The House in the Square
Encyclopedia
The House in the Square, also titled I'll Never Forget You (US) and Man of Two Worlds, is a 1951 science fiction film
about an American atomic scientist who is transported to the 18th century, where he falls in love. It starred Tyrone Power
and Ann Blyth
. It was adapted from the play Berkeley Square by John L. Balderston
, which was also the basis of the 1933 film Berkeley Square
.
It used a similar technique as The Wizard of Oz
, presenting the opening and closing sequences in black-and-white, and the rest of the film in Technicolor
.
who is working in a nuclear laboratory in London. His co-worker Roger Forsyth, who is worrying about Peter's lack of social activities, takes him to a house in Berkeley Square
he inherited. It is there where Peter announces his wishes of living in the 18th century among the high-class family Petigrew he has studied the last years. Because of a wonder during a lightning
, he is brought back to 1784, where he has switched bodies with the first Peter Standish, the American cousin of the Petigrews who, according to history, will soon romance and marry Kate Petigrew.
Peter falls for Kate, but he is more interested in her sister Helen, whom he has never found any records from. The next few days, Peter makes several bad impressions on the family by using modern day language and revealing information he could not have known if he actually grew up in the 18th century. Helen, however, is the only one not suspicious of Peter's presence and falls in love with him as well. Peter admits to her that the 18th century is not what he thought it would be. The narrow-minded people, the poverty and the dirt irritate him. Furthermore, he admits that he is from the future and shows Helen his hidden laboratory in the basement with modern inventions.
Rather than being afraid, Helen becomes even more interested in Peter. They are romanced, despite Peter's awareness that he has to marry Kate in order to not change history. Helen begs him not to say things which makes him look odd and that night, at a formal party, Peter tries to impress the famous Duchess of Devonshire, but he accidentally talks about her as if he is talking about her legacy, which makes her afraid. Kate is fed up with Peter and announces that she will not marry him. Rather than trying to court her somehow, Peter is drawn to Helen, who is interested on finding out more about the future.
Things start to look bad for Peter when his laboratory is uncovered. He is committed to the Bethlem Royal Hospital
. Before being brought away, he rushes to Helen's room, where she places a crux ansata
in order to remind him of her love for him. While being taken away, lighting strikes again and Peter is back in present life. There, Forsyth tells him he has been acting like a mad man for the past two weeks. Peter is shocked when he meets Forsyth's sister Martha, who looks a lot like Helen. He is escorted by her to a graveyard, where he finds out Helen died shortly after Peter was taken away.
and Maureen O'Hara
in the lead roles. The project, however, was shelved and eventually abandoned, before it was taken up in 1950. On July 13, 1950, Tyrone Power
was announced in the lead role. French actress Micheline Presle
was originally set to co-star, but she dropped out in March 1951 due to illness. Constance Smith
shortly stepped in as her replacement, but producer Darryl F. Zanuck
decided she was not experienced enough and replaced her with Ann Blyth
.
Initially, Jean Simmons
was approached to co-star next to Power.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
about an American atomic scientist who is transported to the 18th century, where he falls in love. It starred Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
and Ann Blyth
Ann Blyth
Ann Marie Blyth is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:Blyth was born in Mount Kisco,...
. It was adapted from the play Berkeley Square by John L. Balderston
John L. Balderston
John L. Balderston was an American playwright and screenwriter best known for his horror and fantasy scripts....
, which was also the basis of the 1933 film Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square (film)
Berkeley Square is a drama film produced by Fox Film Corporation, directed by Frank Lloyd, and starring Leslie Howard, Heather Angel, Valerie Taylor, and Colin Keith-Johnston. The film was thought to be a lost film until rediscovered in the 1970s....
.
It used a similar technique as The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, presenting the opening and closing sequences in black-and-white, and the rest of the film in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
.
Plot
Peter Standish is an American atomic scientistAtomic physics
Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. It is primarily concerned with the arrangement of electrons around the nucleus and...
who is working in a nuclear laboratory in London. His co-worker Roger Forsyth, who is worrying about Peter's lack of social activities, takes him to a house in Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square is a town square in the West End of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It was originally laid out in the mid 18th century by architect William Kent...
he inherited. It is there where Peter announces his wishes of living in the 18th century among the high-class family Petigrew he has studied the last years. Because of a wonder during a lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
, he is brought back to 1784, where he has switched bodies with the first Peter Standish, the American cousin of the Petigrews who, according to history, will soon romance and marry Kate Petigrew.
Peter falls for Kate, but he is more interested in her sister Helen, whom he has never found any records from. The next few days, Peter makes several bad impressions on the family by using modern day language and revealing information he could not have known if he actually grew up in the 18th century. Helen, however, is the only one not suspicious of Peter's presence and falls in love with him as well. Peter admits to her that the 18th century is not what he thought it would be. The narrow-minded people, the poverty and the dirt irritate him. Furthermore, he admits that he is from the future and shows Helen his hidden laboratory in the basement with modern inventions.
Rather than being afraid, Helen becomes even more interested in Peter. They are romanced, despite Peter's awareness that he has to marry Kate in order to not change history. Helen begs him not to say things which makes him look odd and that night, at a formal party, Peter tries to impress the famous Duchess of Devonshire, but he accidentally talks about her as if he is talking about her legacy, which makes her afraid. Kate is fed up with Peter and announces that she will not marry him. Rather than trying to court her somehow, Peter is drawn to Helen, who is interested on finding out more about the future.
Things start to look bad for Peter when his laboratory is uncovered. He is committed to the Bethlem Royal Hospital
Bethlem Royal Hospital
The Bethlem Royal Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in London, United Kingdom and part of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Although no longer based at its original location, it is recognised as the world's first and oldest institution to specialise in mental illnesses....
. Before being brought away, he rushes to Helen's room, where she places a crux ansata
Ankh
The ankh , also known as key of life, the key of the Nile or crux ansata, was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life", a triliteral sign for the consonants ʻ-n-ḫ...
in order to remind him of her love for him. While being taken away, lighting strikes again and Peter is back in present life. There, Forsyth tells him he has been acting like a mad man for the past two weeks. Peter is shocked when he meets Forsyth's sister Martha, who looks a lot like Helen. He is escorted by her to a graveyard, where he finds out Helen died shortly after Peter was taken away.
Cast
- Tyrone PowerTyrone PowerTyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
as Peter Standish - Ann BlythAnn BlythAnn Marie Blyth is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:Blyth was born in Mount Kisco,...
as Helen Pettigrew / Martha Forsyth - Michael RennieMichael RennieMichael Rennie was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 1951 classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons and other...
as Roger Forsyth - Dennis PriceDennis PriceDennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
as Tom Pettigrew - Beatrice CampbellBeatrice CampbellBeatrice Campbell was a British stage and film actress. She was born in County Down, Northern Ireland.-Career:After a distinguished London stage career, Campbell entered film in the mid-1940s...
as Kate Pettigrew - Kathleen ByronKathleen ByronKathleen Byron was a British actress of stage, screen and television.-Early life:Byron was born Kathleen Elizabeth Fell in West Ham – now in the London Borough of Newham...
as the Duchess of Devonshire - Raymond HuntleyRaymond HuntleyRaymond Huntley was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s through to the 1970s...
as Mr. Throstle - Irene BrowneIrene BrowneIrene Browne was an English stage and film actress and singer who appeared in plays and musicals such as No, No, Nanette. Later in her career, she became particularly associated with the works of Noel Coward and acted in films....
as Lady Anne Pettigrew
Production
The film went into production in January 1945, with Gregory PeckGregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
and Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
in the lead roles. The project, however, was shelved and eventually abandoned, before it was taken up in 1950. On July 13, 1950, Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
was announced in the lead role. French actress Micheline Presle
Micheline Presle
Micheline Presle is a French actress also known in English language films as Micheline Prelle.Born Micheline Nicole Julia Émilienne Chassagne in Paris, she wanted to be an actress from an early age. She took acting classes in her early teens and made her film debut at the age of fifteen in the...
was originally set to co-star, but she dropped out in March 1951 due to illness. Constance Smith
Constance Smith
Constance Smith was an Irish film actress, known as a contract player of 20th Century Fox in the 1950s.-Biography:...
shortly stepped in as her replacement, but producer Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
decided she was not experienced enough and replaced her with Ann Blyth
Ann Blyth
Ann Marie Blyth is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:Blyth was born in Mount Kisco,...
.
Initially, Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
was approached to co-star next to Power.