The Woman in White (1948 film)

The Woman in White
The Woman in White
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Godfrey
Screenplay by	Stephen Morehouse Avery
Based on	The Woman in White; 1860 novel; by Wilkie Collins
Produced by	Henry Blanke
Starring	Alexis Smith; Eleanor Parker; Sydney Greenstreet; Gig Young
Cinematography	Carl E. Guthrie
Edited by	Clarence Kolster
Music by	Max Steiner
Production; company	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	May 7, 1948 (premiere–New York); May 15, 1948 (wide–United States);
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Woman in White is a 1948 American

Victorian England.^[1]

Plot

Walking late one night, Walter Hartright (

John Abbott

). He also meets a guest who has just arrived, Count Fosco. He is immediately suspicious of Fosco.

John Abbott (right) as the eccentric and mentally unbalanced Fairlie", noted Picturegoer magazine^[2]

The next morning, he meets the wealthy Laura. He is stunned to see a strong resemblance to the woman in white, so much that he mistakes her for the other woman. When told the story about the mysterious woman he encountered, Marian sets out to investigate. She discovers an old letter written by Laura's mother about a distant cousin who looked much like Laura, named Anne Catherick, who came to visit one summer. Fosco steals this letter.

Laura is engaged to Sir Percival Glyde (John Emery), who comes to visit. That evening Walter meets the woman in white, Anne, crying in the garden. She says she wants to warn Laura about something, but she suddenly disappears. Walter confronts Fosco and Glyde with what Laura has told him – that they are forcing Frederick to allow Glyde to marry Laura for her fortune. Fosco and Glyde deny the charges and Marian doesn't believe him. Walter leaves Limmeridge House. Laura marries Glyde. A few months later, Marian comes back to Limmeridge House only to find all the old servants gone and new servants employed. Fosco and his wife, Countess Fosco (Agnes Moorehead) have moved in.

Fosco and Glyde find Anne (the woman in white) who suddenly dies in front of Laura and the countess. They then fool everyone into thinking that Laura has died. Walter attends the funeral, but he realizes at once that it's Anne who is dead. He believes Laura is locked in the same asylum Anne had been. Fosco is attempting to drive Laura mad, but she escapes. She is found by Glyde, but Walter saves her, and in the scuffle, Glyde dies.

Marian wants Fosco to stop hurting Laura, as he was hypnotizing her to believe she is Anne. Marian goes to him with a bargain: if he signs a confession, and stops bothering Laura, Marian will leave the country with him. Fosco tells Marian the truth: his wife, the countess, is Fredrick's sister who had Anne out of wedlock. Fosco helped cover it up and he married the countess soon after. A year later Laura's mother had Laura.

Fosco gives some jewels that belonged to the countess, who is listening in, to Marian, and the countess further overhears that he is leaving with Marian. The countess retrieves a long dagger and stabs him to death. The police arrive just as Fosco dies and the countess retrieves the emerald necklace Fosco tormented her with. Walter narrates the ending with his marriage to Marian and the birth of a daughter. They are living with Laura and her son, and the Countess Fosco, Anne's mother, is living in the renovated asylum, along with her emerald necklace.