The Barretts of Wimpole Street [1934] [DVD]

One of the great triumphs of producer Irving G Thalberg's reign at MGM and made at the height of the studio's glory years, this is a prestigious, immaculately made film that managed to be both intelligent in execution and a commercial success.

As Elizabeth Barrett, Norma Shearer (Mrs Thalberg) is superb, but the real star is the splendid Charles Laughton as Elizabeth's tyrannical father Edward Moulton Barrett, whose incestuous love for his daughter is hinted at but never addressed. “They can't censor the gleam in my eye,” said Laughton. In fact, he was only a year older than his “daughter” Norma, and two years younger than Fredric March, uncomfortably cast as poet Robert Browning.

*This is an all-region PAL format dvd suitable for play in Europe. The NTSC version is available to buy on amazon.com