Waterloo Bridge is a 1940 film remake of the 1931 film of the same title.

Directed by:  Mervyn LeRoy

Writing credits:  Robert E. Sherwood (play)  S.N. Behrman (screenplay)

Waterloo Bridge movie poster

The film was made by Loew's Inc and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sidney Franklin and Mervyn LeRoy. The screenplay was by S. N. Behrman, Hans Rameau and George Froeschel, based on the popular Broadway drama by Robert E. Sherwood. The music score was by Herbert Stothart and cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg.

This was Vivien Leigh's first film after the success of Gone with the Wind. A simple tale of love gained and lost, it tells the story of a chance encounter between a dancer and officer during World War I who meet on Waterloo Bridge during an air raid.

Waterloo Bridge was a success at the box office and nominated for 2 Academy Awards - Best Music for Herbert Stothart and Best Cinematography. It was also considered a personal favourite by both Vivien Leigh and Robert Taylor.

PLOT

On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he was at the beginning of World War I and the young ballerina he met just before he left for the front. Myra stayed with him past curfew and is thrown out of the corps de ballet. She survives on the streets of London, falling even lower after she hears her true love has been killed in action. But he wasn't killed. Those terrible years were nothing more than a bad dream is Myra's hope after Roy finds her and takes her to his family's country estate, but she is haunted by her past and cannot forgive herself.  Then while in a fit of depression and confused, she throws herself from Waterloo Bridge and ends it all.  Sadly, we all know that Roy (Robert Taylor) would have understood and loved her for the rest of their days. A tragic ending to a truly great romance. NK

Vivien Leigh

SETTING

Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The name of the bridge is in memory of the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Thanks to its location at a strategic bend in the river, the views of London (Westminster, the South Bank and London Eye to the west, the City of London and Canary Wharf to the east) from the bridge are widely held to be the finest from any spot at ground level.

History

The first bridge on the site was designed by John Rennie and opened in 1817 as a toll bridge. The granite bridge had nine arches, each of 120' span, and was 2,456' long, including approaches. Before its opening it was known as 'Strand Bridge'. It was nationalised in 1878 and given to the Metropolitan Board of Works, who removed the toll from it. Serious problems were found in its construction and the new owners reinforced it. Paintings of the bridge were created by the French Impressionist Claude Monet and English Impressionist, John Constable.

By the 1920s the problems had increased. London County Council decided to demolish it and replace it with a new structure designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. The new span was partially opened in 1942 and completed in 1945. The new bridge was the only Thames bridge to have been damaged by German bombers during World War II. The building contractor was Peter Lind & Company Limited. It is frequently asserted that the work force was largely female and it is sometimes referred to as "the women's bridge", but there appears to be no contemporary evidence for this. It is constructed in Portland stone from the South West of England; the stone cleans itself whenever it rains in London.

Granite stones from the original bridge were subsequently "presented to various parts of the British world to further historic links in the British Commonwealth of Nations". Two of these stones are in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, sited between the parallel spans of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, one of two major crossings of Lake Burley Griffin in the heart of the city.

Robert Taylor

The south end of the bridge is the area known as The South Bank and includes the Royal Festival Hall, Waterloo station, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal National Theatre, and the National Film Theatre (which resides directly beneath the bridge). The north end passes above the Victoria Embankment where the road joins the Strand and Aldwych alongside Somerset House.

LINKS and REFERENCE

• Survey of London entry

• Peter Lind & Company

• Map and aerial photo of Waterloo Bridge from Multimap.com

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