Classic Film Review: Christopher Strong (1933)

Christopher Strong tells the story of a happily-married politician who falls in love with a famous flier, jeopardising his marriage and the happiness of all those around him. The title character is played by Colin Clive while Katharine Hepburn is Lady Cynthia Darrington, the woman who catches his eye in one of her earliest films. Lady Strong is played by Billie Burke while their daughter, Monica, is played by Helen Chandler. Rounding out the main cast is Ralph Forbes as Monica's married boyfriend Harry.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this film for me was understanding what Lady Cynthia saw in Sir Christopher Strong. His attraction to her is understandable but there is little about her feelings until later in the film. Arguably, Lady Cynthia is the most important character and deserves to be the title character. She is a record-breaking aviator who is very good at what she does. While Strong is a successful politician, yes, she seems above him in all senses of the word.

The supporting cast is good, especially Billie Burke. Intriguingly enough, the film doesn't dwell on the potential ramifications of Lady Strong finding out about the affair. She finds out fairly rapidly and her quiet reaction is heartbreaking to watch, along with a subsequent scene where she finds her husband listening desperately for news of Lady Cynthia's latest flight on the radio. Burke doesn't overplay these scenes when it would be very easy to do so and she shines all the better for it.

Unfortunately, parts of the dialogue melt into over-the-top declarations of feelings. Thankfully, these don't ruin the entire film but they do spoil parts of it. The best scenes for me are not the Hepburn/Clive ones but the ones where other people - Lady Strong, Monica - are involved.

The ending, though perhaps predictable, is well worth sticking around for. The montage scene of memories that Lady Cynthia dwells on during a flight is fairly innovative and effective for 1933. As one of Katharine Hepburn's early films, it signals the promise of what's to come and, if you ignore certain aspects, it's a very good analysis of infidelity, propriety and society. It also contains an attempt at a bedroom scene between the lovers - nobody is seen but the intention is very evident. Again, not bad for 1933.

Book Review: Mrs Robinson's Disgrace by Kate Summerscale

The subtitle of this book is 'The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady', which is the tool Summerscale uses to analyse one of the most interesting divorce cases heard in mid-Victorian period. Isabella Robinson met Edward Lane in 1850 and quickly began writing about him in her secret diary. She alternates between believing he feels the same way and thinking him cold-hearted until something irreversible seems to happen between. Then Isabella falls ill and her diary is read by her husband, Henry...

If it sounds like the plot of a sensation novel that's because it most likely inspired some. The details of the case were devoured by the press and, although they are less shocking to a modern reader, the type of information Isabella trusted to her diary is still surprising. Aside from her love for Edward, they also document her feelings for two other men and her distaste for her husband. Part of her defence rested upon the fact that to commit these thoughts - they contended they were fantasy - to paper was the sign of a deranged woman.

Summerscale approaches her subject with subtlety, utilising the diary entries to build up a picture of what happened before the trial. This is made especially difficult by the fact that the original diary and copies were destroyed. All she has to work with are the sections reported in the press and in the law digest which summarised the case in greater detail than the newspaper reports. With this in mind, the depth of Summerscale's analysis into Isabella and Edward's relationship is incredible. Equally, her writing style suits the subject, as it did The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (review here).

This is an enjoyable work of non-fiction and I won't give away the details for anyone unfamiliar with the trial. I will say that the Robinson and Lane families are interesting beyond the divorce trial and alleged affair. What Summerscale has created here, with the help of Isabella's diary, is a snapshot of a set of Victorian lives. The asides may seem irrelevant on occasion but they serve to build up an engrossing picture. When I'd finished reading I felt I was losing touch with a collection of friends.

Portraying the Cheater in First Person Narratives

It occurred to me recently that I have a preoccupation with deceit in my stories. This probably stems from my own trust issues but, certainly, the two full-length drafts I've completed have deceit and infidelity at the heart of them. So I began to think about the characters I've created and how they 'explain' their lies.

It's difficult for a start because none of the liars and adulterers are viewpoint characters. I tend to work from a singular first-person POV which leads to a very narrow perspective on the world. It's down to my protagonist to interpret the motives of the other characters and that can lead to misunderstandings galore. On the other hand, this narrow viewpoint allows the deceit to be continued - they can only comprehend what they see and what they are told about fellow characters.

In both stories my main character is the lover of a married woman. However, I know the motives of the women are quite different. The problem is conveying this to the reader.

Jude, for instance, is disillusioned with her marriage but content until she finds herself falling for someone else. The relationship between her and her husband is portrayed, but only through the secondary device of conversation about them and through the eyes of the protagonist. As Jude's motives in the story fall under suspicion, so the reader begins to doubt her feelings towards both her lover and her husband. By the end of the story I don't think I've redeemed her enough.

I like her. All the things beneath the surface that I'm aware of aren't coming through because of the viewpoint difficulty. Due to her history, when she says something the reader is unsure how to interpret her motives. This needs thinking out certainly. Much of the resolution comes from conversation but I think the old adage about seeing not telling needs to come into play. Perhaps the only way you can demonstrate love between two estranged characters is through action of some sort?

Marie, my other cheating wife, has motives which are much more complicated and don't just resolve around her emotions. As a result she is much easier to portray. There is no question towards the end of the novel whether she should be trusted as the reader has learned from her actions throughout. She feels less bland and more real than Jude does because I've let her show her true colours instead of insisting upon them in speech after speech.

In creating a cheater you have to clearly define their motives, whether it's love, lust, financial gain, manipulation or whatever. Very few people fall into affairs because they've got nothing better to do (though it's not impossible). If you can identify precisely why your character is risking their marriage (or even if they are at all, some marriages are more open than others) then you might be able to portray them more effectively.

As a secondary character in a first-person narrative it can be extremely difficult to show not tell. Alongside using the explicit telling and showing method don't forget to use foreshadowing, subtext, juxtaposition and various other techniques to influence how your reader is supposed to interpret the character.

In my own work it's clearly evident that while Jude is only on her second draft, Marie is on her fourth. That kind of character depth and understanding unfortunately only comes via revision for me.