Madeleine (1950) Trailer

Madeleine is a 1950 British film noir directed by David Lean, based on a true story of Madeleine Smith, a young Glasgow woman from a wealthy family who was tried in 1857 for the murder of her lover, Emile L'Angelier.

The trial was much publicised in the newspapers of the day and labelled "the trial of the century". Lean's adaptation of the story starred his wife, Ann Todd, with Ivan Desny as her character's French lover. Norman Wooland played the respectable suitor and Leslie Banks the authoritarian father, both of whom are unaware of Madeleine's secret life. Lean made the film primarily as a "wedding present" to Todd, who had previously played the role onstage. He was never satisfied with the film and cited it as his least favourite feature-length movie.