The Woman in White

 

(1948)
Directed by Peter Godfrey
Written by Stephen Morehouse Avery, from the novel by Wilkie Collins
Starring Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Eleanor Parker, Gig Young, Agnes Morehead, John Emery, John Abbott
IMDB Entry

The Woman in White is one of my favorite novels, a tale of suspense and thrills that is surprisingly modern. It is not surprise that it was made into various movies.

The movie starts out following the book. Walter Hartright (Gig Young) is an artist hired to teach Laura Fairley (Eleanor Parker) at their mansion in Limmeridge House. On the way there, he runs into a mysterious woman wearing white (Eleanor Parker again), who vanished. Hartright is astounded by how much Laura resembles the woman he met on the road. He meets the others of the household, the hypochondriac Frederick, Laura's father (John Abbott); Marian Halcombe, Laura's cousin (Alexis Smith); and their guest, the affable and sinister Count Fosco (Sydney Greenstreet). Later we learn of the dastardly Sir Percival Glyde (John Emery), who is in league with Fosco to marry Laura and gain access to her fortune.

The book is difficult to adapt to the screen. You think at first that it will concentrate on Laura and Walter, but Walter vanishes for half of it, and the narrative focuses on Marian, who ferrets out what Fosco and Glyde are up to and takes action to stop it. Walter finally shows up when things have gone too far, but  she is the one who bails them out.

The movie makes massive changes to the story once the situation is set up. Marian's role is downplayed, the central issue -- the threat posed to Glyde by the woman in white -- is left out, There's also a bit of silliness behind Fosco's plans, and the ending completely contradicts the ending of the novel, giving it a Hollywood ending that is a bit ridiculous. Some of these changes are more logical than in the book, but they come across as too convenient.

Sydney Greenstreet is wonderful as Count Fosco; I wouldn't be surprised if the movie was made as a showcase for him. Alexis Smith is not appropriate to play Marian, since one major point of the book is that she is an unattractive woman.* On the other hand, John Abbott is excellent as Laura's father, a weak man so afraid of straining his nerves that he does nothing.

__________________________________________________________________
*Every dramatization of the story ignores this.