Back home

Madness of the Heart

8 votes

Producing House

A blind Englishwoman weds a French nobleman and moves into his family's chateau, but she quickly realizes someone there wants her out of the way.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1949-12-20

Runtime: 91 mins

Director: Charles Bennett

Spoken language: English

Genres: Romance, Drama

Original title: Madness of the Heart

Production Companies: Two Cities Films

Production Countries: United Kingdom

Reviews

G

Geronimo1967
Margaret Lockwood is quite compelling as "Lydia" in this tense mystery of a woman who encounters a French gent "Paul" (Paul Dupuis), romance ensues and they fall in love. Throughout their courtship, though, she suffers from increasingly worrying dizzy spells that a doctor confirms will lead to blindness. Horrified, she flees from her beau and takes up in an abbey where she considers holy orders. Luckily, the abbess insists she rejoin the world and she rekindles her romance with the Frenchman, they marry and retreat to his father's chateau. Initially welcome, she soon senses that someone is out to get her, and as the plot slowly develops we are drawn into quite a sinister web that has no shortage of potential perpetrators. Chief amongst them is their neighbour "Verity" (the excellent Kathleen Byron) who has designs on the husband. Finding her life unbearable, she, and her maid "Rosa" (Thora Hird) return to her old life were she encounters another surgeon who thinks he can fix her sight... It's at this point that the story takes a bit of downturn. Up til now, the tension had increased consistently with Byron and Lockwood squaring up nicely, but the ending is just too fanciful (although it does contain the best scene in the film). The men folks contribute little, too - Maxwell Reed is pretty hopeless and Dupuis pretty flat as her husband. Still, it sustains the mystery well enough for the most part and Lockwood is on good form.
2022-07-09

Recommendations

Only People
2.6

Only People

1957-07-02

An one-legged engineer of hydro construction, a war veteran meets a blind girl in a mountain sanator

City Lights
4.2

City Lights

1931-02-06

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy m

Wie Licht schmeckt
0

Wie Licht schmeckt

2006-07-06

It's Lukas' birthday and he runs away from home to the city - but only for three days. Having just t

Destiny
2.3

Destiny

1944-12-22

Framed for two crimes he didn't commit, and betrayed by his girl, Cliff Banks finds himself on the r

Dangerous When Wet
2.9

Dangerous When Wet

1953-06-18

The health conscious, dairy-farming Higgins family begin each day with an invigorating swim. One day

Lafangey Parindey
3

Lafangey Parindey

2010-08-20

The path of a street fighter and a dancer on skates, who are in love, is paved by friendship, grit a

South Pacific
3

South Pacific

1958-03-19

Can a girl from Little Rock find happiness with a mature French planter she got to know one enchante

Nilavey Mugam Kaattu
2

Nilavey Mugam Kaattu

1999-04-30

Prakash and Murthy have been thick friends ever since Prakash took Murthy into his house - against t

Lunchbox
0

Lunchbox

2021-05-12

An older sister receives a phone call from her little brother, saying he needs a packed lunch. She’s

Glorious Betsy
2.9

Glorious Betsy

1928-04-25

Vitaphone production reels #2471-2478; third Warner Bros. feature film - the first being The Jazz Si

Devil and the Angel
2.7

Devil and the Angel

1946-10-30

The Director of an international banknote printing institute, mutilated by the face of the Great War

Salvo
2.9

Salvo

2013-06-27

Salvo, a ruthless Sicilian Mafia hit man, changes his priorities after being involved in a bloody am

Mischief Night
2.5

Mischief Night

2013-10-30

Young Emily Walton, who has suffered from psychosomatic blindness ever since the car accident that t

Morlam
0

Morlam

2024-06-17

A blind child singer, thrown onto the streets of Bangkok, must sing to free himself from the gang th

Death Was a Passenger
3.5

Death Was a Passenger

1958-01-01

Strangers conversing in a train compartment, revive wartime memories for one passenger.

Revenge of the Black Knight
2

Revenge of the Black Knight

1963-01-01

La Cieca Di Sorrento (also known as Revenge of the Black Knight is a 1963 cloak and dagger film dire

The Man Who Knew Too Much
3.8

The Man Who Knew Too Much

1956-05-16

An American doctor and his wife, a former singing star, witness a murder while vacationing in Morocc

The Eye
3.3

The Eye

2002-05-09

A blind concert violinist gets a cornea transplant allowing her to see again. However, she gets more

See No Evil
3.3

See No Evil

1971-09-02

In the English countryside, Sarah Rexton, recently blinded in a horse riding accident, moves in with

Our Darkness
0

Our Darkness

2025-10-09

A blind girl and a woman struggle to surive on a rest stop.