer," an investor who ventured his capital in the Virginia ...

as The Nilghai *

Ernest Cossart Ernest Cossart (born Emil Gottfried von Holst, 24 September 1876 – 21 January 1951) was an English-American actor. After a stage career in England, he moved to the US, appearing on Broadway and all around the country. In the 1930s and 1940s, ...

as Beeton *

Ferike Boros Ferike Boros (3 August 1873 – 16 January 1951) was a Hungarian-born American stage and movie actress. Biography Ferike Weinstock was born in Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary, in 1873, Boros was on stage starting in 1893. She moved to London in 19 ...

as Madame Binat, a friend in

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

* Pedro de Cordoba as Monsieur Binat *

Colin Tapley Colin Edward Livingstone Tapley (7 May 1909 – 1 December 1995) was a New Zealand actor in both American and British films. Born in New Zealand, he served in the Royal Air Force and an expedition to Antarctica before winning a Paramount Pictur ...

as Gardner *

Ronald Sinclair Ronald Sinclair (21 January 1924 – 22 November 1992), born Richard Arthur Hould and sometimes credited as Ra Hould or Ron Sinclair, was a child actor from New Zealand, turned film editor. Early years Sinclair was the son of Arthur Hould and ...

as Dick (as a boy) *Sarita Wooton as Maisie (as a girl) *

Halliwell Hobbes Herbert Halliwell Hobbes (16 November 187720 February 1962) was an English actor. Early years The future actor was the son of William Albert Hobbes (1841-1909), a Warwickshire solicitor, and his wife, Marion Hobbes, née Dennis, (1838-1925). ...

as Doctor *

Charles Irwin Charles Irwin, VC (1824 – 8 April 1873), was born in Manorhamilton, County Leitrim, and was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British ...

as Soldier Model, who poses for one of Dick's paintings *

Francis McDonald Francis McDonald (August 22, 1891 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor whose career spanned 52 years. Early years Born on August 22, 1891, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, McDonald was the son of John Francis McDonald and Catherine Ashlu ...

as George, the guide *

George Regas George Thomas Regas (Greek: Γεώργιος Θωμάς Ρεγάκος; November 9, 1890 – December 13, 1940) was a Greek American actor. Biography Regis was born in the village of Goranoi near Sparta, Greece, the brother of actor Pedro Regas ...

as Cassavetti *Wilfred Roberts as Barton

Reception

Frank Nugent Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer, who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...

, critic for ''

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 ...

'', praised the film, calling it a "letter-perfect edition of Kipling's 'The Light That Failed'". He also lauded the star ("Mr. Colman has rarely handled a role with greater authority or charm"), Lupino ("Ida Lupino's Bessie is another of the surprises we get when a little ingenue suddenly bursts forth as a great actress.") and the rest of the principal actors.

Cinema murder

On May 29, 1946, in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England, cinema manager Robert Parrington Jackson was shot in his office during an evening showing of ''The Light That Failed''. It was believed that the murder was timed to coincide with gunshots from the scene in which young Dick is blinded in order to obscure the sound of the murder gunshots. The murder remains unsolved to this day.

References

External links

* * * (Ignore inaccurate overview.)
''The Light That Failed'' at AFI Catalog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Light That Failed, The 1939 films 1939 drama films American drama films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films about blind people Films about fictional painters Films about the Mahdist War Films based on British novels Films based on works by Rudyard Kipling Films directed by William A. Wellman Films scored by Victor Young Films set in 1865 Films set in the 1880s Films set in England Films set in London Films set in Sudan Paramount Pictures films 1930s American films Films about disability