This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I originally saw this in the early 70s, after having seen THE FORSYTE SAGA on TV, and reading the first three books. Shoehorning two books' worth of story into a two-hour movie makes mincemeat out of the plot, but the essential details are preserved.It was a crackup for me to see Robert Young, then widely known as Marcus Welby M.D. I was used to seeing him as an old man; but then he looks old for the part anyway, and overacts to compensate for it.However, Errol Flynn is excellent as Soames, and Walter Pidgeon brings the necessary gravitas to the role of Jolyon. Harry Davenport is fine as Old Jolyon, although I can't quite erase the image of Dr. Meade from Gone With the Wind.It's not a very good adaptation of Galsworthy's story, but on its own merits, it's well acted and edited, with handsome production design and nice pacing. It's fun to watch just to compare it with the more successful TV version.

According to the Citadel Film Series book, The Films Of Errol Flynn, MGM and Warner Brothers did a swapping of stars for the services of the other. Errol Flynn went to MGM for a picture in return for Warner Brothers getting the services of William Powell for Life With Father. I think Powell made out far better in the deal than Flynn did with an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his film.Not that Errol Flynn was bad in That Forsyte Woman, in fact his casting as the proper and stuffy Soames Forsyte was quite a revelation. But the movie-going public simply wouldn't buy it. Errol, not the dashing hero with sword in hand and cape over the other shoulder was not accepted. If That Forsyte Woman had been made a decade earlier and for Warner Brothers, Flynn would have been perfect to play Robert Young's role of Philip Bossiney.Flynn is married to Greer Garson and is guardian of niece Janet Leigh. Leigh is the daughter of black sheep brother in this proper Victorian family, Walter Pidgeon. Pidgeon years ago ran away with his niece's governess after the family did not permit the recently widowed Pidgeon to marry her. Back in those days proper English families did things like that.Anyway the rather staid marriage of Flynn and Garson gets a jolt when opportunistic Robert Young who Leigh has been keeping company with, falls for Garson and she, him. In modern times it would be a no fault divorce, but things aren't done that way in Victorian England.If there is a weakness in casting it's that of Robert Young. I'm surprised that MGM did not use someone like Peter Lawford whom they had under contract and was British besides. Greer was British, but the rest of the cast had two Americans in Young and Leigh, a Canadian in Pidgeon and Flynn was Australian. Young was older than Errol Flynn and just doesn't come over as the young opportunistic lover.Garson of course is the perfect English lady who usually wan't allowed dalliances by MGM, but she's fine here. Greer wrote the introduction to the Films Of Errol Flynn and she says that she found Flynn to be a perfect gentleman and anxious to prove himself a serious actor.He did in many ways in That Forsyte Saga. He was a prisoner of his own legend at this point.

Interesting film and a total change of pace for Errol Flynn, playing an erudite gentleman who is as nasty as can be. He literally forces Greer Garson into a loveless marriage and of course she looks to be loved.For a change, her usual movie partner, Walter Pidgeon, takes on a supporting role and is totally subordinate to Garson all together. It is interesting how they find love together.Another interesting casting move here is Robert Young, the suitor of Janet Leigh, niece of Garson and Flynn. You would never suspect that Garson could find love with Young but they do until tragedy intervenes.This is still basically a story of Victorian England with an upper middle class family's snobbishness along with their traditional folkways and mores.

Found this film quite unbelievable because of the fact that so many men seemed to be attracted to Greer Garson,(Irene Forsyte) first met a very rich man named Soames Forsyte, (Errol Flynn) and Soames falls immediately in love with Irene and he keeps asking Irene to marry him and after many years of trying, Irene decided to say yes to marriage, however, she told him she does not love him. Irene finds it very difficult to join the family named Forsyte who were a very close family who thought Irene was just a gold digger since she was not a very wealthy woman at all. Through out this picture Irene is hit on by many men who fall in love with her, namely: Philip Bosinney,(Robert Young); Young Jolyon Forsyte, (Walter Pidgeon) , all these men want to marry Irene and do not care if she is married or not. Irene even breaks up a marriage between June Forsyte, (Janet Leigh) who was going to marry Philip Bosinney. It is very hard to understand just who Irene really falls in love with, and you will never see the men going to bed with her since this film was made in 1949.