TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES
This Flash movie requires a newer version of the Flash plug-in. Please upgrade your Flash plug-in by visiting www.macromedia.com
Movie Database
(Over 150,000 titles)
Site
Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me (2009), The Falcon and... More>>
Sign In register

Overview for Waterloo Bridge (1940)

Overview
Full Credits
Full Synopsis
Notes
Music
Screenplay Info
Original Print Info
Genre
Keywords
data from AFI catalog 
User Reviews
Other Reviews
Articles
Money
Awards
Quotes
Trivia
Home Video Reviews
Misc Notes
Alternate Versions
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
Fan Sites
Contribute an image Contribute a video Contribute information Write a review
Send Us Feedback
About TCM's database
This Flash movie requires a newer version of the Flash plug-in. Please upgrade your Flash plug-in by visiting www.macromedia.com
Overview
Brief Synopsis
A ballerina turns to prostitution when her fiance is reported killed in World War I.
[+] Read full synopsis
[x] Close full synopsis
Synopsis

On his way to France to fight in World War II, Colonel Roy Cronin stops his cab on London's Waterloo Bridge and reflects on the past: It is 1914 and air raid sirens screech as a group of young girls hurry past, seeking shelter. One drops her purse and Roy helps its owner, Myra Lester, a beautiful ballet dancer, to retrieve it. They seek shelter together and a whirlwind wartime courtship follows, resulting in Roy asking Myra to marry him. Before the ceremony can be performed, however, Roy is called to the front and Myra is fired for her impetuousness by Madame Olga Kirowa, the troupe's tyranical ballet mistress. When Myra's friend Kitty sticks up for her, Madame Kirowa also fires her. Unable to find work in another ballet or show, the two dancers soon find themselves broke and hungry. One afternoon, Myra is supposed to meet Roy's aristocratic mother for the first time. While waiting, Myra sees a notice about Roy's death in the newspaper and faints. When Lady Margaret arrives, Myra cannot tell her the terrible news, and her erratic behavior shocks and angers Roy's mother, who leaves in disgust. Myra then falls ill and lies close to death from grief. To earn money to cover her friend's medical expenses, Kitty drifts into street walking. When Myra recovers, she is touched by her friend's sacrifice, and with no desire to live, she, too, becomes a prostitute. One year later, Roy returns to London, and the first sight that he sees upon getting off the train is Myra, who has come to pick up soldiers. He believes that she has come to meet him, and knowing nothing of her life in the past year, takes her home to his family estate in Scotland. Although Myra tries to convince herself that they can be happy, she soon realizes that her past will ruin Roy's life and, after confessing all to his mother, she runs away. Roy follows, despite Kitty's revelations about Myra, but she eludes him and kills herself by throwing herself in front of an onrushing truck on Waterloo Bridge. Clutching the good luck charm that he had once given Myra, Roy leaves for the front.

Cast & Crew
Vivien Leigh
as Myra [Lester]
Robert Taylor
as Roy Cronin
Lucile Watson
as Lady Margaret Cronin
Maria Ouspenskaya
as Madame Olga Kirowa
C. Aubrey Smith
as The Duke
Janet Shaw
as Maureen
Steffi Duna
as Lydia
Leda Nicova
as Marie
See all cast & crew >>
Release Date
17 May 1940

Color/BW
Black and White

Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Production Dates
late Jan--18 Mar 1940


Duration (in mins)
103

Duration (in reels)
11

Premiere Information
not available
late Jan--18 Mar 1940


Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.

Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp. Company: Mervyn LeRoy


Country
United States
Feb 06, 04:00AM
Remind Me>>

  Suggest This Movie>>

Waterloo Bridge [DVD] (1940)
Available on DVD.
$19.99 only $16.99
Beata
Vivien Leigh's Best Film
My favorite film of all time! Leigh and Taylor each considered it their best film. A hauntingly beautiful and tragic ...  More>>
ms. miniver
More than Oscar worthy
The splendor of 1939 continued in 1940 with Waterloo Bridge. This is a beautiful movie worthy of a Best Picture ...  More>>
More Reviews>>
Post a Review>>
You can also post on TCM's Message Boards >>