Madame Curie (film)

Madame Curie is an American biographical film of the year 1943 with Greer Garson in the title role. It tells the life story of physicist and Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie twofold based on the eponymous biography of her daughter Ève Curie.

  • 3.1 reviews
  • 3.2 Awards

Action

Early 1890s studied the young Polish woman Marie Skłodowska physics at the Sorbonne in Paris. During a lecture she passes out from exhaustion. Concerned about the state of his talented student invites Professor Marie Perot a luncheon. During their joint interview, he offers her his support for their research. He also suggests that she is working in the laboratory of the physicist Pierre Curie, Marie met after a ceremony the same evening.

Both Marie and Pierre initially focus exclusively on their work. Only after a few weeks the first time they exchange their thoughts with each other. Pierre is impressed by Marie's scientific observations and believes in its future as a great physicist. Marie's wish is but to return to her studies in her native Poland, there to be a teacher. After Marie is honored for her degree as the best student of physics at the University Pierre invites them over the weekend to the country home of his parents in order to delay their departure to Poland. When Marie still insists on their return, you make Pierre a marriage proposal. Marie takes him and together they continue to research.

Encouraged by Pierre, Marie sets out to explore the phenomenon of radioactivity. After long and laborious experiments concludes Marie, that there must be an as yet unknown chemical element, which has a higher radiation than other elements. As she and Pierre succeed after years of hard work, isolate the element, they baptized it in the name of radium. After both were honored for their discovery of the Nobel Prize, they make with their daughters, Irène and Ève Holiday cottages. There, Pierre tells his wife that in the event that one of them dies, the other should research each on alone.

On the day when the Curies are to receive a new laboratory, Pierre comes in a traffic accident. Marie is destroyed after his death on the ground and pulls back from the everyday life. However, in memory of Pierre and his words, she decides to continue working. Many years later, Marie stops at the Sorbonne on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of its discovery a speech about the importance of science. She encourages her audience, the torch of knowledge on to wear to brighten the future.

Background

Prehistory

Ève Curie's book about Madame Curie her mother's life was published in the fall of 1937 and was already at the end of the year an international success. Hollywood was immediately on a film adaptation of Marie Curie Biography interested after Warner Brothers in 1936 proved the movie Louis Pasteur that biographies of scientists from both critics and audiences to attract interest. First, the Universal Studios acquired the film rights for an adaptation with Irene Dunne in the title role. However, since Universal could not provide a suitable script, the rights were sold to MGM in 1938. There, the film version was prepared as a star vehicle for Greta Garbo. As Garbo in 1941 but gave up her film career, the project was again placed on ice. In the meantime, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon made ​​in to the same studio name as a canvas dream Couple that with the movies Blossoms in the Dust (1941 ) and Mrs. Miniver (1942 ) was able to record two great successes.

Production

Then brought MGM production of Madame Curie with Garson as Marie and Pierre Curie as Pidgeon again rolling. For the occupation of Pierre Curie Spencer Tracy was originally provided. Until MGM could deliver a finished script, Tracy was already busy with other film projects. In addition, should actually Albert Lewin direct the film. However, he was released after only two weeks when he quarreled with MGM to the script. Mervyn LeRoy, who had already worked with Garson and Pidgeon in Blossoms in the Dust, was finally obliged as a director, while Sidney Franklin, who was responsible for Mrs. Miniver, again served as producer. The English writer James Hilton took over as already found for the Garson movie year (1942 ) the role of the narrator.

LeRoy, the Madame Curie later counted among his best films, stayed during the filming of particularly careful not to make the scientific tests too complicated. "I let it pass until I could not understand even a scene, because I knew that the audience would otherwise not understand," LeRoy wrote in his autobiography of 1974. Sidney Franklin wanted to show the experiments of the film as authentic as possible and scientifically correct to avoid criticism renowned scientist. To ensure this authenticity, Franklin hired the physicist Dr. Rudolph Langer as technical advisors, who demonstrated the writers experiments of the Curies. The biggest challenge for the authors, however, was to make the rather mundane issue of discovery of radium to the public interest. They therefore focused with fictional scenes more on the love story of the Curies, which gradually come closer than initially timid scientist.

In order to play their role, Greer Garson read all publications by and about Marie Curie, who could find them, and also hired a translator, so she could use all Polish fonts for their research. For the right makeup and the costumes contributed Ève Curie personal photographs of her family.

Reception

The premiere of Madame Curie was held at Hollywood's Grauman 's Chinese Theatre on December 15, 1943. One day later, the film was first shown in New York at Radio City Music Hall, where he spent seven weeks to see. For the marketing of the film and MGM Garsons Pidgeons used previous hit Mrs. Miniver by with slogans such as "Mr. & Mrs. Miniver Together Again in Another screen hit! "(Engl.: " Mr. & Mrs. Miniver reunited in a new hit movie "! ) For Madame Curie made ​​advertising. On December 20, 1943 also appeared in an issue of Time magazine with Greer Garson as Marie Curie on the title page. The headline read: " Greer Garson: Hollywood Discovered a radioactive element " (engl.: " Greer Garson: Hollywood discovered a radioactive element "). The critics and viewers took the film to very positive. With production costs of $ 1,938,000 Madame Curie played a remarkable $ 4,610,000 at the U.S. box office. Ève Curie was also, in contrast to her sister Irene, who had protested against the film and refused any cooperation, very happy with the screen adaptation of her book.

Reviews

" Popular Scientific and entertaining, but carefully presented and worth seeing as worthy reminiscence. "

" In every way a great movie. [ ... ] While the processes that lead to the discovery of radium, and the glory, the Madame Curie receives, contribute enormously to the entertainment value of the film, it's the love story that dominates everything. "

" As sent here the research is illustrated by radium, [ ... ] corresponds to a masterful use of moving images and is a truly exciting experiment on the canvas. "

"Historically correct than most film biographies of the time this film made in 1943 by Mervyn LeRoy was staged with usual sovereignty. "

Awards

At the Academy Awards in 1944 Madame Curie was seven times nominated for an Oscar, but failed to win a trophy. In the category of Best Film, the biopic Casablanca had to admit defeat. Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson documents in the categories of Best Actor and Best Actress Paul Lukas and Jennifer Jones. Even Joseph Ruttenberg ( Best Cinematography ), Herbert Stothart ( Best Music ), Douglas Shearer ( Best Sound ) and Cedric Gibbons, Paul Size, Edwin B. Willis and Hugh Hunt ( Best Art ) went home empty-handed.

538377
de