The Blue Veil (1951 film)

For the French film, see The Blue Veil (1942 film).

The Blue Veil is a 1951 American historical drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Jane Wyman, Charles Laughton and Joan Blondell. It tells the story of a woman who spends her life caring for other people’s children, beginning just after World War I. The title refers to the headdresses once worn by governesses and nannies, colored blue to distinguish them from the white veils worn by medical nurses. The screenplay by Norman Corwin is based on a story by François Campaux, adapted for the French-language film Le Voile Bleu in 1942.

The Blue Veil
1951 theatrical poster
Directed by	Curtis Bernhardt
Written by	Norman Corwin Based on a story by François Campaux
Produced by	Jerry Wald Norman Krasna
Starring	Jane Wyman Charles Laughton Joan Blondell
Cinematography	Franz Planer
Edited by	George Amy
Music by	Franz Waxman
Production company	Wald/Krasna Productions
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release dates	September 5, 1951 (1951-09-05) (Premiere-Los Angeles) October 26, 1951 (1951-10-26) (US)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$3,550,000

Plot

Following the death of her newborn baby, war widow LouLou Mason accepts a temporary two-week assignment as nursemaid to the infant son of corset manufacturer Frederick K. Begley, who lost his wife in childbirth. She ingratiates herself with the family and eventually becomes a permanent fixture. When she declines Frederick's proposal, he marries his secretary Alicia Torgersen, who fires LouLou following her honeymoon.

LouLou finds employment with wealthy Henry and Fleur Palfrey and begins to care for baby Robbie. Older son Harrison is expelled from boarding school due to poor grades and bad behavior and returns home with his tutor, Jerry Kean. When Jerry is offered a job in Beirut, he impulsively proposes to LouLou, who accepts. While waiting for his fiancée to pack, Jerry speaks to Fleur, who warns him about marrying a woman he barely knows. Having second thoughts, he suggests he and LouLou wait a few months before marrying, and she remains with the Palfreys.

Years pass, and LouLou is nursemaid to Stephanie, the twelve-year-old daughter of fading musical actress Annie Rawlins. When Annie is delayed at an audition and misses Stephanie's confirmation, the girl tells her friends that LouLou is her mother. Realizing the girl has become too attached to her, Loulou decides to find work elsewhere.

Just prior to the start of World War II, LouLou accepts a job with Helen and Hugh Williams. Hugh joins the military and is injured in battle, prompting his wife to join him in England. Two years pass, and the widowed Helen, who still has not returned home, stops sending money to support her son Tony. LouLou accepts responsibility for the boy and raises him as her own. Years later, when Helen notifies her that she is returning with her new husband, LouLou flees to Florida with Tony, but is arrested and charged with kidnapping. Although he is sympathetic to LouLou's situation, the district attorney is compelled by law to return Tony to Helen.

Now too old to be entrusted with the care of a baby, LouLou accepts a janitorial job in an elementary school in order to be close to children. When she visits an ophthalmologist, she discovers he is Robbie Palfrey, the now adult son of her former employers. Robbie invites her to his home for dinner the following week and arranges for all the children for whom she cared to be there with their spouses. As LouLou catches up with her former charges, Robbie announces he wants her to be the nanny for his own children.

Cast

• Jane Wyman as LouLou Mason
• Charles Laughton as Frederick K. Begley
• Joan Blondell as Annie Rawlins
• Richard Carlson as Jerry Kean
• Agnes Moorehead as Fleur Palfrey
• Carleton G. Young as Henry Palfrey
• Audrey Totter as Helen Williams
• Cyril Cusack as Frank Hutchins
• Natalie Wood as Stephanie Rawlins
• Vivian Vance as Alicia Torgersen
• Dan O'Herlihy as Hugh Williams
• Don Taylor as Dr. Robert Palfrey
• Everett Sloane as District Attorney
• Alan Napier as Prof. George Carter
• Lisa Golm as Elsa

Critical reception

Bosley Crowther of the New York Times called the film "a whoppingly banal tear-jerker [that] will lure multitudes of moviegoers who like nothing better than a good cry." He added, "Mr. Corwin's scenario, under Curtis Bernhardt's soupy direction, stretches Miss Wyman's situation...into a series of parchedly sunlit episodes, contrived to squeeze the heart and present this lady as a quivering-lipped saint. There is little in the way of wit, grit or, for that matter, real substance...Miss Wyman..has little to do herself except to age daintily. She exercises reasonable restraint but persevering sweetness with an iron halo in a grating two-hour gamut. And since Miss Wyman, like the rest of The Blue Veil, is so far removed from flesh and blood, we can only leave her and it to heaven."

Variety noted "Curtis Bernhardt's direction handles the drama surely, if at times a bit measured, and never strives for dramatic tricks beyond the level of the simple, warm story being told."

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
Academy Awards	Best Actress	Jane Wyman	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Joan Blondell	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama	Jane Wyman	Won
Laurel Awards	Best Female Dramatic Performance		Won
Picturegoer Awards	Best Actress		Won

Box office

The film earned $2.2 million in rentals in the U.S. and Canada during 1951 and total rentals of $3,550,000, making a profit of $450,000.

In May 1952 it was reported the film had returned net earnings to Wald and Krasna of $800,000.

Radio adaptation

The Blue Veil was presented on Lux Radio Theatre November 24, 1952. The one-hour adaptation starred Wyman in her screen role.

External links

• The Blue Veil at IMDb 
• The Blue Veil at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Blue Veil at the TCM Movie Database
• The Blue Veil at AllMovie
• The Blue Veil at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Blue Veil at TV Guide (1987 review originally was published in The Motion Picture Guide)