The Lost Moment

[rainingviolets21]

The Lost Moment is a delicate,beautiful love story, that is so real and well done it's as if the action were air-brushed on the film, it is loosely based on The Aspern Papers by Henry James--Robert Cummings plays Lewis Venable a publisher, down on his luck, who is looking for the love letters of Jeffrey Ashton, a poet who disapeared years ago. This search brings him to an old, ramshackle house in Venice, where 80 years before Jeffery fell in love with the young Julianna. Lewis figures if he can board in this house he can search for the love letters, He rings the bell and the door is answered by a bitter young woman, named Maria, (Susan Hayward), dressed in black she is the great grand neice of Julianna whom the poems and love letters were written. At first she is skeptical, but desperately needing the money, she agrees to let him stay, as a border.
Late at night, when everyone is asleep he begins to rummage through the vast attic, as he is leaving to go to his room, he hears a voice calling his name. He opens the door and finds a very old woman,(Agnes Moorhead) lying in bed the whole room is lit by one candle. she asks his name and she tells him she is so lonely, would he mind sitting by her bed and telling her what year it is. He sits next to the lady and is astounded by the extreme age of the lady, she seems ancient, he asks her name and she replies Julianna.
She is still alive which would make her to be 105 years old. she begs him not to tell her niece they talked, she explains Maria keeps her a prisoner in this room, and he promises, he leaves and on his way back to his room he sees the parlour is all lit with candles, he then hears the most beautiful music being played on a harpsicord he enters the parlour and finds Susan Hayward all dressed in white, her hair is down and she is so beautiful
she takes his breath away. She motions for him to sit and she tells him she has been waiting for him all evening, when she call him Jeffery. he realizes she is mad and thinks he is Jeffery Ashton and she is Julianna
I don't want to spoil the ending for all those who have never seen this
but, this has a real edge of your seat ending... this film was directed by Martin Gable, the actor, he, like Charles Laughton, who directed once, both directed a masterpiece ~