Escape Me Never. 1947. USA. Directed by Peter Godfrey. Screenplay by Thames Williamson, from a novel by Margaret Kennedy. With Errol Flynn, Ida Lupino, Eleanor Parker, Gig Young, Reginald Denny. 35mm. 104 min.
Based on a 1930 novel by Margaret Kennedy (The Constant Nymph), Peter Godfrey’s 1947 film seems a bit out of its time: postwar cynicism was hardly the right context for this wistful, romantic melodrama set in a vague, 19th-century past. The characters could have come straight out of a Frank Borzage silent: an Italian street urchin (Ida Lupino) and a British heiress (Eleanor Parker) compete for the love of a selfish, irresponsible, thoroughly charming composer (Flynn, of course). But the magic doesn’t happen under Peter Godfrey’s journeyman direction, despite the best efforts of the cast. A big asset here is the score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, which goes a long way toward establishing Flynn’s talent.