MADAME CURIE
1943

M-G-M Studios bought the rights to film "Madame Curie" with Greta Garbo in mind, but Garbo left the studio in 1941 as the world was plunged into the grips of World War II. The studio now worried that wartime audiences would find this story rather drab. But the casting of the magical screen team of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon guaranteed its success. Both Garson and Pidgeon received Academy Award nominations for their performances.

This picture illustrates everything wonderful about the confidence, expertise and narrative power of Hollywood films near the end of the classic period: it is entertaining, intelligent and carefully made in every department. A smooth celebration of scientific theory and of the romantic partnership of two scientists. And a noteably accurate telling of the story.

PLOT
A biographical story of the famous scientist and the work she did with her husband Pierre in the discovery of radium. Marie was a student at the Sorbonne studying for her Master's degree in physics when they first met. She received permission to use space in Professor Pierre Curie's laboratory. They soon fell in love and were married, working together on trying to isolate a radioactive substance Marie identified as radium. Years of painstaking research and experimentation led to success and Marie and Pierre Curie shared the Nobel Prize in Physics. Sadly, Pierre was killed crossing the street in the rain when he was run over by a horse and wagon. Marie continued to work and make major contributions to science.

CAST
Greer Garson ... Marie Curie
Walter Pidgeon ... Pierre  Curie
Henry Travers ... Eugene Curie
Albert Bassermann ... Professor Jean Perot
Robert Walker ... David Le Gros
C. Aubrey Smith ... Lord Kelvin
Dame May Whitty ... Madame Eugene Curie
Victor Francen ... President of University
Elsa Bassermann ... Madame Perot
Reginald Owen ... Dr. Becquerel
Van Johnson ... Reporter
Margaret O'Brien ... Irene Curie  - Age 5
James Hilton ... Narration Spoken By (voice)

Director: Mervyn LeRoy, Albert Lewin (uncredited)

RUNNING TIME: 124 minutes