Madame Bovary

"Whatever it is that French women have ... Madame Bovary had more of it!"

1949 1h 46m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 59

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Whatever it is that French women have ... Madame Bovary had more of it!”

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Cast

Jennifer Jones
Emma Bovary
James Mason
Gustave Flaubert
Van Heflin
Charles Bovary
Louis Jourdan
Rodolphe Boulanger
Alf Kjellin
Leon Dupuis
Gene Lockhart
J. Homais
Frank Allenby
Lheureux
Gladys Cooper
Madame Dupuis

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Vincente Minnelli
Writers: Robert Ardrey
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 97% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

77 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Vincente Minnelli, shot by Robert H. Planck. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Miklós Rózsa. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ferris Webster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jennifer Jones and James Mason and Van Heflin carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Whatever it is that French women have ... Madame Bovary had more of it!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Vincente Minnelli directs. Robert H. Planck behind the camera. Miklós Rózsa scores. Ferris Webster cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Earned back only 97% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
377 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Vincente Minnelli, shot by Robert H. Planck. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Miklós Rózsa. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ferris Webster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jennifer Jones and James Mason and Van Heflin carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Whatever it is that French women have ... Madame Bovary had more of it!".
9IMDB entry: tt0041615 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 59 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert H. Planck
Original score: Miklós Rózsa
Editing: Ferris Webster
Makeup / hair: Sydney Guilaroff
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Status: Released
Budget: $2,076,000
Box office: $2,016,000
Return: 97% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: Madame Bovary (1949)

Also by

Vincente Minnelli

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-07-12
★ 9/10
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

Production companies