Take a bit of 'Black Narcissus' and throw in a bit of 'Rebecca' and you have 'Madness Of The Heart' from 1949. Lydia Garth meets a man, falls in love, goes blind, enters a convent, comes out again, meets previous man, gets married, goes to France, gets persecuted. Nothing surprising which is a shame as it had a lot of potential. The good cast act gamely but the pedestrian script is impossible to enliven. What it does have is Kathleen Byron playing Verite Faimont, channeling her Sister Ruth from 'Black Narcissus', as a jealous woman who covets Lydia Garth's husband. In an interview in 1990 Kathleen Byron said she was by the time of this film fed up playing these types of roles but no one did it better. She scorches the screen whenever she is on. In the horse riding scene she looks full of rage, frustration and sexiness at the same time. It took by breath away. The music by Allan Gray is good and the ubiquitous Sam Kydd turns up in a blink-and-you'll-miss-him-role, otherwise it's a conventional soap opera, apart from the kick that Kathleen Byron gives to it.

This is what would have been called "a woman's picture" when it was made.As mentioned elsewhere it has echoes of Rebecca but without the mystery or suspense.It has moments of utter incredulity.It is difficult to know is more laughable the car crash which disposes of the husband and the attempted murdered or the "meeting cute"at the end in an attempt to add on a happy ending.These clichés represent some of the more laboured attempts at drama.There are many others such as going blind and then given a chance a chance at a one in fifty successful operation.This is strictly for Lockwood fans.Otherwise don't waste your time.

This overwrought melodrama may have held the attention of undiscriminating audiences back in 1949, but is difficult to watch now without chuckling. Former superstar Margaret Lockwood is clearly slumming it with this turkey, and she knows it. Her performance never takes off, and although she was only 33 at the time of filming, she looks a good 15 years older. Her teeth, particularly in closeup, look crooked and ill cared for. In one scene she introduces her maid, saying "Rosa has looked after me since I was a little girl"... rather remarkable, seeing as Rosa is played by Thora Hird, in reality just five years older than Miss Lockwood, and looking slightly younger in this film - even without makeup! Shades of Patricia Roc playing Phyllis Calvert's daughter in Madonna of the Seven Moons! Maxwell Reed is, as usual, atrocious - however he is aided by a dubbed French accent. The best performance comes from Kathleen Byron - the undisputed queen of cinematic malevolence. As awful as I found this film, it did bring me one special satisfaction: as a child I saw a film on TV, in which the villainess attempts to kill the formerly-blind heroine by opening a door from which there is a sheer drop. That scary moment has remained vivid in my memory for fifty years, but I had no idea from which movie the scene came ... until I watched Madness of the Heart today!

This is a definite must-see for any Margaret Lockwood fans, as well as Hitchcock lovers as it's very Hitchcock in style. There's simply not a dull moment as we follow the young Lydia through the path her life takes when she goes blind and finds there is only the tiniest chance that surgery could restore her sight - and an even smaller chance that she would even survive the operation. Her sweetheart Paul still wishes to marry her, and she finds happiness with him, but that is short-lived as she begins to get the feeling that someone wants her dead. The movie takes a truly terrifying turn, and though in part is predictable, it's still definitely exciting. 9/10