Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman may be best known for films like Casablanca (1942) and the Hitchcock movies Spellbound (1945) and Notorious (1946) — or maybe for being the mother of Isabella Rossellini! But Bergman (like her daughter) also made a fair number of fabulous frock flicks, mostly Victorian and Edwardian, but always showcasing her dedication to craft and luminous vitality.
Emilie Gallatin in Adam Had Four Sons (1941)
She plays a French governess around the 1900s.
Ivy Pearson in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
With Spencer Tracy as the deadly doctor.
Paula Alquist in Gaslight (1944)
The terrifying psychological thriller.
Clio Dulaine in Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Elaborate costumes in a poorly reviewed flick.
Joan of Arc in Joan of Arc (1948)
Bergman’s passion project.
Lady Henrietta Flusky in Under Capricorn (1949)
A Hitchcock melodrama set in the 1830s.
Elena Sokorowska in Elena and Her Men (1956)
Set in pre-WWI Paris, this film is often considered Bergman’s finest performance.
Anna Koreff in Anastasia (1956)
Playing the supposed survivor of the executed Romanov family, 10 years after the Russian Revolution.
Gladys Aylward in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)
A highly fictionalized biopic of a British missionary to China in the 1930s.
Hedda Gabler in Hedda Gabler (1962)
A TV movie version of Ibsen’s play set in the 1890s.
Greta in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
The first big-screen version of Agatha Christie’s 1930s Poirot mystery.
Golda Meir in A Woman Called Golda (1982)
A TV biopic of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
What’s your favorite of Ingrid Bergman’s historical costume movies and TV shows?
Anastasia with both the legendary Helen Hayes as Marie Feodorovna and the incredibly sexy Yul Brynner as her Svengali/love interest. Ms Bergman won her second Oscar for the role. My second are A Woman Called Golda and Elena and Her Men.
I haven’t seen most of these. Something to remedy! So I guess by default that makes Joan of Arc my favorite historical Ingrid Bergman flick. But my favorite overall IB flick is Casablanca. :-)
The ball gown in Gaslight is a GOAT.
Gaslight freaks me out. I find it so hard to watch. (I know it doesn’t count, but Casablanca . . .<3)
Gaslight still gives me chills. I love Anastasia, probably because of Yul Brynner and my fascination with the Romanovs. And despite it’s faults I also enjoy Saratoga Trunk.
Gaslight is a terrifying move. With fab frocks of course. This post makes me want to search for ‘”Ellen and Her Men” which was released in the English speaking world as “Paris Does Strange Things” with the by-line “The only thing gayer than April in Paris is Bergman in Paris”….
And yes, although not a frock-flick, another sigh for Casablanca…speaking of which Claude Rains well deserves a Man Candy Monday….
“Gaslight,” although admittedly not an appropriate movie to watch late at night–but I love both Bergman AND Boyer.
The amazing thing about Bergman is how she can be exactly as beautiful as the role requires. If the script calls for plain, she’s plain. If it calls for gorgeous and glamorous she delivers. As an actress her range was astonishing.
Under Capricorn is probably Hitchcock’s most forgotten film but I really enjoy it. The technicolor is gorgeous, too.