The Inheritance (1950) User Reviews

"I write my best sonnets in bed"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 5/10 · 22 September 2017]

A woman going to the wrong house where she expects to be a governess gets mixed up with a marriage of convenience and later on with espionage, all set in the Regency period. It seems like a Gainsborough melodrama from the early forties rather than a 1950 release when it must have even then seemed old fashioned. The story is confusing with an ungainly mix of comedy, mystery and romance.

There is nothing wrong with the experienced cast but they have little to work with and the dialogue is risible at times. Jean Kent is radiant as usual but Lana Morris and Kathleen Byron are disappointingly underused. It does have a good music score by Allan Gray but otherwise it is a bland film.

Ridiculous Gainsborough Melodrama

[howardmorley · 5/10 · 16 March 2017]

I know now why actors in "Eastenders" suddenly appear through kitchen doors in their silly "soaps"; they were doing it back in 1950 in silly melodramas such as this, when characters suddenly appear mysteriously in the room.This type of Gainsborough melodrama had run its course by 1950 as more sophisticated screenplays had begun to replace them at the cinema.Single and married women whose husbands & boyfriends were in the armed forces during the war were now expecting a higher class of film when they went to the cinema.

Jean Kent plays the female lead in "The Reluctant Widow"/"The Inheritance" playing at first a governess who gets sidetracked into another house becoming the wife of a husband on his deathbed.If that was not far fetched, the plot becomes more farcical and melodramatic with every scene.The action takes place in the regency of George IV and the Duke of Wellington.It becomes very confusing and involves spying, selling government secrets to Napoleonic France.Guy Rolfe is formally defrocked on military parade but redeems himself in the end with the military hierarchy.Jean Kent is passed around snogging many of the male characters while Noel Howlett, (the headmaster in the t.v. production of "Please Sir"), has to perform the marriage service again to a bridegroom who is supposedly dieing in bed.Kathleen Byron makes a brief appearance as a French female accomplice.I gave it only 5/10.

The Reluctant Widow

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 27 December 2022]

This has, on paper, quite a workmanlike cast to deliver a story of 18th century espionage but sadly it all falls rather flat. Jean Kent is "Helena" who marries a dying man so she can inherit his estate. Shortly afterwards, he duly pops his clogs and she finds herself embroiled in a conspiracy involving a dreadfully wooden Guy Rolfe ( - her new cousin "Lord Carylon") and a not much better Paul Dupuis ("Lord Nivelle"). Kathleen Byron features sparingly but even she cannot really help this dreary and frequently quite confusing costume drama catch fire. It's wordy and plodding, with what little opportunities to swash and buckle drowned thoroughly by the poorly written script and the somewhat token nod to Anglo-French history. Andrew Cruickshank pops up too and the eagle-eyed amongst us might spot the avuncular Peter Bull in a stagecoach. I usually enjoy these kind of films, but this one has little by way of production values or plot to redeem it, sorry.

A reluctant viewer.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 6 November 2020]

Getting through this film was as painful as watching paint dry. Having watched a series of British melodramas over the past few days, I was looking forward to this one because it sounded very intriguing, dealing with a woman showing up for a job at the wrong house and ending up in a marriage that she wasn't expecting to get into. That leads her to become involved in some nonsense concerning Napoleon and spies, and trying to hang on to the inheritance that some of my family members are trying to prevent her from getting. After all, it was only a wife to the deceased for a few minutes.

The performance by Jean Kent as the reluctant heroine is okay, but unfortunately, her character really isn't all that believable and the situation even less so. Guy Rolfe is a bit more intriguing as the dashing hero who falls into Kent's trap, and where are the roles are filled out nicely by a fine ensemble of character actors. The sketch is lucious and the photography is well done, at the film just lays there with its convoluted story not even interesting to try to figure out. However, there are some nice romantic scenes between the two leads, but that's not enough to make this memorable.

Nothing can save a film from a bad script

[clanciai · 7/10 · 26 January 2023]

This is supposed to be a romantic historical drama of the Napoleonic times with intrigues on the highest levels, smugglers and villains, haphazard marriages, deceits, murders and furious fencing bringing down the house, but it is all just effects without substance. Guy Rolfe is generally a stately actor with interesting roles, but this role is wasted on him. Jean Kent is much better as a shrew, which is her common field of acting. The villain is too charming and good-looking to be convincing, and there are more rogues and scoundrels here than there is room for them in this sumptuous castle of a house. Apparently it all happens in Scotland, and the French intrigue seems a little far-fetched in the Scottish wilderness. Not even Kathleen Byron can save this film, mainly because her role is minimal. What a waste of wonderful scenery when they just have to smash it all in an endless sword fight, and on top of all this it is all predictable. Jean Kent landed in the wrong place from the beginning, but she learned to thrive in all its wickedness and turmoil of intrigue. Only the music is good.

Kudos To Miss Heyer For Forbidding Further Adaptations

[boblipton · 3/10 · 30 May 2023]

The child of a once rich, now impoverished house, Jean Kent is on her way to become a governess when she is sort of kidnapped and wed to a dying man. After he does so, she comes to her new estate, filled with masterful men who mistreat her, French spies, and the odd smuggler or two trying to sell her duty-free booze. Her new cousin, Guy Rolfe, alternately makes love to her and despises her.

It is ridiculous, both in its over-the-top portrayal of its characters, its lack of any humor of any variety, and Miss Kent in particular, who seems to have mastered the art of fainting gracefully behind the ottoman at the moment when a more self-possessed leading lady -- Maureen O'Hara, say, or Gracie Fields -- might have done something more useful, like punching the man in the crotch, buying a cask of French brandy, or bursting into a rendition of "The Biggest Aspidistra in the World".

The Regency costumes look nice.

It's supposedly based on a Georgette Heyer novel. I am completely unfamiliar with Miss Heyer's works, but friends who have read them think highly of them, and Miss Heyer only permitted one more adaptation of a novel, a German movie of which no one has written an account. She wrote a clause into her will forbidding any adaptations, so I am willing to concede this probably was not a good one.

who was to blame

[malcolmgsw · 3/10 · 18 December 2017]

Firstly to correct an earlier reviewer this was not a Gainsborough picture.It was a Two Cities film made by Rank at Denham. When watching this film it is little wonder that Rank were millions in the red,and soon were to close Denham .It is difficult to give a coherent resume of this film as the story is impossible. to follow

Confusing but interesting drama

[calvertfan · 8/10 · 27 June 2002]

Jean Kent arrives at the manor to become a governess for its small child, but finds she has arrived at the wrong place. On the journey to her rightful post however, she is sidetracked into the web of intrigue that veils the family and, before the night is out, is a part of it herself - marrying one of the boys on his deathbed and an hour later becoming a widow - and owner of the manor.

Apart from being all a little too confusing and unexplained, this is a fine movie, which has it all - a smattering of comedy, a dangerous swordfight, the hidden clue in the clock, murder and attempted murder; and even quite a number of passionate love scenes for Miss Kent!

An old favourite

[mannbarbara · 9/10 · 4 January 2019]

A delightful adaptation of one of my favourite Georgette Heyer novels, The Reluctant Widow is a tongue in cheek melodrama of spies and smugglers set in the Napoleonic era. It stars Jean Kent as the reluctant widow who marries a dying bounder to prevent him accusing a young lad of his murder and finds herself caught up in intrigue and danger, not to mention falling for the handsome and dashing Guy Rolfe. The supporting cast are all excellent, especially Jean Cadell as the housekeeper and Andrew Cruickshank as the vile and repulsive villain.