forever amber

At first glance Forever Amber (1947) could easily be mistaken for yet another sprawling piece of escapist filmmaking tied to a scandalous best-selling novel full of racy material that slipped past the production code under the guise of a seventeenth-century royal romance. Point in fact, that's exactly what Otto Preminger's film is; but the director makes so little attempt to camouflage the seedier elements of the plot that Forever Amber winds up feeling a bit more modern for its honest portrayal of a scheming social climber who sleeps her way to a title...but still loses the man she loves.

Orphaned at birth and raised among a quiet farming community, Amber St. Clair (Linda Darnell) jumps at the chance to escape her fate as a housewife by tagging along with an idealistic soldier, Bruce Carlton (Cornel Wilde), who hopes to secure his own future with a commission from the newly crowned King Charles II (George Sanders). Despite being in love with her own ambitions, Amber falls hard for Bruce, which makes his quick departure on a privateering mission an emotional - and financial - catastrophe.

Struggling to survive, Amber persists in her pursuit of a high-class lifestyle despite a stint in Newgate prison, the birth of Bruce's illegitimate son, and indentured servitude as a thief and prostitute. But her natural beauty attracts an array of patrons, one of whom suggests an acting career that introduces Amber to an entirely new batch of wealthy suitors...even the King himself. Yet her love for Bruce still trumps all, hoping for a romantic reconciliation that fate seems to reject at every turn.

Although their paths cross every few years, Amber can never seem to convince Bruce of her sincerity, even when she risks her new marriage - and her life - by nursing him back to health after a bout of bubonic plague. In a case of one step forward, two steps back, they eventually reunite for a climax that finds Amber torn between her material needs and her emotional ties.

Forever Amber has a rather dim view of women across the board. The film schizophrenically presents Amber as both a cold-hearted schemer and a self-sacrificing saint depending on which way the fetid London breeze blows. Narratively it's nonsense, but dramatically it's incredible fun. Amber's tragic misadventures are just bumps in the road - never a real source of misery - with each consequence just adding more motivation to her seemingly endless ambition for a better life. The film struggles to decide whether Amber is worthy of our admiration or pity, eventually compromising on both...or neither.

On the technical side, things are much more clear-cut. Preminger, who took over a troubled production, crafts a beautiful series of portraits, landscapes and spectacles, presenting vivid recreations of London at its best and worst, while composer David Raksin's nearly non-stop orchestral score highlights every scene in elaborate - if slightly unsubtle - musical style. As Amber, Linda Darnell overplays things a bit, but the supporting cast underplays to great effect (especially George Sanders in his all-too brief appearances as King Charles II), turning Forever Amber into the modern-day metaphor for soap opera-style scandals that it was intended to be in the first place.

Twilight Time's 3000-copy limited edition Blu-ray looks a bit darker than some of their other Fox transfers. But there's zero print damage and colors and detail all remain gorgeously hi-def. Extras include an isolated music track, liner notes and a 45-minute Biography profile of Linda Darnell.