Madeleine | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

83% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 71% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings

Madeleine Smith (Ann Todd), the beautiful eldest daughter of a wealthy Glasgow family, begins an illicit love affair with the charming Emile (Ivan Desny), a working-class Frenchman. When she begins to suspect that Emile loves her only for her money and social status, Madeleine agrees to marry the man her iron-fisted father (Leslie Banks) approves of, wealthy and respectable William Minnoch (Norman Wooland). When Emile dies suddenly, suspicion points to Madeleine as his murderer.

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Madeleine

Critics Reviews

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Madeleine | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Time Out One of three films Lean made virtually as star vehicles for his wife Ann Todd. Here she manages to extend the range of her semi-hysterical screen personality into a flimsily forceful character who pits her amoral deviousness against... rigid hypocrisy. Nov 6, 2007 Full Review Madeleine | Rotten Tomatoes (2) MFB Critics Monthly Film Bulletin The film is beautifully, elegantly made, but Lean has committed a crime far worse than technical blunders: that of taking a live story and robbing it of all feeling and humanity, so that what is served up on the screen is cold, remote and intolerable. Jan 23, 2018 Full Review Madeleine | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com This compelling character study is one of the three films David Lean made with his then wife Ann Todd. Rated: B+ Apr 19, 2011 Full Review Madeleine | Rotten Tomatoes (4) Fernando F. Croce CinePassion Murder underneath patrician faades Mar 13, 2010 Full Review Madeleine | Rotten Tomatoes (5) TV Guide The script and direction are handled with amazing restraint, cleverly and carefully constructed, heightened by Todd's inherently enigmatic image. Rated: 3.5/4 Nov 6, 2007 Full Review Madeleine | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Well-made courtroom drama. Rated: B+ Mar 25, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alain E A nice slow court melodrama from the period that only intelligent members of the public, that is men, served as jurors. A woman feels her reputation is under immense threat when her previous lover will not return her love letters, as she is getting ready to wed her next suitor. Today, that the relics of previous relationships are all over the internet, similar crimes should be a daily occurrence. Thankfully ideas have evolved. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/31/24 Full Review Audience Member Exceptional cinematography, languid pace and objective POV, as Lean is known for. We have to make up our minds as to the lady's guilt or innocence. Interesting period piece that rakes up the problems of class, country, the power of men over women at the time. The errant Frenchman who refuses to marry Miss Smith because he can't support her, then forces himself upon her after she decides to marry someone else, is disturbing.. It is clear the Frenchman only sought a connection with her due to her father's wealth. Women in the mid 19th century used acid and arsenic as cometics. It's also clear that Smith wanted to rid herself of her French lover. Did she seek to kill him? Would L'Angelier kill himself? Was there any other manner in which he could've been poisoned by arsenic? There is a reasonable doubt in all these proceedings and of course Lean uses poetic license to fill in the blanks no one knows. Fascinating portrait showing the beginnings of Lean's later style. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member David Lean's melodramatic showcase for his wife, Ann Todd, was never considered one of his better films but has aged quite nicely. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the few movies given 100 rating, directed by David lean Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Ann Todd wasn't the best actress in the world, but she was married to director David Lean at this point in time and he gifted her with the starring role in this film. It doesn't come even close to his best work, but it is still a reasonably well told tale about a scandal to hit Scotland in the mid-19th century. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Based on the true 19th century story of Madeleine Smith who was tried for the murder of her lover, this film has a nice ambiguity about it which was reflected in the real verdict. None of the characters are shown as entirely good or bad, and the different conentions under which people were expected to lie at that time are shown well. Not among Daid Lean's best films, but still not bad. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

David Lean Director Ann Todd Madeleine Smith Norman Wooland William Minnoch Ivan Desny Emile L'Anglier Leslie Banks James Smith Edward Chapman Dr. Thompson
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Synopsis Madeleine Smith (Ann Todd), the beautiful eldest daughter of a wealthy Glasgow family, begins an illicit love affair with the charming Emile (Ivan Desny), a working-class Frenchman. When she begins to suspect that Emile loves her only for her money and social status, Madeleine agrees to marry the man her iron-fisted father (Leslie Banks) approves of, wealthy and respectable William Minnoch (Norman Wooland). When Emile dies suddenly, suspicion points to Madeleine as his murderer.

Director
David Lean

Producer
Stanley Haynes

Production Co
Cineguild

Genre
Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017

Runtime
1h 41m
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