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The greatest movie ever made..!

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

'The Constant Nymph' tells the story of a delightful young girl (Joan Fontaine) who has a crush on an older man (Charles Boyer), a friend of her father's. Fontaine is fantastic, grabbing us from the start with infectious energy, and truly channeling what it is to be a teenager, despite being 26 years old at the time. Boyer turns in a strong performance as well, playing a headstrong composer of modern symphonies, which are short on melody and jarring. He marries a rich woman (Alexis Smith), and the two soon butt heads over social functions, as well as her jealousy over the special relationship he has with the young girl.Despite this relationship and all of the dreamy glances Fontaine casts in Boyer's direction, those who liken the film to Lolita are off-base. There is such purity and chasteness here, with Fontaine's character having a sense of honor against doing wrong, and Boyer's having no lascivious interest in her or her sisters at all. They are the polar opposites of Dolores Haze and Humbert Humbert, who between flirtation, predation, statutory rape, and ultimately, humiliation, have us cringing (though perhaps unable to look away). The title word here, 'nymph', should be considered simply as a young maiden, without the sexual connotations it's sometimes associated with. I really liked this innocence, it makes the story tug on the heartstrings all the more, and I also liked the civility and grace by which even the strongest and most personal feelings are expressed. The plot borders on melodrama but it's the strength of the performances that carry it for me. Fontaine was well worthy of her Oscar nomination, Boyer ranges from troubled artist to affectionate 'uncle', and Alexis Smith simmers visibly as she tries to control her feelings. It wanders dangerously close to cloying, but ultimately is just the right amount of sweet, and rather touching.

I watched about 45 minutes of this long lost cult classic more out of curiosity than anything else. I couldn't help think it was the strangest film I ever saw. Nothing seemed to work - at all. I couldn't make head or tail of the characters or the story and all I kept thinking was why there was so much running around by barefoot girls. Finally, when I realized that Joan Fontaine of all people was one of the scampering girls I was really shocked. This was the girl from Rebecca? No way Jose! But yes it was and so I kept watching just to see why in heaven's name Joan Fontaine was cast as a starry-eyed teen who would go all weak in the knees the moment Charles Boyer showed up. Finally, I stopped watching and went to TCM to read the full synopsis of the film and learned everything I needed to know. It was written in 1924 by a woman and apparently became an instant classic women's tear-jerker which was made into films and plays and heaven knows what else. That was enough for me not to go back to the film.

Charles Boyer and Joan Fontaine star in "The Constant Nymph," a 1943 Warner Brothers film directed by Edmund Goulding. The film also features Alexis Smith, Peter Lorre, Charles Coburn, and Brenda Marshall.Joan Fontaine plays Tessa, a 14-year-old who is part of the Sanger family, who is visited by a friend, composer Lewis Dodd. Dodd is very close to the entire family, and the father (Montagu Love), an old man, asks Lewis to contact his late wife's brother (Charles Coburn) should anything happen to him. He wants his daughters - Toni (Marshall), Paula, and Tessa to be taken care of. Tessa has always been in love with Dodd, but at her age, it seems like a childhood crush.Sanger dies that night, and in the next scene, we see that Charles has arrived with his gorgeous daughter Florence (Smith) and the smitten Lewis marries her immediately. Toni marries; Tessa and her younger sister ultimately go off to school but run away. The younger girl then joins Toni, but Tessa stays in the house with Lewis and Florence.Florence is jealous of Tessa's close relationship with Lewis; Tessa understands his music and knows his potential, and they have a long history. Florence's resentment of her becomes more and more obvious.This is a really wonderful film, so lovely that it's surprising it hasn't gotten more attention, though Joan Fontaine was nominated for an Oscar. She's 26 here, playing fourteen. In the beginning, she's all arms and legs, awkward, lanky, and a ball of energy. Put it this way - I dated this movie as being before Rebecca! So was she convincing? Yes. Despite her Oscar nominations, I still think Fontaine is underrated. One isn't certain how much time has passed during the film, but naturally the character cleans up and wears better clothes. She then seems more mature.Boyer does a marvelous job as the composer searching for his voice through music; and Alexis Smith is great as she goes from friendly, polite with an edgy, and then just plain awful. The rest of the cast is top-notch, with Lorre as a suitor of Toni's who becomes her husband."The Constant Nymph" is a story of unrequited love, a search for self, and the self-expression an artist can have once he's allowed himself to feel.Don't miss this when it comes around again on TCM as it doesn't look like it's on DVD. Thank goodness for TCM bringing us these forgotten gems once in a while.

This is one of those films I have been waiting for years to see, having been out of circulation for at least 50 years. It was well worth the wait. Joan Fontaine is the type of actress that just doesn't exist anymore. She plays exquisitely fragile, ethereal, delicate types of women with depth, passion, soul and devotion. This is yet another impeccable performance that rated her an Academy Award nomination and I cannot think of another actress who could have pulled off, entirely successfully, playing a 14 year old girl. She is haunting, beautiful and tragic. Charles Boyer and Alexis Smith are fine in their roles but it is Fontaine who carries the film and Edmund Goulding directs in a luxurious style highlighting the delicate relationship between Fontaine and Boyer. They could never make this type of film anymore and that's alright because they wouldn't know how to deal with the subject matter. Music, poetry, art, disillusion, loss, heartache and romance between a pubescent girl and adult man is something mainstream Hollywood no longer knows how to make interesting to the public and for that matter it seems like the public doesn't really crave this any longer. Joan Fontaine is still alive and she must have been ecstatic to know that this film has garnered so much acclaim and interest. My only disappointment being that since Miss Fontaine is still alive why hasn't she been interviewed? You know she hasn't many years left. She must have amazing stories and insight to share with her public. Would kill to see her interviewed on TCM. I have a feeling Robert Osborne has contacted her since he seems to pay attention to detail and I imagine she has been approached but most likely has declined - please, please be persistent in getting a live interview and with her and her sister as well. They are the last of the greats from Hollywood's golden era.