In 1857 a citizen of Great Britain (from the Channel Island of Jersey) named Emile L'Angelier died after a brief illness in his rooms in a rooming house in Glasgow, Scotland. From comments he muttered his friend and his landlady wondered if his death was natural or from poison. For Emile mentioned that he had felt the same way the last time he saw "Mimi". The authorities found Emile had letters, initially love letters, but some seeming to show increasing agitation to end the relationship, and then the letters start encouraging the deceased to see his girlfriend. The author of these letters was Madeleine Smith, the daughter of a prominent architect in Glasgow. An autopsy revealed that Emile died of arsenic poisoning, not gastroenteritis or some other illness.
Madeleine was from a very proper family, with a stern father. It was expected that she would make a proper marriage only - not to some nobody like Emile L'Angelier. And she was engaged to an older professional man, Mr. William Minnoch. But L'Angelier was socially ambitious, and wanted to advance in Glasgow society. This would be done by marrying into a wealthy family like Madeleine's. So L'Angelier would be less likely to want to end the relationship (and return those love letters), and be more willing to blackmail his girlfriend into marrying him. It was a bad situation, and only the death of L'Angelier or his marriage with Madeleine would have settled it.
Madeleine was arrested, and tried in the High Court in Glasgow. She was defended by Scotland's greatest barrister of the day, John Inglis. Inglis managed to show great ambiguity over many points in the police case. This included the fact that L'Angelier treated himself with patent medicines (some containing arsenic). Also, that the melancholy L'Angelier had spoken of doing himself in occasionally. Nobody ever saw Madeleine and L'Angelier together on those past occasions where he became violently ill. Arsenic had been traced to Madeleine, but she claimed it was used on her pretty face to improve her complexion (which happened to be a use for arsenic). The end result was the jury returned the Scot verdict, "Not Proved". The evidence never was conclusive enough to result in conviction or acquittal.
Her subsequent career was quiet but interesting. No further murders (at least none we know of). She did not marry Minnoch. Her family kept her at arms length. She moved to London, and showed some real spirit by embracing the socialist/labor movement. She married George Wardle, an artist who worked closely with fellow socialist William Morris, and had among her socialist friends George Bernard Shaw. Her marriage to Wardle collapsed after an argument in the 1880s. They divorced in 1889. She married a second time, moved to New York City, and she lived in the Bronx as "Lena Sheehy" (Sheehy was her second husband's name). She died in 1928, and is buried (as Lena Sheehy) in the Bronx.
In 1950 David Lean was still in his "little movie" period. He was telling stories about regular people, like BRIEF ENCOUNTER on THIS HAPPY BREED, and was not ready to do his big spectaculars like BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and DR. ZHIVAGO. MADELEINE was a type of bridging film, as it was his first attempt to do an historical movie. So it is longer than most of his films in this period. However, in this case the film could have been shed some of the first half hour (the scene where Ann Todd joins a Scottish dance might have been dropped), but the film as a whole remains good - and skittish. Although most people feel that Madeleine did poison Emile, there are many who think it was not her but Emile committing suicide and trying to frame his "Mimi" (who had dropped him), or overdosing on some arsenic based nostrum he took for his health. Lean's movie leaves it as it should be - an everlasting question-mark. Madeleine would have approved, perhaps, but to the end of her life she always denied she poisoned her lover.
Madeleine was from a very proper family, with a stern father. It was expected that she would make a proper marriage only - not to some nobody like Emile L'Angelier. And she was engaged to an older professional man, Mr. William Minnoch. But L'Angelier was socially ambitious, and wanted to advance in Glasgow society. This would be done by marrying into a wealthy family like Madeleine's. So L'Angelier would be less likely to want to end the relationship (and return those love letters), and be more willing to blackmail his girlfriend into marrying him. It was a bad situation, and only the death of L'Angelier or his marriage with Madeleine would have settled it.
Madeleine was arrested, and tried in the High Court in Glasgow. She was defended by Scotland's greatest barrister of the day, John Inglis. Inglis managed to show great ambiguity over many points in the police case. This included the fact that L'Angelier treated himself with patent medicines (some containing arsenic). Also, that the melancholy L'Angelier had spoken of doing himself in occasionally. Nobody ever saw Madeleine and L'Angelier together on those past occasions where he became violently ill. Arsenic had been traced to Madeleine, but she claimed it was used on her pretty face to improve her complexion (which happened to be a use for arsenic). The end result was the jury returned the Scot verdict, "Not Proved". The evidence never was conclusive enough to result in conviction or acquittal.
Her subsequent career was quiet but interesting. No further murders (at least none we know of). She did not marry Minnoch. Her family kept her at arms length. She moved to London, and showed some real spirit by embracing the socialist/labor movement. She married George Wardle, an artist who worked closely with fellow socialist William Morris, and had among her socialist friends George Bernard Shaw. Her marriage to Wardle collapsed after an argument in the 1880s. They divorced in 1889. She married a second time, moved to New York City, and she lived in the Bronx as "Lena Sheehy" (Sheehy was her second husband's name). She died in 1928, and is buried (as Lena Sheehy) in the Bronx.
In 1950 David Lean was still in his "little movie" period. He was telling stories about regular people, like BRIEF ENCOUNTER on THIS HAPPY BREED, and was not ready to do his big spectaculars like BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and DR. ZHIVAGO. MADELEINE was a type of bridging film, as it was his first attempt to do an historical movie. So it is longer than most of his films in this period. However, in this case the film could have been shed some of the first half hour (the scene where Ann Todd joins a Scottish dance might have been dropped), but the film as a whole remains good - and skittish. Although most people feel that Madeleine did poison Emile, there are many who think it was not her but Emile committing suicide and trying to frame his "Mimi" (who had dropped him), or overdosing on some arsenic based nostrum he took for his health. Lean's movie leaves it as it should be - an everlasting question-mark. Madeleine would have approved, perhaps, but to the end of her life she always denied she poisoned her lover.