The Story Of Esther Costello (1957)

The Story Of Esther Costello is an unusual, even odd, movie in some ways. It doesn't seem to be very well known (although leading lady Joan Crawford won the British equivalent of our Academy Awards for her spectacular performance in it!) and it isn't often shown on TV, though that may be because of some of the dark directions it goes in...(warning: this entire post is basically a spoiler)

Inspired by Mignonette, I went over TSOEC frame by frame, trying to extract the essence of the plot from the images, and since I'm in love with the mature Crawford face, it was a pleasure.

Margaret Landi, a wealthy divorcee, is visiting the Irish village of Cloncraig where she was born (although she grew up in America and lives a restless, idle life, travelling much of the time).

The villagers of Cloncraig are impressed by her wealth,

her style,

and her generosity

but a local priest seems to have an agenda; he has a "friend" he'd like Margaret to meet...

Esther Costello, a young girl who was rendered blind, deaf and mute from the trauma of seeing her mother killed by the explosion of an IRA bomb during the Irish troubles and who lives with a drunken aunt in a filthy, squalid hut.

                                                                   

Margaret (childless though she is) is troubled by the girls' situation and leaves money but she clearly wishes to disassociate herself from the entire situation, and from Cloncraig itself. Abruptly changing her plans she tells the priest she's leaving that very evening. But, due to some collusion between the priest and the townspeople, Mrs. Landi's car is disabled temporarily, and her departure is delayed.

And that night, the man of the cloth asks Margaret to deliver a blanket to Esther in her chilly cottage.

Margaret and Esther leave together the next day.

Although Margaret's actions are genuinely noble (she wants to provide this girl with the chance for an education in a clean, friendly environment) she doesn't want to become too entangled with Esther, and attempts to "drop her off" at a progressive school,

but as Margaret is leaving, Esther, separated from the one person who's ever been good to her, panics and runs sightlessly away, nearly getting killed in the process.

Margaret realizes it isn't going to be as easy as all that...

And now begins one of the most rewarding, joyful sequences in this dark film.

Margaret decides to stay with

the girl and share her education, teaching (and learning from) Esther, right at the school.

And young Miss Costello blossoms, revealing all her dormant intelligence and curiosity

(not to mention the humor--there are some really cute, funny scenes between these two!) and Margaret is encouraged to start up a fund drive in Esther's name, to pay for research that could benefit all disadvantaged children.

The fund drive is enormously successful.

That's when the trouble starts (trouble being Mr. Carlo Landi, played by the dreamy Rossano Brazzi).

They meet up in a London art gallery and although Margaret clearly doesn't trust him,

that 'ol chemistry works its' magic and soon they're a loving couple once more.

Carlo seems quite charmed by Esther and urges Margaret onto greater heights of fund-raising, until it becomes quite a treadmill for both mother and daughter figures. Both are exhausted now, but the money keeps rolling in, and Carlo insists that "it's all for the good of the children..."

Meanwhile, all the publicity attracts the attention of a crusading journalist (is there any other kind?) and he develops a crush on the pretty young girl, though he's dismayed by the growing "cash-grab" aspect of the fund drives. He's not the only one...

When Margaret learns of some financial "irregularities" in the organization, she confronts Carlo.

They argue and he skillfully makes her feel guilty for even accusing him (which she falls for, because she really does love him, and she's powerfully attracted to him, physically, as well). He goes to bed,

And Margaret has a few moments where emotions shift across her face as she stands alone in the room.

She turns off the light...

and joins him in the bedroom.

But the business of money-making continues, and eventually the corruption of the organization threatens to become a scandal.

And one night in Venice, when Margaret's out, Carlo and Esther are alone  together (she's unaware of his presence) and she begins to undress for bed.

Margaret arrives home unexpectedly and sees what's going on.

And she does something so real, so shocking, that I was awed the first time I saw this scene:

She attacks Esther, lashing out at the defenceless girl.

A few moments later, she joins Carlo on the terrace, barely managing to keep a mask of calm on her face.

He asks where she's been?

"I was out buying something beautiful for you"

(giving him a set of jewelled cufflinks) adding "Where've you been...drinking?"

Quietly, she begs Carlo to cancel the tour, the Esther needs a break, that she can't take anymore. Their eyes meet, and she slams the drink out of his hand.

"WHY should I lie? I'm the one who can't stand it!" 

Carlo eventually consents to cut short the tour, just a few more dates, and then they'll all have a good, long vacation.

But only a few days later, she's called to the Italian mainland on business,

and Carlo skips his plane, returning to the apartment...

and the shock of what happens reawakens Esther's sensory faculties.

The scene after Carlo leaves and she starts to hear sounds is splendidly realized.

Margaret returns much later that same night...

...and figures it out.

                                                                         Makes a decision.

Puts a gun in her pocket.



Early next morning, she meets her husband at the airport and they make small talk.

Then she throws one of the cufflinks she found in Esther's bed on the table.

"Let's go, shall we?"

Painful to watch, how sad she is, and how much she still loves him.

They are both killed in a car accident.
Later that same night, Esther tells the visiting priest from Cloncraig (whom Margaret had summoned to Venice before completing her task):

"I can't do it...I can't go on without her"

But remembering Margaret's love and hopes for her, Esther finally chooses to go on.

The end.

The Story Of Esther Costello is complex, rich and to some degree, unsatisfying (it's an occasionally uneasy cross between straight-ahead drama, full-blown melodrama,and some of the sequences seem almost like documentary footage) but it pulls me in, and Joan Crawford is astonishing here, fearless in inhabiting a decent character who makes some mistakes, who gets tripped up by her heart, but who ultimately does the right thing. And she's so very, very beautiful (did anyone in film history have bone structure like that?)

Heather Sears is lovely and talented as the young girl: she makes you believe she's Esther. Brazzi as Carlo is sexy as hell (as well as ultimately loathsome); all of the major performers do fine work.

And as a friend pointed out to me a while back, this is one of Joan Crawford's last great "leading lady" roles. Although she was basically well-served by the horror films she was forced to make in the coming decade (and I love Baby Jane and Strait-Jacket beyond reason), still if her last husband hadn't died leaving her finances in a disastrous state, maybe she could have continued making films in the Esther Costello vein, working only when the right material came along, something that interested and engaged her.
Happily JC was well aware of her achievement as Margaret Landi; as she told author Roy Newquist "Frankly, if I think I deserved an Oscar for Mildred Pierce, I deserved two for The Story Of Esther Costello; the complexities of the part were staggering...Nothing but very fond memories of that film."

---------------------------------------------------------------------
And over at Le Souffle au Coeur, Mignonette's most recent post is devoted to Grand Hotel, the 1932 classic that reveals a glowing, radiant young Crawford at one of her peaks of beauty.
My favorite capture in the entire post is this impish picture:

Who'd have known that twenty five years later, she's still be the top-billed Star, still wowing audiences with her talents and looks?
(I bet she knew, even way back then!)

---------------------------------------------------------------------

(Personal note: this post took forever to do--mostly because me and my buddy took a break every hour or so and walked down to the beach. He snapped this picture around noon today)

I see this every day of my life, and I never get tired of it. 

So go on outside people, and enjoy the summer!

It has been an amazing day.