While I Live
Encyclopedia
While I Live is a 1947
British drama film, directed by John Harlow
. While I Live is best remembered for its musical theme "The Dream of Olwen" composed by Charles Williams
, reprised at intervals throughout the film, which became hugely popular in its time and is still regularly performed. The film itself became widely known as The Dream of Olwen.
, a prodigious young pianist and composer Olwen Trevelyan (Audrey Fildes
) is struggling with the ending of a piano tone poem she is composing. Driven to complete the piece by her domineering elder sister Julia (Sonia Dresdel
), Olwen becomes agitated and despondent, and one night sleepwalks to the edge of a cliff near their home. Julia follows her and shouts her name but Olwen, abruptly awakened, loses her balance and falls to her death on the rocks below. Julia is unable to come to terms with Olwen's death and the guilt of her own role in it, over the years becoming a reclusive, obsessive figure whose main raison d'être is to keep Olwen's memory alive. Olwen's final composition gains her posthumous recognition, and each year on the anniversary of her death it is broadcast on the radio.
On the 25th anniversary of Olwen's death, Julia is listening to the broadcast when she hears a frantic knocking at the door and opens it to admit an unknown young woman (Carol Raye
), who immediately walks up to the piano and begins expertly playing along with the piece on the radio. The young woman claims to have lost her memory and to have no idea of who she is or how she came to chance upon the isolated house, yet she seems to have a familiarity with the surroundings and the history of the Trevelyan family. Struck by her physical resemblance to Olwen, Julia offers her refuge and, also seeing behavioural traits reminiscent of Olwen, becomes convinced that the woman is the reincarnation
of her dead sister. A local faith healer
Nehemiah (Tom Walls
), who also claims second sight
, becomes involved and it seems increasingly as though history is repeating itself, culminating when the young woman too is found standing precariously on the edge of the cliff from which Olwen fell.
1947 in film
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
British drama film, directed by John Harlow
John Harlow (director)
John Harlow was an English film director, active from the 1930s to the 1950s. Harlow worked for smaller studios, mainly in crime/thriller genre potboilers, with his better known films including Candles at Nine , the Sexton Blake thrillers Meet Sexton Blake and The Echo Murders , and the 1947...
. While I Live is best remembered for its musical theme "The Dream of Olwen" composed by Charles Williams
Charles Williams (composer)
Charles Williams was a British composer and conductor, contributing music to over 50 films...
, reprised at intervals throughout the film, which became hugely popular in its time and is still regularly performed. The film itself became widely known as The Dream of Olwen.
Plot
In 1922 in CornwallCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, a prodigious young pianist and composer Olwen Trevelyan (Audrey Fildes
Audrey Fildes
Audrey Fildes was a British actress whose first film credit was in the 1947 production While I Live. In 1949, she played the role of Louis Mazzini's mother, who was ostracised by her aristocratic family, in the film Kind Hearts and Coronets.-References:...
) is struggling with the ending of a piano tone poem she is composing. Driven to complete the piece by her domineering elder sister Julia (Sonia Dresdel
Sonia Dresdel
Sonia Dresdel was an English actress, whose career ran between the 1940s and 1970s.She was born Lois Obee in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England and was educated at Aberdeen High School for Girls....
), Olwen becomes agitated and despondent, and one night sleepwalks to the edge of a cliff near their home. Julia follows her and shouts her name but Olwen, abruptly awakened, loses her balance and falls to her death on the rocks below. Julia is unable to come to terms with Olwen's death and the guilt of her own role in it, over the years becoming a reclusive, obsessive figure whose main raison d'être is to keep Olwen's memory alive. Olwen's final composition gains her posthumous recognition, and each year on the anniversary of her death it is broadcast on the radio.
On the 25th anniversary of Olwen's death, Julia is listening to the broadcast when she hears a frantic knocking at the door and opens it to admit an unknown young woman (Carol Raye
Carol Raye
Carol Raye is an Australian-based theatre and television actress and comedienne.Trained as a ballet dancer, Raye was discovered by choreographer Freddie Carpenter at age 16. She played lead roles in many musicals and television programs in the UK...
), who immediately walks up to the piano and begins expertly playing along with the piece on the radio. The young woman claims to have lost her memory and to have no idea of who she is or how she came to chance upon the isolated house, yet she seems to have a familiarity with the surroundings and the history of the Trevelyan family. Struck by her physical resemblance to Olwen, Julia offers her refuge and, also seeing behavioural traits reminiscent of Olwen, becomes convinced that the woman is the reincarnation
Reincarnation
Reincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
of her dead sister. A local faith healer
Faith healing
Faith healing is healing through spiritual means. The healing of a person is brought about by religious faith through prayer and/or rituals that, according to adherents, stimulate a divine presence and power toward correcting disease and disability. Belief in divine intervention in illness or...
Nehemiah (Tom Walls
Tom Walls
Tom Kirby Walls was a popular English stage and motion-pictures character actor, and film director. He has claim to be one of the most influential figures in British comedy.-Early career:...
), who also claims second sight
Second sight
Second sight is a form of extrasensory perception, the supposed power to perceive things that are not present to the senses, whereby a person perceives information, in the form of a vision, about future events before they happen , or about things or events at remote locations...
, becomes involved and it seems increasingly as though history is repeating itself, culminating when the young woman too is found standing precariously on the edge of the cliff from which Olwen fell.
Cast
- Sonia DresdelSonia DresdelSonia Dresdel was an English actress, whose career ran between the 1940s and 1970s.She was born Lois Obee in Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England and was educated at Aberdeen High School for Girls....
as Julia Trevelyan - Tom WallsTom WallsTom Kirby Walls was a popular English stage and motion-pictures character actor, and film director. He has claim to be one of the most influential figures in British comedy.-Early career:...
as Nehemiah - Carol RayeCarol RayeCarol Raye is an Australian-based theatre and television actress and comedienne.Trained as a ballet dancer, Raye was discovered by choreographer Freddie Carpenter at age 16. She played lead roles in many musicals and television programs in the UK...
as Sally Grant - Patricia Burke as Christine Sloan
- Clifford EvansClifford EvansClifford Evans was a Welsh actor. As a conscientious objector he served in the Non-Combatant Corps in World War II.During the summer of 1934 he appeared in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Open Air Theatre in London....
as Peter Sloan - John WarwickJohn WarwickJohn Warwick was an Australian film and television actor.-Selected filmography:* On Our Selection * In the Wake of the Bounty * The Squatter's Daughter * Riding High...
as George Grant - Audrey FildesAudrey FildesAudrey Fildes was a British actress whose first film credit was in the 1947 production While I Live. In 1949, she played the role of Louis Mazzini's mother, who was ostracised by her aristocratic family, in the film Kind Hearts and Coronets.-References:...
as Olwen Trevelyan - Charles VictorCharles VictorCharles Victor was a British actor who appeared in a number of films and television between 1938 and 1965.-Selected filmography:* Return of the Frog * Hell's Cargo * Contraband...
as Sgt. Pearne - Edward LexyEdward Lexy-Filmography:* Under Secret Orders * Mademoiselle Docteur * Farewell Again * Knight Without Armour * Action for Slander * Smash and Grab * The Green Cockatoo...
as Selby - Ernest Butcher as Ambrose
- Enid Hewitt as Ruth
- Sally Rogers as Hannah