Hi Anne,
I've seen
So Well Remembered (1947) a few times, and, while I don't agree about
John Mills being "a milksop", I think his role here as a well-meaning intellectual trapped in a provincial town and marriage to a frustrated woman (
Martha Scott) may be why he comes across this way.
I've begun to appreciate how good an actor
Mills was only in the last few years. Like a British
Henry Fonda, he underplayed his roles and could play decent men under pressure quite well. I hope that you have a chance to see his work in the underrated British noir
Mr. Denning Drives North (1952), the brilliant
Tunes of Glory (1960), highly entertaining
Swiss Family Robinson (1960) and most of all,
Scott of the Antarctic (1947) some time. While he shone in these leading roles, he was brilliant as a supporting player, particularly in
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939),
The Rocking Horse Winner (1950) and
The End of the Affair (1956), (in the latter movie he is dazzling as a smarmy private investigative operative).
As you astutely pointed out about one of my favorite actors,
Trevor Howard, his physical appearance changed dramatically in a few years around the time of his big international successes,
Brief Encounter and
The Third Man. Mr. H. was a big talent who, like other "roaring boys" in the English theatrical tradition, liked to party. His appearance was affected, and, sadly, so were some of his performances.
If you like
Howard, I hope that someday
Outcast of the Islands (1952), (in which he worked with Third Man director
Carol Reed again), and
The Heart of the Matter (1953) are shown again on TCM or issued on easily accessible dvds.
The Heart of the Matter is based on a beautifully written
Graham Greene novel of the same name, and it is one of a handful of unforgettable performances that I've never forgotten. One other terrific performance by
Howard is in
Sons and Lovers (1960), which pops up occasionally on the FMC.
From what I've read,
Martha Scott, who could be quite affecting on screen, especially in
Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941) and
One Foot in Heaven (1941), preferred the stage to the screen, since it allowed her more complex roles. Plus, like the director of "So Well Remembered", American
Edward Dmytryk, Scott ran afoul of the gray and black listers during the HUAC
"there's a commie under every cabbage leaf in Hollywood" scare, beginning after WWII; making work in English movies very appealing. I believe that she also had small children and chose/needed to be home with them during what might have been a crucial period of her career. In any case, don't you think she excelled in playing tense women without going overboard? That seems to be such a difficult facility for an actress. Usually she avoided being overly shrill, but struck just the right note of honesty and sympathy for the plight of her characters, such as the woman she played here. Or maybe I'm just reading into this movie...
One of the other things that I found interesting about
So Well Remembered was that it was based on a
James Hilton novel. Despite the theme of political responsibility that runs strongly through this story and to some degree, in
Lost Horizon and
Random Harvest, that element of Hilton's stories was rarely emphasized in American movie adaptations of these novels. I think
Hilton may have been trying to be more than a writer who could knock off wonderful escapist page-turners. There often seems to be a point in his tales about the limitations of political action when coping with the overwhelming problems of being human. While this may seem a conservative view on
Hilton's part, his characters don't really withdraw from involvement with mankind, but plunge more deeply into their commitment, spiritually and physically.
I've been reading and re-reading several of Hilton's books lately, so I guess that accounts for my rambling musings on this writer. I hope that you'll be understanding--don't mean to go off on a tangent.