The Blue Veil
Cast & Crew
Curtis Bernhardt
Jane Wyman
Charles Laughton
Joan Blondell
Richard Carlson
Agnes Moorehead
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In a New York City hospital, just after World War I, Louise "LouLou" Mason learns that her newborn son has died suddenly. Later, LouLou, a war widow, seeks help from an employment agency and reluctantly accepts a temporary job as a nursemaid. Her new boss, corset manufacturer Frederick K. Begley, who lost his wife in childbirth, admits to LouLou that he has found it difficult to love his infant son, Fred, Jr. LouLou quickly ingratiates herself with the Begleys and stays on well past the agreed-upon two-week period. Eventually, the lonely Fred proposes to LouLou, but she gently turns him down, stating that her first duty is to his son. Fred then marries Alicia Torgersen, his secretary, and after their honeymoon, Alicia lets LouLou go. Some time later, LouLou is asked by her new employers, the wealthy Henry and Fleur Palfrey, to meet their eldest son Harrison and his tutor, Jerry Kean, at the train station. Jerry soon tames Harrison, who has been sent home from boarding school because of poor grades and unruly behavior, and impresses LouLou. One day, Jerry learns that he has been offered a job in Beirut and, after attending a farewell party with LouLou in New Haven, impulsively proposes. LouLou accepts and rushes back to the Palfreys to pack and say goodbye to Harrison's young brother Robbie. While waiting for LouLou, Jerry speaks with Fleur, who warns him about marrying in haste. Although Jerry insists he loves LouLou deeply, Fleur plants seeds of doubt in his mind, and on the train to Washington, D.C., Jerry begins to question the wisdom of his decision. Guilt-ridden about leaving Robbie, LouLou gives in to her own apprehensions, and after the two agree to wait a few months, she returns to the Palfreys. Years later, LouLou is nursemaid to Stephanie Rawlins, the twelve-year-old daughter of aging entertainer Annie Rawlins. On the eve of Stephanie's confirmation, Annie learns that she has been replaced in her current show by a younger actress, but has a chance to tour in another play. Although Annie promises Stephanie that she will be done with her audition before the confirmation, she is delayed. Annie is cast, but misses the ceremony, and outside the church, a disappointed Stephanie tells her friends that LouLou is her mother. That afternoon LouLou sadly informs Annie that she is quitting because Stephanie has become too attached to her. Heeding LouLou's advice to spend more time with her daughter, Annie turns down the role, but Stephanie is heartbroken over LouLou's departure. Some years later, on the eve of World War II, LouLou accepts a job caring for the infant of a young couple, Helen and Hugh Williams. An unenthusiastic parent, Helen panics at the thought of the English Hugh joining the military, and when he later is injured in battle, she heads for England, leaving her son Tony in LouLou's care. After two years, Helen, now a widow, still has not returned and has stopped sending money to LouLou. Despite the financial hardship, LouLou continues to care for Tony. Years pass without word from Helen, and LouLou and Tony bond as mother and son. One day, however, LouLou receives a letter from Helen, informing her that she has remarried and is returning to New York to reclaim Tony. Not wanting to give up Tony, LouLou flees to Florida with him, but is soon apprehended. Faced with kidnapping charges, LouLou defends her actions to the district attorney. Though highly critical of Helen and her new husband, the district attorney is compelled by law to return Tony to his natural mother. LouLou's sorrow is then compounded when she learns that her oldest friend, the Scottish Frank Hutchins, who had just proposed to her, has died. When the now elderly, impoverished LouLou returns to the employment agency, she is told that she is too old to be a nanny but takes a janitorial job in an elementary school to be near children. Troubled by poor eyesight, LouLou visits an ophthalmologist, who turns out to be the now-grown Robbie Palfrey. After LouLou proudly shows Robbie photographs of all her "children," Robbie invites her for dinner the following week. To LouLou's surprise and delight, Robbie has also invited her former charges and their spouses. As LouLou reacquaints herself, Robbie introduces her to his two small children and tells her that she will be their new nanny.
Director
Curtis Bernhardt
Cast
Jane Wyman
Charles Laughton
Joan Blondell
Richard Carlson
Agnes Moorehead
Don Taylor
Audrey Totter
Cyril Cusack
Everett Sloane
Natalie Wood
Warner Anderson
Alan Napier
Henry Morgan
Vivian Vance
Les Tremayne
John Ridgely
Dan O'herlihy
Carleton G. Young
Dan Seymour
Lisa Golm
Frank Gerstle
Edith Leslie
Sylvia Simms
Joy Hallward
Genevieve Bell
Gregory Marshall
Gary Jackson
James Anderson
Lovyss Bradley
Frank O'connor
Muriel Maddox
Lillian Albertson
Jimmy Hunt
Jim Hawkins
Sammy Shack
Kathryn Sheldon
Mira Mckinney
James Griffith
Jack Chefe
Lewis Martin
Dee Pollack
Roberta Lee
Athalie Daniell
Ruth Packard
Jo Gilbert
Pat Joiner
Mack Williams
Richard Reeves
Miles Shepard
Irene Vernon
Karen Norris
Bob Nichols
Richard Norris
Jane Liddell
Ann Moore
Harry Strang
Torben Meyer
Hazel Keener
Kenneth Harmon
Kristine Harmon
Charles Anthony
Patrick Michael Mcdonald
Jean Blackford
Crew
Acuno
George L. Amy
Milo Anderson
C. Bakaleinikoff
Busby Berkeley
Carroll Clark
Norman Corwin
Albert S. D'agostino
Edward Donahue
Robert De Grasse
Raymond Hakim
Billy Higgins
Norman Krasna
Sam Ledner
John Miehle
Al Orenbach
W. Benton Overstreet
Frank Planer
Clem Portman
Darrell Silvera
Jean L. Speak
Bobby Troup
Jerry Wald
Franz Waxman
Perc Westmore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actress
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film opens with the following written quotation: "'Who raises a child of his own flesh lives with nature; who raises a child of another's lives with God.' Meritas." No information about the source of this quotation has been found. The term "blue veil" refers to a traditional ornament worn by governesses. The Blue Veil was a remake of the 1942 French film Le voile bleu, which was directed by Jean Stelli and starred Gaby Morlay. Le voile bleu was released in the U.S. in late 1947 under the title The Blue Veil.
Hollywood Reporter news items and production charts, and studio publicity material, contained in the file on the film at the AMPAS Library, add the following information about the production: In November 1950, RKO announced that it was planning to produce the picture in France, but ultimately shot the film in Hollywood. English actor Robert Newton was announced as one of the film's stars in late March 1951, but he did not appear in the completed picture. Martha Scott, who had starred in a handful of films in the 1940s before focusing on a New York stage career, also was to appear. Katharine Locke is listed as a cast member in early production charts, but her appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. RKO borrowed Jane Wyman from Warner Bros. for the production. The film's confirmation scene was shot at the All Saint's Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA, and featured the church's Youth Choir. Although publicity material states that the church's rector, Dr. John F. Scott, appeared as himself, the CBCS lists Lewis Martin as the "archbishop," the film's only church official role. Scott's appearance in the final film has not been confirmed.
The San Marino, CA, estate of Mrs. E. B. Holladay, the sister of railroad magnate Henry Huntington, was used for the "Palfrey" home. Wyman and Joan Blondell received Academy Award nominations for their performances. The Blue Veil marked the feature film debut of popular radio actor Les Tremayne (1913-2003). In addition to continued work on radio, Tremayne acted in dozens of films and television programs for several decades, appearing both onscreen and as an offscreen narrator. According to modern sources, the picture made $450,000 in profits. On November 24, 1952, Wyman reprised her role in a Lux Radio Theatre version of the story. In the radio broadcast, Gloria Blondell, Joan Blondell's sister, played "Annie," the role portrayed by Joan in the film.
