Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948)

Saraband for Dead Lovers is a 1948 British adventure romance movie based on a 1935 novel by Australian writer Helen Simpson. It was made by Ealing Studios and directed by Basil Dearden.

This is the story of Sophia Dorothea of Celle, the first wife of George Louis of Hanover who would later become King George I of England.

Sophia Dorothea (Joan Greenwood) is forced into the marriage. She considers George Louis (Peter Bull) to be a disgusting fat pig with no morals. It’s an accurate appraisal of his character.

The marriage is unhappy but luckily George Louis spends most of his time with his mistresses.

The Hanoverian court is a hotbed of intrigue, backstabbing, jealousy and ambition. The mother of George Louis, the Electress Sophias, is willing to do anything and sacrifice anything (and anyone) in order to secure the succession to the throne of England for her appalling son. Countess Platen (Flora Robson) also does a good deal of scheming on his behalf. She expects rich rewards for her efforts.

Then Sophia Dorothea meets the handsome, dashing, irresponsible Swedish soldier of fortune Philip Konigsmark (Stewart Granger). They fall in madly in love. Unfortunately Philip already has a mistress, Countess Platen. She considers him to be her property, bought and paid for. The Countess is middle-aged and hopelessly in love with Philip and she is also immensely powerful and inclined to be ruthless. She has a network of spies working for her.

The two lovers are not very successful in keeping their love a secret. They certainly cannot keep it a secret from Countess Platen.

This is an odd movie. With Stewart Granger as the star you expect swashbuckling adventure but it’s not that kind of movie at all. There is one very brief action scene. And Philip Konigsmark is not a swashbuckling hero. He’s a surprisingly passive character. Like all the other main characters he is to some extent trapped by circumstances.

He behaves foolishly and is guilty of serious errors of judgment but perhaps a man in love is always a fool. And perhaps both Sophia Dorothea and Countess Platen are fools for love as well. But in the Hanoverian Court love counts for very little.

While the film was shot in Technicolor this is not pretty chocolate-box Technicolor. There’s  a certain gloominess, almost a gothic quality, to the visuals. There are lots of shadows, which was simply not done in Technicolor cinematography at this time. We feel that in such a poisonous atmosphere the odds are stacked against the two lovers and the visuals reflect this.

The carnival scene is a major tour-de-force - there’s nothing joyous about it, it’s chaos and madness and it’s very disturbing.

Stewart Granger has to rely more on subtlety than charm and dash and he does a reasonably effective job. Joan Greenwood is good as the rather mousy Sophia Dorothea. Not surprisingly they’re both overshadowed by Flora Robson who is in dazzling form.

This is an imaginatively shot romantic melodrama rather than a swashbuckling adventure and it’s rather doom-laden, but that makes it a fascinating oddity. Recommended.

The Studiocanal Blu-Ray looks terrific and there are a couple of reasonably worthwhile extras.

Basil Dearden had a very varied career as a director. I’ve reviewed The Ship That Died of Shame (1955), The League of Gentlemen (1960) and The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970) - all excellent movies.