History Film / TheConstantNymph

* IllGirl: Severe stitches hurt Tessa, and she often faints due to heart problems. In her boarding school, she's not allowed to play hockey because of her condition. [[spoiler: This foreshadows her eventual death.]]

* HornedHairdo: Florence wears very severe looking victory rolls.

''The Constant Nymph'' (1943) is a Creator/WarnerBros romantic drama from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood starring Creator/JoanFontaine, Creator/CharlesBoyer, Alexis Smith, and includes a small role for Creator/PeterLorre as Fritz.

Tragedy strikes when Albert dies, and Lewis writes to the girls’ rich English relatives, the Creightons. Charles Creighton (their uncle, played by Charles Coburn), and his daughter, Florence (Smith), come to handle the affairs and take the girls back to London. In those few weeks, [[LoveAtFirstSight Lewis falls in love with Florence, and she with him]], causing much pain to Tessa.

Joan Fontaine considered ''The Constant Nymph'' one of her best performances, alongside ''Film/LetterFromAnUnknownWoman'' which is something of a companion piece to this film, as they share many similarities. This film also gave Fontaine her third and final Academy nomination for Best Actress.

* SpiritedYoungLady: All the Sanger girls fit this trope, but are a bit rougher around the edges; they aren’t quite so ladylike.

''The Constant Nymph'' (1943) is a Creator/WarnerBros romantic drama from TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood starring Creator/JoanFontaine, Creator/CharlesBoyer, Alexis Smith, and includes a small role for Creator/PeterLorre as Fritz.

* DawnsonCasting: Joan Fontaine -- who turned 26 the year of the film's release -- plays the 14-year-old Tessa.

''The Constant Nymph'' (1943) is a Creator/WarnerBros romantic drama from TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood starring Creator/JoanFontaine, Creator/CharlesBoyer, Alexis Smith, and includes a small role for Creator/PeterLorre, as Fritz.

Lewis Dodd (Boyer) is a failed composer, and after a negative review, he goes to heal his wounds by visiting his friend and musical mentor, Albert Sanger. His home is located in the Swiss Alps, and with him are his daughters to keep him company. These include: Paula (Joyce Reynolds), Tessa (Fontaine), and Toni (Brenda Marshall). They all love Lewis very much, but Tessa has a special place for him in her heart even though she’s only 14 years old. Lewis, in turn, treats her like he should, as a young girl.

Joan Fontaine considered ''The Constant Nymph'' one of her best performances, alongside ''Film/LetterFromAnUnknownWoman'' which is something of a companion piece to this film, as they share many similarities. This film also gave Fontaine her third Academy nomination for Best Actress.

''The Constant Nymph'' (1943) is a Creator/WarnerBros romantic drama from TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood starring Creator/JoanFontaine, Charles Boyer, Alexis Smith, and includes a small role for Creator/PeterLorre, as Fritz.

Joan considered ''The Constant Nymph'' one of her best performances, alongside ''Film/LetterFromAnUnknownWoman'' which is something of a companion piece to this film, as they share many similarities. This film also gave Fontaine her third Academy nomination for Best Actress.

* DownerEnding: Someone dies. [[spoiler: Tessa dies while hearing Lewis’ symphony, ''Tomorrow'', because he hadnt found truw feeling and has been pray to Florence’s influence. Now that Tessa has died, he can create something meaningful. The films ends with the {{Anvilicious}} shot of a fire growing and growing to prove this notion.]]

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Tessa fits this trope perfectly. She shows some immaturity at times, but when it comes to her love for Lewis, she’s very intuitive. [[spoiler: She even knows that she must try and control herself because he’s married, and is greatly offended when Florence implies that she has “impure” (read: sexual) feelings for Lewis.]]

All things come to a head with Lewis' new musical piece, and since Tessa knows a lot about music, she understands that Lewis needs to find a melodic line in order to be truly great; feeling real pain is the only way he can achieve this. Much to the chagrin of Florence, Lewis follows Tessa’s advice over her own; and so begins an ugly competition.

Lewis Dodd (Boyer) is a failed composer, and after a negative review, he goes to heal his wounds by visiting his friend and musical mentor, Albert Sanger. His home is located in the Swiss Alps, and with him are his daughters to keep him company. These include: Paula (Joyce Reynolds), Tessa (Fontaine), and Toni (Brenda Marshall). They all love Lewis very much, but Tessa has a special place for him her heart even though she’s only 14 years old. Lewis, in turn, treats her like he should, as a young girl.

Tragedy strikes when Albert dies, and Lewis decides to write to the girls’ rich English relatives, the Creightons. Charles Creighton (their uncle, played by Charles Coburn), and his daughter, Florence (Smith), come to handle their affairs and take the girls back to London. In those few weeks, [[LoveAtFirstSight Lewis falls in love with Florence, and she with him]], causing much pain to Tessa.

Both Paula and Tessa are put in an English boarding school—eventually, running away from it--, and Florence has grown to resent the affection Lewis has for the girls, especially when she notices Tessa's deep attachment to Lewis.

[[caption-width-right:350:Ah, good ol' Hollywood expects us to believe Joan [[DawsonCasting looks 14...]]]]

* IllGirl: Severe stitches hurt Tessa, and she often faints due to heart problems. In her boarding school, she's not allowed to play hockey because of her condition. [[spoiler: This {{Foreshadowing| foreshadows}} her eventual death.]]

* DeathByDespair: [[When Tessa realizes that Lewis’ piece has no melodic line, and therefore, hasn’t learned to feel.]]

All things come to a head with Lewis' new musical piece, and since Tessa knows a lot about music, she understands that Lewis needs to find a melodic line in order to be truly great; feel real pain in order to write something worthy of his talents. Much to the chagrin of Florence, Lewis follows Tessa’s advice over her own; and so begins an ugly competition.

* DownerEnding: Someone dies. [[spoiler: Tessa dies while hearing Lewis’ symphony, ''Tomorrow'', since he doesn’t find that melodic line, not having suffered enough, and fallen to Florence’s influence. Now that Tessa has died, he create something meaningful. The films ends with the {{Anvilicious}} shot of a fire growing and growing.]]

* IllGirl: Severe stitches hurt Tessa, and she often faints due to heart problems. They don’t let her play hockey in the English boarding school because of this. [[spoiler: This {{Foreshadowing| foreshadows}} her eventual death.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Two examples: first, after Tessa makes her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Lewis, [[spoiler: she tells him that they can’t be together because of his marriage, even though they both know they love each other very much.]] And a surprising change from Florence, [[spoiler: who realizes that Tessa’s love is true, and that she wants Lewis to find happiness, even if that means being with someone else.]] Unfortunately, this reconciliation comes all too late.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Thinking that she could enter Lewis’ cloud of "misunderstood artist", Florence thinks she can change him, and make him more like her. Lewis, likewise, believes that Florence will understand him.

* LongingLook: Tessa gives countless to Lewis. He doesn’t notice them at all.

Lewis Dodd (Boyer) is a failed composer, and after a negative review, he goes to heal his wounds by visiting his friend and musical mentor, Albert Sanger. His home is located in the Swiss Alps, and with him are his daughters to keep him company. These include: Paula (Joyce Reynolds), Tessa, (Fontaine), and Toni (Brenda Marshall). They all love Lewis very much, but Tessa has a special place for him her heart even though she’s only 14 years old. Lewis, in turn, treats her like he should, as a young girl.

Paula and Tessa are in an English boarding school which they hate—eventually, running away from it--, and Florence has grown to resent the affection which Lewis has for the girls, especially when she starts to notice that Tessa has a deep attachment to Lewis.

All things come to a head when Lewis begins to write a new musical piece, and since Tessa knows a lot about music, she knows that he needs to find a melodic line, feel real pain in order to write something great. Much to the chagrin of Florence, Lewis follows Tessa’s advice over her own; and so begins an ugly competition.

''The Constant Nymph'' (1943) is a Creator/WarnerBros Romantic Drama from TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood starring Creator/JoanFontaine, Charles Boyer, Alexis Smith, and includes a small role for Creator/PeterLorre, as Fritz.

Tragedy strikes when Albert dies, and Lewis decides to write to the girls’ rich English relatives, the Creightons. Charles Creighton (their uncle, played by Charles Coburn), and his daughter, Florence (Alexis Smith), come to handle their affairs and take the girls back to London. In those few weeks, [[LoveAtFirstSight Lewis falls in love with Florence, and she with him]], causing much pain to Tessa.

* AtTheOperaTonight: ‘’Tomorrow’’, Lewis’ symphony, plays in a London opera house.

* DownerEnding: Someone dies. [[spoiler: Tessa dies while hearing Lewis’ symphony, ‘’Tomorrow’’, since he doesn’t find that melodic line, not having suffered enough, and fallen to Florence’s influence. Now that Tessa has died, he create something meaningful. The films ends with the {{Anvilicious}} shot of a fire growing and growing.]]

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Thinking that she could enter Lewis’ cloud of “misunderstood artist”, Florence thinks she can change him, and make him more like her. Lewis, likewise, believes that Florence will understand him.

''The Constant Nymph'' (1943) is a Creator/WarnerBros Romantic Drama from TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood starring Creator/JoanFontaine, Charles Boyer, Alexis Smith, and includes a small role for Creator/PeterLorre.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Two examples: first, after Tessa makes her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Lewis, [[spoiler: she tells him that they can’t be together because of his marriage, even though they both know they love each other very much.]] And a surprising change from Florence, [[who realizes that Tessa’s love is true, and that she wants Lewis to find happiness, even if that means being with someone else.]] Unfortunately, this reconciliation comes all too late.

[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

Lewis Dodd (Boyer) is a failed composer, and after a negative review, he goes to heal his wounds by visiting his friend and musical mentor, Albert Sanger. His home is located in the Swiss Alps, and with him are his daughters to keep him company. These include: Paula (Joyce Reynolds), Tessa, (Fontaine), and Toni (Brenda Marshall). They all love Lewis very much, but Tessa has a special place for him her heart even though she’s only 14 years old. Lewis, in turn, treats her like he should, as a young girl.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Tessa loves Lewis, but he doesn’t see her in that way. Justified, since she’s only 14 years old. And eventually, [[spoiler: this happens to Florence once Lewis finds out he loves Tessa.]]
* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: A heartbreaking one from Tessa to Lewis [[spoiler: where he finally realizes that he loves her.]]
* AtTheOperaTonight: ‘’Tomorrow’’, Lewis’ symphony, plays in a London opera house.
* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Toni runs away with Fritz, only to come back and reject him, and then eventually marry him.
* DeathByDespair: [[When Tessa realizes that Lewis’ piece has no melodic line, and therefore, hasn’t learned to feel.]]
* DownerEnding: Someone dies. [[spoiler: Tessa dies while hearing Lewis’ symphony, ‘’Tomorrow’’, since he doesn’t find that melodic line, not having suffered enough, and fallen to Florence’s influence. Now that Tessa has died, he create something meaningful. The films ends with the {{Anvilicious}} shot of a fire growing and growing.]]
* GenkiGirl: Running around wildly without any shoes, and being full of energy, despite her heart problem, is Tessa’s MO.
* IllGirl: Severe stitches hurt Tessa, and she often faints due to heart problems. They don’t let her play hockey in the English boarding school because of this. [[spoiler: This {{Foreshadowing| foreshadows}} her eventual death.]]
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Two examples: first, after Tessa makes her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to Lewis, [[spoiler: she tells him that they can’t be together because of his marriage, even though they both know they love each other very much.]] And a surprising change from Florence, [[who realizes that Tessa’s love is true, and that she wants Lewis to find happiness, even if that means being with someone else.]] Unfortunately, this reconciliation comes all too late.
* TheFilmOfTheBook: Based on the 1924 novel by Margaret Kennedy of the same name.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Thinking that she could enter Lewis’ cloud of “misunderstood artist”, Florence thinks she can change him, and make him more like her. Lewis, likewise, believes that Florence will understand him.
* HornedHairdo: Florence wears very severe looking victory rolls.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Lewis at times: he’s very sweet to the girls, but can often be a downright jerk to Florence.
* LongingLook: Tessa gives countless to Lewis. He doesn’t notice them at all.
* LoveTriangle: A rather strange, and even {{Squick}}-worthy one to some, between Lewis, Florence, and Tessa.
* MouthyKid: Florence abhors the way the girls seem to be more adult in their way of speaking, but have yet to gain more maturity.
* ObliviousToLove: And how! Lewis doesn’t realize the very obvious affection that Tessa shows to him.
* OneTrueLove: In a fantasy/dream Tessa has, she tells Lewis that they were made for each other, that she was always going to be with him, but fate made her a few years late in finding him, but young or old, they were meant to be together.
* StarCrossedLovers: Tess and Lewis.
* SpiritedYoungLady: All the Sanger girls fit this trope, but are a bit rougher around the edges; they aren’t quite so ladylike.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Tessa fits this trope perfectly. She shows some immaturity at times, but when it comes to her love for Lewis, she’s very intuitive. [[spoiler: She even knows that she must try and control herself because he’s married, and is greatly offended when Florence implies that she has “impure” (read: sexual) feelings for Lewis.]]