USCCB - (Film and Broadcasting) - Light That Failed, The

Light That Failed, The

Alphabetical Listing of Movie Reviews

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Light That Failed, The -- Romanticized version of Rudyard Kipling's story about a newspaper illustrator (Ronald Colman) who receives a saber cut above the eye during a battle in the Sudan, then achieves fame as a London artist until going blind and returning to the Sudan to die with the troops. Producer-director William A. Wellman centers the movie's emotional weight on the artist's compulsion to finish his masterpiece before his eyesight fails and his despair on learning the painting has been destroyed by the street waif (Ida Lupino) who posed for it. Some wartime violence, sexual inferences and suicidal bravado. (A-III) (br) ( 1939 )

These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

A-I -- general patronage;
A-II -- adults and adolescents;
A-III -- adults;
L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
O -- morally offensive.

Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.