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If Winter Comes

  • 19471947
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 37m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
650
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh in If Winter Comes (1947)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:31
1 Video
13 Photos
  • Drama

It's 1939 in the small English town of Penny Green, and events in Poland are about to change lives. Mark Sabre (Walter Pidgeon), a writer of school text books, has married Mabel (Dame Angela... Read allIt's 1939 in the small English town of Penny Green, and events in Poland are about to change lives. Mark Sabre (Walter Pidgeon), a writer of school text books, has married Mabel (Dame Angela Lansbury) "on the rebound", after his real love Nona (Deborah Kerr) marries some one else... Read allIt's 1939 in the small English town of Penny Green, and events in Poland are about to change lives. Mark Sabre (Walter Pidgeon), a writer of school text books, has married Mabel (Dame Angela Lansbury) "on the rebound", after his real love Nona (Deborah Kerr) marries some one else. Just as war is about to break out, Nona returns home with husband Tony (Hugh French). Ma... Read all

IMDb RATING
6.3/10
650
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Victor Saville
  • Writers
    • Marguerite Roberts(screen play)
    • Arthur Wimperis(screen play)
    • A.S.M. Hutchinson(novel)
  • Stars
    • Walter Pidgeon
    • Deborah Kerr
    • Angela Lansbury
Top credits
  • Director
    • Victor Saville
  • Writers
    • Marguerite Roberts(screen play)
    • Arthur Wimperis(screen play)
    • A.S.M. Hutchinson(novel)
  • Stars
    • Walter Pidgeon
    • Deborah Kerr
    • Angela Lansbury
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 20User reviews
    • 7Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    If Winter Comes
    Trailer 2:31
    If Winter Comes

    Photos13

    Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Deborah Kerr and Walter Pidgeon in If Winter Comes (1947)
    If Winter Comes (1947)
    Janet Leigh and Walter Pidgeon in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Deborah Kerr, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh, and Walter Pidgeon in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Janet Leigh and Walter Pidgeon in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Angela Lansbury and Walter Pidgeon in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Deborah Kerr and Walter Pidgeon in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Deborah Kerr, Angela Lansbury, Janet Leigh, and Walter Pidgeon in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh in If Winter Comes (1947)
    Angela Lansbury and Janet Leigh in If Winter Comes (1947)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Walter Pidgeon
    Walter Pidgeon
    • Mark Sabreas Mark Sabre
    Deborah Kerr
    Deborah Kerr
    • Nona Tyberas Nona Tyber
    Angela Lansbury
    Angela Lansbury
    • Mabel Sabreas Mabel Sabre
    Binnie Barnes
    Binnie Barnes
    • Natalie Bagshawas Natalie Bagshaw
    Janet Leigh
    Janet Leigh
    • Effie Brightas Effie Bright
    May Whitty
    May Whitty
    • Mrs. Perchas Mrs. Perch
    • (as Dame May Whitty)
    Rene Ray
    Rene Ray
    • Sarah, 'Low Jinks'as Sarah, 'Low Jinks'
    Virginia Keiley
    • Rebecca, 'High Jinks'as Rebecca, 'High Jinks'
    Reginald Owen
    Reginald Owen
    • Mr. Fortuneas Mr. Fortune
    John Abbott
    John Abbott
    • Mr. Twyningas Mr. Twyning
    Rhys Williams
    Rhys Williams
    • Mr. Brightas Mr. Bright
    Hugh French
    Hugh French
    • Tony Tyberas Tony Tyber
    Dennis Hoey
    Dennis Hoey
    • Tiny Wilsonas Tiny Wilson
    Nicholas Joy
    Nicholas Joy
    • Mr. Pettigrewas Mr. Pettigrew
    Halliwell Hobbes
    Halliwell Hobbes
    • The Coroneras The Coroner
    Victor Wood
    Victor Wood
    • Mr. Fargusas Mr. Fargus
    Hughie Green
    Hughie Green
    • Freddie Perchas Freddie Perch
    • (as Hugh Green)
    James Wethered
    • Harold Twyningas Harold Twyning
    • Director
      • Victor Saville
    • Writers
      • Marguerite Roberts(screen play)
      • Arthur Wimperis(screen play)
      • A.S.M. Hutchinson(novel)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    It's 1939 in the small English town of Penny Green, and events in Poland are about to change lives. Mark Sabre (Walter Pidgeon), a writer of school text books, has married Mabel (Dame Angela Lansbury) "on the rebound", after his real love Nona (Deborah Kerr) marries some one else. Just as war is about to break out, Nona returns home with husband Tony (Hugh French). Mable is sure she can hold onto Mark, though. But misunderstood good deeds on Mark's part turn life for him upside down when his relationship with a young girl starts tongues wagging. Soon, wartime casualties take their toll in Penny Green as well as on the front, as the death of fighting men affects lives back home. —Ron Kerrigan <mvg@whidbey.com>
    • 1930s
    • timeframe 1930s
    • winter
    • season
    • expectant mother
    • 7 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • A.S.M. Hutchinson's beloved classic of English country life becomes a screen masterpiece!
    • Genre
      • Drama
    • Certificate
      • Approved
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Twenty-two-year-old Dame Angela Lansbury wanted the sympathetic part of the waif-like village girl Effie, but was forced to play Mabel, the thirty-five-year-old, shrewish wife of fifty-year-old Walter Pidgeon. This brought home to Lansbury that she would never be a star player at MGM. The role of Effie went to Janet Leigh, Lansbury's future The Manchurian Candidate (1962) co-star. In that movie, Lansbury again played an unsympathetic older woman, but would cite the part of Mrs. Iselin as her favorite movie role.
    • Goofs
      Though set in England, Mark and Tony both wear American ties, recognizable by the diagonal stripes slanting down toward the right. English ties always slant to the left.
    • Quotes

      Mark Sabre: Have you seen the news about Poland?

      Mabel Sabre: Darling, this is serious bridge.

    • Connections
      Referenced in Forecast (1945)

    User reviews20

    Review
    Top review
    5/10
    Walter Pidgeon suffers from stuffiness of small town scandal...
    Perhaps a stronger director and a more powerful script could have made something of IF WINTER COMES, a handsomely produced soap opera (veddy British style, old man). WALTER PIDGEON is a writer of educational books who sees his job status disintegrating under the weight of a scandal when a young girl (JANET LEIGH) is given shelter under his roof due to his kind nature. His shrewish wife (well played by ANGELA LANSBURY) suspects he's paying too much attention to the girl and later accuses him of adultery.

    But this is no "Peyton Place," even if the bare outlines of the story makes it seem possible that something more than this tedious film could have been made from this material. Some interesting character roles by REGINALD OWEN and JOHN ABBOT as his office colleagues bent on destroying him are good for background effect. But the story between him and DEBORAH KERR (they're ex-lovers) is weakly executed and their relationship is never clearly defined or made even somewhat believable.

    Handsomely photographed amid some very British looking settings, supposedly in 1939, the story never really comes to life despite the lurid implications. Pidgeon calls every male friend "old man" so many times, you have to wonder if this was an attempt to make sure the viewer knew this was taking place in Penny Green, England rather than the MGM lot in Culver City.

    JANET LEIGH, as the sad young woman who finds herself pregnant after her soldier lover goes off to war, shows promise of the bright future in store for her as an actress. DAME MAY Witty has a brief supporting role, one of the least substantial roles she ever had in an MGM film.

    Character development is slow for the first part of the film and the story doesn't even begin to take shape until the first hour is up. By that time it's too late to inject any life into it.

    "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" says the poem. Not soon enough for me.

    Summing up: A dud that wastes a talented cast.
    helpful•12
    7
    • Doylenf
    • Sep 30, 2010

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 31, 1947 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Skuggor på vägen
    • Filming locations
      • Winter Haven, Florida, USA
    • Production company
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,740,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 37 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Related news

    Deborah Kerr: Socially Dubious Desires
    May 22Alt Film Guide

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