Was anyone else disappointed? Did you wonder about these things too?

This is one of the most fantastic posts I've ever read on IMDB.

Or on the internet in general, perhaps.

I had a good laugh at your questions. Well I am also the sort of person who still considers long gone schoolfriends "Friends" although they usually tell me to bog off in a polite manner. I think her schoolfriend only considered her a friend b/c she had got famous.
The schoolfriend probably found all those rich men because she seemed a bit of a sneaky personality.
I think the actress was pretty and the character she played had a kind of charm to her.
I laughed about the cats and the wealth and no sex though. I think the film was trying to show a sexually repressed man full of complexes because his mother had left his father back in the days when these things were taboo and it was all in the newspapers.
This film shows the naieveity of the times more than anything; the way they believed in psycology and freudaism with a religious fevour. Perhaps the ideas in it were new at the time.

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Well, there is one point in your post I can address. Francesca's records are almost certainly studio recordings. Once she became fairly well-known for her live performances, she would have signed a contract with a studio like His Master's Voice (the British affiliate of RCA.) Naturally the pieces she played most often in concert would be the ones that fans would want to have on record.

I have always felt the ending of the movie was a cop-out, because it seems so obvious that Nicholas is gay. The logical ending of the movie would be for Francesca to come down the stairs, look at all three of the men in her life, and then continue walking out out the front door. But I guess if you had James Mason in a movie in those days, he had to end up with the girl.

Oh please, read the film book, which describes that Nicholas is "much in demand" among his social circle. It seems pretty obvious to me that he beds women, but doesn't permit any further intimacy, until his second cousin shows up. Let's face it, we never really know Nicholas, like we know Francesca. What happened to his father? Why was the divorce proceeding so traumatic to him? It is also obvious that he has, much against his will, been falling in love with Francesca for a long time, so why does he hide it from her and himself? Think about it. He is her guardian and she is living under his roof. Need I mention scandal? She is his second cousin, which is also prone to gossip, although legally they can marry. The psychological factors are upfront - he hates and fears intimacy.

As for the suggestion that Nicholas is gay. Hah. Could James Mason ever be anything less than the coolest hunk of manhood in town? Hah, I say again. As for the cat (or cats), some truly antedileuvian people associate liking cats with effeminancy. Hah, again. My husband and brother love cats, and no one questions their preferences.

As for the ending. What could be more perfect? If she had chosen either of her other suitors, what a bummer that would have been. I cheer at the ending everytime. A wonderful, ultra romantic, silly bit of nonsense starring the most handsome and finest actor who ever graced the silver screen. What's not to love about that?

Movie girl: I really did love this film. I saw it on TV when I was a kid with my mother and older sister. I remember we all cheered when Francesca selected Nicholas. As a woman I can well understand that Nicholas was the type that did not want to be around any woman intimately unless it was love. Now, he did not want to ever fall in love and marry. His mother had hurt him greatly by deserting the family many years ago and he had been turned off on women in a personal way ever since. He did not want Francesca to misunderstand his motives as her guardian, so would not even let her hug him! That was pretty extreme. Remember the butler answering Francesca's questions that it is an all male household? He says she should not question Nicholas about it.

After he had come to know and appreciate Francesca one day Nichols realized that his feelings were love! (Now some men may have preferred casual affairs like you were saying, but I am a true romantic. Can't believe it of Nicholas). Nicholas really struggled to repress his feelings for a long time. Admittedly he went overboard by keeping an eye on his ward nearly 24/7. He really feared she would run away and elope with Peter....

Regarding the cats, James was a real cat lover in his real life. Here I think the kitty represents his feeling of loneliness. He or she is a substitute.

Nicholas overreacts to Francesca's first intention to marry Peter - she is only 17 and he Firmly tells her he is her guardian for the next 7 years! She tearfully looks up at him after he has slapped her. Now at 25 when he has hired Max to paint her picture, it does not occur to Nicholas that the painter and his ward might fall in love. Max does not want to marry and is going to because he has fallen hard for her. Nicholas tries to accept the situation and then gets pretty mad when he hears it would be a live-in arrangement for awhile. He is so angry that she is leaving and whacks blindly at the piano keys. I thought he had really hit her hands, as they were bandaged in hospital. I think Dr. Larsen, the psychiatrist felt it was best to keep her hands bandaged, as she felt psychologically that he had hit her hands and she could never play again!

Dr. Larsen (who has now figured out Nicholas's true feelings) invites Nicholas and Peter to Max the painter's house to witness the final denoument; Francesca's choice of the man she loves... THe end is quite compelling when Francesca runs down the stairs and into the study to hug Nicholas - He turns and she has made her choice! ... Ann may have really been a pianist. A friend recently loaned her
biography to me. ... Also THe romance seemed real between her and Nicholas eventually. Briefly said, it was a true romance that could never be. She and Mason were both married, so they could not be together. They did not want to hurt their families.

Movie girl: I really did love this film. I saw it on TV when I was a kid with my mother and older sister. I remember we all cheered when Francesca selected Nicholas. As a woman I can well understand that Nicholas was the type that did not want to be around any woman intimately unless it was love. Now, he did not want to ever fall in love and marry. His mother had hurt him greatly by deserting the family many years ago and he had been turned off on women in a personal way ever since. He did not want Francesca to misunderstand his motives as her guardian, so would not even let her hug him! That was pretty extreme. Remember the butler answering Francesca's questions that it is an all male household? He says she should not question Nicholas about it.

After he had come to know and appreciate Francesca one day Nichols realized that his feelings were love! (Now some men may have preferred casual affairs like you were saying, but I am a true romantic. Can't believe it of Nicholas). Nicholas really struggled to repress his feelings for a long time. Admittedly he went overboard by keeping an eye on his ward nearly 24/7. He really feared she would run away and elope with Peter....

Regarding the cats, James was a real cat lover in his real life. Here I think the kitty represents his feeling of loneliness. He or she is a substitute.

Nicholas overreacts to Francesca's first intention to marry Peter - she is only 17 and he Firmly tells her he is her guardian for the next 7 years! She tearfully looks up at him after he has slapped her. Now at 25 when he has hired Max to paint her picture, it does not occur to Nicholas that the painter and his ward might fall in love. Max does not want to marry and is going to because he has fallen hard for her. Nichols tries to accept the situation and then gets pretty mad when he hears it would be a live-in arrangement for awhile. He is so angry that she is leaving and whacks blindly at the piano keys. I thought he had really hit her hands, as they were bandaged in hospital. A psychiatrist is called in to aid the girl who really feel her hands were injured for good. Many things come into play here, but don't want to create a spoiler. I think the film is worth another try.

Regarding chemistry between Ann and James; Briefly said, it was a true romance that could never be. She and Mason were both married, so they could not be together.

Movie girl: One more thing - I thought Ann Todd had a regal beauty. Remember her guardian had undermined her in regular teenage life's activities, as he was training her to become a musician. So she seems sullen and unreachable, but look at her guardian! He had repressed her and he in turn was repressed!

No, he did not get urges. He was a regular man in the story but felt painfully angry with women. So he had become a confirmed bachelor and we are supposed to think he shunned all women.. He was at the point of becoming a recluse, we see. But boy, he must have been loaded. His money supply did not wear out in 7 years in Europe?

Nicholas was angry at Francesca's old "school friend" who was spitefully jealous of her. She really tried to ruin her confidence. It did cost her the audition. She was too shocked to respond with a well-placed rejoinder! (That girl was positively unattractive - how did she get the 2 wealthy husbands? A real puzzler).

I think Nicholas preferred a quite life. A guess he was a wealthy gentleman who liked to sit in his library and read and stroke his cats!

I take it the kindly butler took care of the cats while they were in Europe.

I think Peter liked her because of her shyness. He felt sorry for her and even fell for her, but she was whisked away to Europe by Nicholas in the nick of time.

I don't think it was a thriller either; rather, an engrossing melodrama.