Waterloo Bridge (1940)

During WWI, a ballet dancer (Vivien Leigh) and a solider (Robert Taylor) meet during an air raid and fall immediately in love But before they can be married, he is called away to the front and when his death is reported, she drifts into prostitution. Previously made in the pre-code days of 1931, this Mervyn LeRoy remake is still surprisingly frank regarding prostitution for 1940. It's hard not to like this tearjerker because it's so well done in the glossy grand MGM style of its day. Taylor, the only American in the cast, doesn't even attempt a British accent but he's quite engaging and reputedly it was his favorite role. The film belongs to Leigh, however, in her first film since GONE WITH THE WIND and who gives an excellent performance redeeming the often cliched script (based on the Robert E. Sherwood play). The pastiche score by Herbert Stothart incorporates Swan Lake and Auld Lang Syne as major themes in his underscore. With Virginia Field, very good as Leigh's best friend and Maria Ouspenskaya, Lucile Watson, C. Aubrey Smith, Norma Varden and Ethel Griffies, who was in the 1931 film version.