Portrait of Clare

Courtesy of Network’s ‘The British Film’ collection, Portrait of Clare (1950) will be released on DVD on October 26th.

This classic British tale of romance, starring Margaret Johnston, tells the story of Clare and her three marriages in the hope to teach her granddaughter the importance of true love.

The film opens with a 68-year-old Clare helping her son Steven arrange her granddaughter’s engagement party. Both mother and son believe that the young girl is accepting a loveless marriage. Clare thus decides to tell her the story of the three men with whom she shared love, happiness, but also sorrow and loss: Robert (Richard Todd), Dudley (Robin Bailey) and Ralph (Ronald Howard).

Portrait of Clare is shot in a very classical Hollywood style, using a flashback narrative and a classical cinematography, but it also displays its more typical British tone.

The film touches upon the issues with class and duty in a very old-fashioned way. The constant struggle between Clare and her son Steven, though pivotal to the storyline, is also treated similarly, while passionate love is always mitigated by the legal marriage bond.

The performances are very theatrical and the story nicely resolves on the now old Clare championing a life of true spontaneity that can lead to true love.

The new DVD will also contain special features such as an image gallery and an original pressbook PDF. It is also presented in a new transfer from the original film and its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.