Awesome Adaptations (38) - The Constant Nymph

This meme celebrates an awesome adaptation related to a weekly category. Any format of adaptation (television series, film, web series, etc.) is acceptable as long as it is based in some form on a book. This meme is hosted by Alisa Selene at PictureMeReading. Check out her site and join in on the fun!

An Awesome Adaptation with Impossible Romance

Title: The Constant Nymph

Adapted from: The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy

The impossible romance of this classic, absolutely gorgeous film, comes from fourteen year old Tessa's crush on her family friend, troubled composer Lewis Dodd.  What seems to be just a girlhood crush, is really a deep love and devotion that Lewis doesn't realize until it is too late.

I'm familiar with Joan Fontaine's work in Jane Eyre and  Rebecca and when watching this film, I was struck by how completely different she is in this role.  While in the previous two films she is meek and shy, almost painfully so, in this movie she has to play a young teenager to a young girl just on the threshold of adulthood, and Joan completely captures this buoyant energy that makes it hard to see her as anything but youthful and bright and fresh.  It's so different from what I've seen of her and it's a sharp contrast to Charles Boyer's gentle, almost fatherly character who is too wrapped up in his work to really see the people around him.  This movie is a layered character study, with the added drama of the woman Lewis Dodd decided to marry, Tessa's cousin, who is very sophisticated and rather haughty and unlikable.

I vacillated so much while watching this movie, about how I thought it should end, and if Tessa's love should be responded to, but in the end, I did feel like it was the way it should be.  Be prepared though, the ending is Tissue City!  I was so very touched by this intimate classic film, and Tessa's heartwarming and heartbreaking romance.