Tragic End at the Blue Bridge (VCD)

Author: USA
Publisher: Beijing Beiyinfeng Audiovisual Company
Publishing Time:
Features: Director: Ma Wen Lervoi
Actor: Vivien Leigh Robert Taylor
Publication Number: ISRCCN-A08-00-0031-0/V.J9
Double-disc set, 102 minutes. English-Chinese bilingual audio.
A worldly commoner girl, a sentimental noble officer.
Meeting at the Blue Bridge, love ends at the Blue Bridge.
In 1917 during World War I, Roy was a captain in the Lantchepus Infantry Regiment. On an evening when he was returning to London on leave, he passed by the Waterloo Bridge. Suddenly, an air raid siren went off, and people and vehicles on the bridge became chaos. In the confusion, Roy helped the ballet dancer Mala pick up her scattered belongings. The two of them looked at each other affectionately in the subway air raid shelter. Mala was slim and pretty, kind and gentle. As they parted, Mala looked at Roy reluctantly and gave him her lucky charm, hoping he would return safely.
Roy had only one night left of his leave. He gave up the colonel’s banquet to attend Mala’s performance at the Olympic Theatre and asked her to meet him at the Candlelight Club after the show. After they finished dancing the last farewell dance, they were already lost in the sweetness of love. The next morning, a mine was discovered in the, and the departure time of the troops was delayed by two days. Roy rushed to Mala’s dorm in the rain and proposed to her, insisting they get married within two days. Mala was overjoyed but couldn’t believe it. Roy explained that as a captain in the Lantchepus Infantry Regiment, he couldn’t marry hastily and had to go through many procedures and rituals (the British Royal Infantry required that the object of a captain’s marriage must be of noble birth or someone the king had summoned). He took Mala to the barracks and the Duke’s palace to get permission, then to Pound Street to buy a ring and flowers, and finally to St. Matthew’s Church. But the priest told them that the church did not hold weddings after 3 p.m., not even during wartime. He asked them to come back the next day.
That night, Mala was in her bedroom organizing the new things she had just bought. Kitty, her roommate, came back after dinner. When she pushed the door open, she saw Mala admiring the new clothes and hats piled on her bed. Mala said excitedly, “I’ve spent all my money. I’m getting married, really—tomorrow morning at St. Matthew’s Church. I’m so happy!” But that very night, Mala received a call from Roy: the order had changed. The troops were leaving that night, and he asked her to meet him at the station in 25 minutes. Mala ignored her performance and hurried to Waterloo Station. Roy waited in the waiting room among the crowds for Mala. The train’s departure bell rang, and Roy had to go to the station. Only when the train began to move slowly was he forced to board it. Mala squeezed her way through the crowd, forgetting her beautiful hat, and chased the moving train with all her strength. Roy saw Mala and shouted her name. Mala finally saw Roy. The train sped away, and Mala watched it fade into the distance, bewildered.
Because of the missed date and performance, Mala was fired from the troupe, and Kitty, who had protected her, was also dismissed. They moved out of the troupe’s dorm and rented a tiny, dilapidated room. They thought they could join a if they didn’t dance ballet. But reality was harsh. They searched everywhere but couldn’t find jobs.
Roy’s mother came to London to meet Mala. At a fancy restaurant, Mala sat neatly dressed, waiting for Lady Cronin with a mix of nervousness and joy. More than an hour had passed since the agreed time, and Mala idly picked up the evening newspaper and casually flipped through it. Suddenly, her eyes stopped on a headline: the list of fallen soldiers, including an officer named Roy Cronin. Mala couldn’t bear the blow and fainted. A waiter brought a glass of brandy, which Mala drank. When she woke up, immense grief had left her disoriented and her face haggard. She took the unfinished brandy in her hands and raised it to her lips, unaware that Lady Cronin had already arrived beside her, watching her with a frown. “Miss Leister?” Mala set the glass down, unsure how to respond. She didn’t want Lady Cronin to see the newspaper, so she secretly shoved it under the chair while mumbled an explanation about her correspondence with Roy. Lady Cronin felt Mala was insincere and left an unpleasant impression.
The news of Roy’s death plunged Mala into extreme sorrow, and she fell ill. To support both of them and treat Mala, Kitty endured humiliation and sold herself on the streets. After Mala recovered, she was forced to follow in her footsteps.
In the Waterloo Station, a train of soldiers had just returned from the front lines and was exiting the station. Mala was dressed in a frivolous yet shabby manner. Her once innocent charm was gone, replaced by a weary, worldly appearance. She stood rigidly at the exit, smiling and trying to attract “customers.” Suddenly, Roy appeared among the exiting soldiers. Mala was overwhelmed with emotion and could only whisper, “Roy, you’re still alive?” Roy was overjoyed to see Mala and, without giving her a chance to hesitate, decided to take her back to his estate to get married.
Roy’s arrival brought Mala unexpected hope, as if she saw a glimmer of light in her life. The Duke Cronin, Roy’s uncle, returned especially to preside over their wedding and introduced Mala to the aristocratic old ways that looked down on dancers. The Duke believed Mala was a good girl and wouldn’t disappoint Roy’s regiment’s tradition and honor of the “limping soldier” medal. Lady Cronin apologized for the misunderstanding from their last meeting and now expressed satisfaction, confident that she could get along well with Mala in the future. The Duke’s words and Lady Cronin’s sincere attitude finally convinced Mala. She endured immense pain to confess the truth to Roy.
Blissful and oblivious, Roy handed the lucky charm to Mala to keep, as she would be his wife the next day. But the next day, Roy never saw Mala again. He was left only with a letter of farewell. Roy rushed back to London to search for her, but Mala had already taken her own life by crashing into a truck on the Waterloo Bridge, leaving only that small lucky charm beside her.