User reviews

Ivy is directed by Sam Wood and adapted to screenplay by Charles Bennett from the novel The Story of Ivy written by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It stars Joan Fontaine, Patric Knowles, Herbert Marshall, Richard Ney, Cedric Hardwicke and Lucile Watson. Music is by Daniele Amfitheatrof and cinematography by Russell Metty.

Ivy Lexton (Fontaine) has a hunger to be wealthy, and setting her sights on well-to-do Miles Rushworth ( Marshall), Ivy plots a fiendish plan that spells trouble for her husband Jervis (Ney) and her lover Roger (Knowles).

Well worth discovering, Ivy showcases the dark side of Fontaine's acting prowess for great entertainment rewards. The beautiful Madame Fontaine actually disowned the movie, and this after she stepped in to the role of Ivy Lexton after her sister Olivia de Havilland turned it down. Her lack of affection for the picture goes some way to explaining why it has remained largely forgotten, which is a shame because it's a high end gaslight noir propelled by a femme fatale of some considerable substance.

The budget was high, and it shows, in the cast list, the costuming and the stunning turn of the century production design by William Cameron Menzies. Metty's low-key photography cloaks the Edwardian settings with atmospheric snugness, while Amfitheatrof underscores the drama with music that is appropriately tinged with chills. Thematically the piece is focusing on obsessions, by way of man's ignorant lust and woman's pursuit of wealth above all else. All characters are defined not by fate here, but by their actions, making for a hornet's nest of murder and adultery.

1947 was a stellar year for film noir, with big hitting movies like Out of the Past, Nightmare Alley, Kiss of Death, Odd Man Out and Brighton Rock further cementing the growing popularity of noir as a style of film making. As is often the case with the great noir years from the classic cycle, there's still little gems hidden away waiting to be brought out into the open, Ivy is one such film. Fontaine and the sumptuous noir visual style ensure this to be the case. 8/10

Joan Fontaine is in the title role of Ivy, a completely amoral social climber who when we meet her is juggling three different guys, husband Richard Ney, former lover Patric Knowles who can't get her out of his system, and her next interest the very rich Herbert Marshall. This girl Ivy, she really gets around.

When Marshall tells her he's not having any sex with another man's wife Fontaine sees her duty clear. She not only concocts an elaborate poisoning scheme for Ney, but Knowles the dope is still so in love with her that as a doctor he's also a natural suspect. He goes to trial and shields her. Knowles doesn't know about Marshall.

Ivy is a wonderful and moody Edwardian melodrama where the tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife. The cinematography is A+ in this film.

A key role is the methodical Scotland Yard Inspector Cedric Hardwicke who never bought Knowles as the guilty party. Hardwicke is almost Monk like in pursuit of the truth and justice.

The last 10 minutes or so contain some of Joan Fontaine's best work on the big screen as she realized the jig is up. All by herself with little or no dialog what a portrait of a woman trapped by her own deceit.

Ivy should be seen for that ending and for Cedric Hardwicke.

Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland were sisters - both beautiful, both with a very sweet quality. Yet Joan more than Olivia was given roles that called for a somewhat manipulative side.

Ivy from 1947 is Joan, gorgeous in Victorian costumes, playing Ivy, a married woman with a boyfriend on the side (Patric Knowles). She and her husband (Richard Ney) are broke and keeping up a pretense with their socieity friends.

Ivy wants money, and when she meets the elegant Miles Rushworth (Herbert Marshall), she decides he's the one for her. He is attracted to her, which is a help. One night, he kisses her, and then apologizes profusely for kissing a married woman. So Ivy will have to do something about that. Maybe she can get rid of the husband and the lover at the same time.

Really terrific film with a wonderful performance by Fontaine, who could be so demure and yet a viper underneath.

Sumptuous atmosphere and, as mentioned, costumes. It's an absorbing film.

I found this to be a very enjoyable melodrama.

The story is about how Joan Fontaine tries to rid herself of a husband and a lover in order to obtain a wealthy Englishman.

Solid performances by the supporting players are outstanding as is the lead performance of Joan Fontaine.

Also great were the costumes and the sets--very impressive and realistic, at least they looked that way to me.

I'm a sucker for these old black and white melodrama mysteries and I found this one to be one of the best ones.

This is one atmospheric and visually dazzling film. The ornate sets capture the mood to perfection, even if they aren't completely accurate. Kudos to the art director. Whoever designed Joan Fontaine's wardrobe also helped the mood, even if they were not historically accurate. Also praiseworthy is the cinematography, which is in stark black-and-white and makes perfect use of light and shadow. Indeed, the film's look in some ways reminds me of the later work of Josef Von Sternberg, while some of the night scenes are like a refined version of German Expressionism. If they had been supported by a great story, this could have been a classic. What they did use was a passable romantic drama which was only mildly interesting. Here, Joan Fontaine plays a Victorian Femme Fatale whose dullard husband doesn't make enough money to keep up with her spendthrift ways. She also has a lover on the side, a doctor whose possessiveness threatens to expose their affair to her husband. She thinks she's found the lavish life she wants when she meets a wealthy bachelor at a sporting event. She convinces him to hire her unemployed husband in the London office and then designs to seduce him. However, he can't bring himself to have an affair with a married woman. What's an unhappily married gold digger to do? Well, she turns Femme Fatale and schemes to get her husband and lover both out of the way, lying and manipulating in the style made familiar by Barbara Stanwick in "Double Indemnity." Interestingly, Joan Fontaine plays her as a mild, seemingly harmless woman, a performance she repeated in "Born To Be Bad" a few years later. Problem is that there are many slow parts and the interest lags, thanks to the talky script. Also hurting is the noisy musical score, which distracts from the mood and suspense. However, it's worthwhile for fans of older movies. I usually enjoyed it.

Poor Ivy: Though to the manner born, she had the bad luck to marry a charming wastrel (Richard Ney). As the movie is set in the 20s or 30s, when rigid Victorian ideas of class were starting to fray at the edges, this uncertain status vexes her unduly. The Gretorexes (for so they are called) don't know where their next shilling is coming from but there are yachting parties and fancy-dress balls in posh pleasaunces aplenty to tempt her. When Ivy (Joan Fontaine) makes the acquaintance of a wealthy older gent (Herbert Marshall, who must have been born middle-aged), she sets one of her extravant chapeaux for him. Luckily, one of the beaux she still strings along (Patric Knowles) is a physician whose consulting rooms provide a cache of poison, with which she bids her hubby farewell. The fact that it implicates Knowles doesn't phase her a bit, even as the hours trickle by until he should be hanged by the neck until dead. The turning of the plot depends on police inspector Sir Cedric Hardwicke; Knowles' mother (the redoubtable Lucile Watson); and Knowles' loyal housekeeper (Una O'Connor). Sam Wood adds some subtle touches to this well above average melodrama; Fontaine's luminous face supplies the rest.

Does anyone happen to know where this film was shot? The aviation scene on the cliff is beautiful. It appears to be England. However, Ivy's apartment building certainly looks like the Brill Building, with its fascinating elevators.

Charles Mendl is listed as playing "Sir Charles Gage". Maybe I blinked, but I never saw him. Perhaps he was the husband's lawyer, but, again, I don't recall that character being in the film, other than being mentioned as having made a phone call. Perhaps he was in the aviation scene? Or the ballroom scene? Did anyone spot him?

Herbert Marshall was 57 years old when he shot this film.

Joan Fontaine stars as the villain in this Victorian era film. She convincingly plays the married woman who has a lover on the side and also sets her sights on a wealthy man, Miles Rushworth who is played by Herbert Marshall. Mr. Marshall is quite good as Miles. Miss Fontaine acted her part to perfection--she was at the same time cunning, calculating, innocent looking, frightened and charming. It takes an actress with extraordinary talent to pull that off. Joan Fontaine looked absolutely gorgeous in the elegant costumes by Travis Banton. Also in the film is Joan's mother, Lillian Fontaine as Lady Flora. I highly recommend this film.

'Ivy' was originally intended to star Olivia de Havilland in the title role until the actress rejected it at the last moment over a contract dispute. Costumes were all ready and Joan Fontaine stepped in for her sister with rather moderate results. Under Sam Wood's direction, Fontaine never makes Ivy seem capable of the evil deeds. In other words, she's an interesting replacement but only partially successful, depending on a coy and flirtatious manner to carry the role. It seems too much a surface portrait of evil but Fontaine manages to be very fetching as a Victorian lady.

IVY is a beautiful woman unhappy with her marriage to a weak husband (Richard Ney). To improve her status she seeks the attention of a wealthy man (Herbert Marshall) and decides to rid herself of her husband by poisoning him. She also has a lover on the side (Patric Knowles) and isn't above framing him for the crime. Fontaine plays the character in a sly and cunning way but never convinces us that her wicked woman is more than a pose. Herbert Marshall--usually a very fine actor--but here trapped in a role for which he is too old and has neither the charisma nor the romantic charm the part requires.

Other performances in a largely British cast are excellent--Patric Knowles, Una O'Connor, Lucille Watson, Sir Cedric Hardwicke. Nice settings and interior art direction under the talented hand of William Cameron Menzies. A very effective opening with Ivy going to a fortune-teller (Una O'Connor) who sees only too well the future awaiting the heroine. A rather abrupt ending comes as somewhat of a surprise.

Summing up: a handsome and atmospheric Victorian melodrama flawed by miscasting, particularly Marshall (too old for the part) and Richard Ney, woefully wooden, as the poisoned husband. All the elements are here for suspenseful treatment, but Sam Wood's direction is too tepid and slow-paced to make this anything more than an average Victorian melodrama.

Loved Joan. Great performance. What isn't she good in. I watched this film and then Jane Eyre right after... she just keeps getting better. My heart was racing. Great old movie drama. Just what i want from a classic movie. Facial expressions are worth the whole film. I'm glad i have it on video. Don't know what more you need in a film. Beautiful woman....wealth..... greed.....murder....detectives......a trial.....

The costumes are very nice. Makes me wonder what the budget was for this movie? Wish they still made films like this. Whenever they try they just seem to make a cheesy movie. Films in black and white still hold a certain mystery.

An excellent period murder melodrama, with Fontaine effectively playing against her earlier naive wallflower type, in a role that reportedly Olivia DeHavilland turned down. That's fine, because Fontaine is wonderful. Scripted by Charles Bennett, who had written for Hitchcock in the thirties and also later penned the excellent script for the classic British horror film Night of the Demon. The opening scene, where Ivy visits a sinister fortune teller played by the wonderful Una O'Connor (the screecher of James Whale fame), is a tour de force, and the film maintains interest throughout the numerous sinister machinations. I hope to see this film on DVD someday, but despair of that ever happening, because it seems to be an undeservedly obscure film. Fortunately I got to see it on AMC some seven or eight years ago, but have not seen since. Catch it if you can!

A period melodrama with touches of noir and Hitchcock sounds mildly intriguing - and that's what this is; still you have to slog through the first 20-30 mins as the wheels get set-up before they start to turn. Ivy is a spendthrift wannabe aristocrat who enjoys the high life - but her devoted husband is down on his luck (and her more devoted lover is more interested in charity work) so she hunts a rich whale by inveigling herself into society and his circle. But her husband and lover won't let her go! What to do? Fontaine is the only reason to watch this movie as she plays the overly dramatic narcissistic blonde who looks like ice-cream wouldn't melt in her mouth but is all about manipulation, and is not above turning on her sexual charm (Fontaine manages to come on strong as hell) in order to get what she wants! This has a few artistic touches and the middle of the movie is strong - just the beginning is dull, and the ending a bit tagged on. A decent watch!

Miss Fontaine's spectacular gowns were by Travis Banton, not Orry-Kelly, as your credits indicate. A previous commenter mentions that Ivy takes place in the 20s or 30's! This film is most DEFINITELY set in Victorian London, long before the roaring twenties. In any case, this is a dazzling and fascinating film to watch. Fontaine gives a multifaceted performance, and is much better than her sister would have been in the role. Olivia would have given it her usual first ladyish, sexless, to-the-manner-born touch. Joan, however, lets you know that her hold on these men is highly sexual, although no part of her body below her neck is exposed, other than her hands. Hats off to Una O'Connor in her bit as the seer. She is truly eerie and terrifying.

Joan Fontaine has 2 men on the go when she decides to pursue a third – wealthy Herbert Marshall (Rushworth) who doesn't have either looks or age on his side. However, his bank account is most attractive. So, Joan has a problem because she is married to uninspiring Richard Ney (Jervis) and he completely loves her. No divorce on the horizon, there, I'm afraid. She also has a lover – doctor Patric Knowles (Roger). This is convenient because doctors have access to poisons. Do you get the idea?

This is a costume drama with a murder plot that Police Inspector Cedric Hardwicke (Orpington) is determined to solve. Fontaine is very good in the lead role and can carry the film on her facial expressions alone. There is a spooky fortune teller Una O'Connor (Matilda) who appears at the beginning of the film to give Fontaine a reading whilst accompanied by a piano playing little man to provide some atmosphere. It's an interesting set-up. Pity it doesn't happen today like that.

We have clandestine meetings, a grandfather clock that stops ticking, an expensive purse with a secret compartment and lots of glamour not to mention an abrupt ending that works quite well.

This B movie is highly overrated. Joan Fontaine was the poor relation of Olivia DeHaviland and starred in mostly B pictures; this is one of them. We are supposed to believe a woman is going to kill a tall, good looking young man she is married to, so she can be the plaything of a rich member of society played by the relatively unattractive Herbert Marshall; a man in his fifties. Now, if the roles were reversed, you might have had a believable plot. Plenty of women married to older, unattractive wealthy men (and even poor unattractive older men) might be up for a little homicide. But to go in the opposite direction? Please. No one I ever met or heard about. The film is dated with its codes of honor and such, and really not worth viewing even for its frozen soap content, unless you are desperate for soap.

In gaslight London, scheming young woman with both a husband and a secret lover sets her sights on a wealthy older man. According to a fortune teller, there's money to be had if she dumps the lover, but this presents a problem when the smitten man refuses to give her up. Tidy, well-wrought melodrama written by Charles Bennett from the book "The Story of Ivy" by Marie Belloc Lowndes offers Joan Fontaine another juicy role; she's quite good when juggling the affections of her three men, less so when she feigns grieving and takes to her bed. Universal production is stylish--perhaps too stylish. With little-to-no money, Fontaine's Ivy manages to dress exquisitely and mix with the cream of the crop. Of the male roles, Herbert Marshall's millionaire is the most interesting: a fair and decent man, he almost succumbs to Fontaine's charms but stops himself because "I've always believed the most despicable thing a man can do is make love to another man's wife." Director Sam Wood was a nominee at Cannes for Best Feature Film. **1/2 from ****

This is quite a showcase for Joan Fontaine, and she's at her seductive, scheming best, playing a woman with a stone cold heart beneath flirting eyes. She's wonderful from the beginning, when we see the close-ups of her and a fortune-teller (Una O'Connor). Ivy (Fontaine) is married but is unhappy with her husband's lack of success; she has a lover too, but is tired of him and his clinginess. Enter a third man, (Herbert Marshall), whose accomplishments and money are an aphrodisiac to her.

As Marshall was 57 and Fontaine just 30, they hardly seem like a couple, but her motivation makes the pairing a little more sensible. The trouble is, while he feels an attraction, he's less inclined to take up with her. After a kiss in the shadows, he says "I've always believed that the most despicable thing a man can do is make love to another man's wife," then excuses himself. This presents Ivy with a dilemma, but when an opportunity presents itself, she takes matters into her own hands.

The crime that gets committed is nicely sinister, but as it plays out, the pace gets more than a little methodical. The examination from doctors, police investigation, and courtroom scenes all lack sharpness, and drag on. When it was coming down the stretch, I felt myself checking out because an opportunity had been wasted. The ending was then moralistic and overly abrupt. Overall, it's pretty average, but one to see if you like Joan Fontaine.

Joan Fontaine here is entirely convincing as an amoral beauty who is entirely incapable of feeling love for anyone but herself. Her husband (Richard Ney) has lost all his money through a combination of his foolhardiness and her extravagance, and they are reduced to living in a tiny room, with little or no prospects. They continue to put on the most amazing clothes and go out and socialize as if nothing were wrong. He is a charming, feckless, but wholly amiable fellow. However, Fontaine decides he has to go, as he has outlived his usefulness. So she resolves to poison him when she realizes he does not want to divorce her, so that she can move on. She has meanwhile had a lover (Patric Knowles) whom she decides to drop because he is not rich either. She meets the aging Herbert Marshall, who has a yacht with all the trimmings and more money than even Fontaine could figure out how to spend. She targets him and decides he will do nicely. He is all too eager to be eaten up by the young beauty. He certainly isn't very exciting, and has about as much sex appeal as yesterday's omelette. But Fontaine is one of those gals who has eyes only for money, and the man standing between her and it is transparent, so that she doesn't even notice or care what he looks like, she looks through him and sees what she really wants and goes for it. She proceeds to poison her husband, and dispatches him very neatly and satisfactorily, so that everything is going well. But as always happens in the movies, and sometimes even in life, some unexpected things begin to go wrong, and the tension rises appreciably, so that Fontaine begins to sweat. Fontaine is particularly good at looking wicked and terrified, and as the net begins to close in on her, her rising sense of desperation is palpable and has us on the edges of our seats. Hysteria and fear take over from cool calculation and cunning. But she finds a fall guy for her crime in the person of her cast off lover, who is an innocent victim of her scheme to set him up. He is condemned to death for murder, because the husband's death by poison came to light unexpectedly. But Sir Cedric Hardwicke, playing a grimly determined Scotland yard inspector, thinks there may be something amiss, and begins to doubt the story and suspect Fontaine. He closes in on her, and some of the scenes as this happens are inspired portrayals of the wildest panic. But will the innocent man's life be saved before he is executed? Will Fontaine worm her way out of this one? Will Herbert Marshall protect her to safeguard his infatuation? This film is expertly directed by Sam Wood, and the film is a really superb suspense thriller which I suppose qualifies very well for the description of a superior film noir.

Very good acting. Very good story. Great attention to detail, and those details are carefully thought out and intelligent and actually well plausible. Interesting characters, quite a few of them, and each one developed judiciously to fulfill a role in the grander scheme of the movie.

Fontaine is beautiful as always but though very much her usual self here in a more haunting, dark role.

As the audience, we are captivated by the story, satisfied by its development; never a dull moment and each scene meaningful to the plot.

Finally, this is an interesting take on the human mind, infatuation and stubborn obsession and the depths in which those may take us.