The Constant Nymph

Released Jun 23, 1943

1h 46m

Drama

List

Reviews

66%

Audience Score

100+ Ratings

The daughter (Joan Fontaine) of a musical mentor adores a promising composer (Charles Boyer), who is quite fond of the adolescent. When her father dies, an uncle arrives with his own grown daughter (Alexis Smith), who begins a romance with the composer which culminates in marriage but creates an emotional rivalry that affects the three.

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Edgar Anstey

The Spectator

Yet, apart from a self-consciously boisterous opening, I found the film moving.

Oct 4, 2017

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

This Hollywood romantic drama is star Joan Fontaine's favorite of all her films.

Rated: B

Jun 30, 2014

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Michael Nordine

Not Coming to a Theater Near You

The Constant Nymph's most telling moments slip by rather than announce themselves.

Oct 14, 2011

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Joan Fontaine received her third and last Oscar nomination for this romantic melodrama, well played by Charles Boyer.

Rated: B-

Jun 10, 2011

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william d

I couldn't gin up any interest in the story or characters at all, and as much as I like Joan Fontaine the idea of her playing a teenage schoolgirl at age 26 is silly.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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steve d

Fontaine is great but the story is nothing special.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

'The Constant Nymph' tells the story of a delightful young girl (Joan Fontaine) who has a crush on an older man (Charles Boyer), a friend of her father's. Fontaine is fantastic, grabbing us from the start with infectious energy, and truly channeling what it is to be a teenager, despite being 26 years old at the time. Boyer turns in a strong performance as well, playing a headstrong composer of modern symphonies, which are short on melody and jarring. He marries a rich woman (Alexis Smith), and the two soon butt heads over social functions, as well as her jealousy over the special relationship he has with the young girl. Despite this relationship and all of the dreamy glances Fontaine casts in Boyer's direction, those who liken the film to Lolita are off-base. There is such purity and chasteness here, with Fontaine's character having a sense of honor against doing wrong, and Boyer's having no lascivious interest in her or her sisters at all. They are the polar opposites of Dolores Haze and Humbert Humbert, who between flirtation, predation, statutory rape, and ultimately, humiliation, have us cringing (though perhaps unable to look away). The title word here, 'nymph', should be considered simply as a young maiden, without the sexual connotations it's sometimes associated with. I really liked this innocence, it makes the story tug on the heartstrings all the more, and I also liked the civility and grace by which even the strongest and most personal feelings are expressed. The plot borders on melodrama but it's the strength of the performances that carry it for me. Fontaine was well worthy of her Oscar nomination, Boyer ranges from troubled artist to affectionate 'uncle', and Alexis Smith simmers visibly as she tries to control her feelings. It wanders dangerously close to cloying, but ultimately is just the right amount of sweet, and rather touching.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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s r

Too melodramatic for me. But the EU aspect to it was interesting.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Lovely romantic film with a wonderful performance by Joan Fontaine and sold support from Charles Boyer & Alexis Smith; Erich Wolfgang Korngold's score adds much character to this beautiful motion picture.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Impossible not to love this movie. A well deserved Oscar nomination for Joan Fontaine who gave an absolute brilliant and believable performance as a young girl in love with a man more than twice her age. I can say with complete confidence that a movie like this could never be duplicated today. A true Gem that will hit you hard.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Edmund Goulding

Director

Charles Boyer

Lewis Dodd

Joan Fontaine

Tessa Sanger

Alexis Smith

Florence Creighton

Charles Coburn

Charles Creighton

Brenda Marshall

Toni Sanger

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Synopsis

The daughter (Joan Fontaine) of a musical mentor adores a promising composer (Charles Boyer), who is quite fond of the adolescent. When her father dies, an uncle arrives with his own grown daughter (Alexis Smith), who begins a romance with the composer which culminates in marriage but creates an emotional rivalry that affects the three.

Director: Edmund Goulding
Producer: Jack L. Warner, Hal B. Wallis
Screenwriter: Kathryn Scola
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 23, 1943, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 28, 2016
Runtime: 1h 46m

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