The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987) on Netflix
In 1950s Dublin, Judith Hearne, a middle-aged spinster, gives piano lessons and moves into a rooming house. There she is drawn to James Madden, the landlady's widowed brother, back from America.
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Trailer
Plot summary
Judith Hearne, unmarried and past her youth, comes from a respectable Dublin family that has come down in the world. She looked after a bossy aunt through her younger years, and she now gives piano lessons on her own, with pupils drifting away. She moves into a boarding house and meets James Madden, the widowed brother of the landlady, newly returned from the United States. Judith finds herself drawn to him and hopes for a romance. Madden notices the jewelry she inherited and believes she is comfortably off, and he thinks she might invest in a business he hopes to open.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- To get the film made, director Jack Clayton and stars Maggie Smith and Bob Hoskins each took a third of their normal salary. Clayton said that after 25 years he understood perfectly well why it had not been made.
- The Cannon Group told Virgin Film Distributors it would not screen the film in its cinemas over a dispute with HandMade Films, which Cannon said owed it £1.6 million. The UK release was postponed indefinitely, and only the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle upon Tyne went ahead with its planned three-week run from 21 November 1988.
- Several attempts were made to film the novel before this one. John Huston wanted Katharine Hepburn to star for Seven Arts Productions but could not raise the money, and Daniel Petrie tried with Rachel Roberts while Irvin Kershner planned to cast Deborah Kerr in 1969.
- In 1982 producer-writer Peter Nelson, who held the rights, tried to make the film with Shirley Maclaine and director Mike Nichols; Nichols dropped out after Nelson objected to his plan to move the story from Ireland to Boston.
- In the 1970s producer Jack Levin planned a version from a Brian Friel script with Anne Bancroft and Robert Shaw, but Bancroft dropped out and Vanessa Redgrave was to star instead. No film was made.
- The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne was Jack Clayton's first British film in twenty years and his final cinema feature.
