Do you want to see ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street’?

The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 7
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 0

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 278

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Based on a successful stage drama, this historical romance stars Norma Shearer as Elizabeth Barrett, an invalid largely confined to her bed. Elizabeth has little company beyond her dog and her obsessively protective father, Edward Moulton Barrett (Charles Laughton). Her one great passion and means of emotional escape is writing poetry, to which she devotes a large part of her days. She makes the acquaintance of fellow poet Robert Browning (Fredric March), who pays her a visit. They respect each

Unrated, 1 hr. 50 min.

Drama, Classics

Directed By: Sidney Franklin

Written By: Ernest Vajda, Claudine West, Donald Stewart

In Theaters: Sep 8, 1934 Wide

On DVD: Mar 25, 1992

Cast

Norma Shearer
Elizabeth Barrett
Fredric March
Robert Browning
Charles Laughton
Edward Moulton Barrett
Maureen O'Sullivan
Henrietta Barrett
Katherine Alexander
Arabel Barrett
Una O'Connor
Wilson
Ian Wolfe
Harry Bevan
Marion Clayton
Bella Hedley
Ralph Forbes
Capt. Surtees Cook
Vernon P. Downing
Octavius Barrett
Neville Clarke
Charles Barrett
Matt Smith
George Barrett
Robert Carleton
Alfred Barrett
Alan Conrad
Henry Barrett
Peter Hobbes
Septimus Barrett
Robert Bolder
Old Man
Leo Carrillo
Dr. Ford-Waterlow
Leo G Carroll
Dr. Ford-Waterlow
Winter Hall
Clergyman
George Kirby
Coachman
Ferdinand Munier
Dr. Chambers
Margaret Seddon
Woman
Lowden Adams
Butler

Critic Reviews for The Barretts of Wimpole Street

All Critics (7) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (2)

As a film it's slow. Very. The first hour is wandering, planting-the-plot stuff that has some difficulty cementing the interest, but in the final stretch it grips and holds.

March 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Sidney Franklin has filmed a drama of beauty, dignity and nobility.

March 25, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Andre Sennwald

New York Times

Top Critic

One of the better-known and more typical of MGM's adaptations of famous stage plays.

January 31, 2012 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Sidney Franklin's first version of the story is stiff and stagy, but it offers good roles for Charles Laughton as the tyrannical and abusive father and Norma Shearer as his invalid poet-daughter.

February 10, 2008 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Slow, deliberate, dull.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Time Out

When not even Charles Laughton, playing a deranged, scarily pious, and pretty obviously incestuous domineering father can save a film, you know you have problems.

December 5, 2004 Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies

| Comment

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

Goatdog's Movies Source: Goatdog's Movies

A typically lush MGM production set in 19th-century London.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Barretts of Wimpole Street

View All

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 (1934) The Barretts of Wimpole Street DRAMA A very mature film about an overbearing father (Charles Laughton)and his 7 children who does his best to prevent any of them to have any relationships of their own especially if it comes to marriage! One in paritcular is the father's eldest

November 10, 2010

Dave Jordon