The Lady with a Lamp is a 1951 British historical drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding and Felix Aylmer. The film depicts the life of Florence Nightingale and her work with wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War. It was shot at Shepperton Studios outside London. Location shooting took place at Cole Green railway station in Hertfordshire and at Lea Hurst, the Nightingale family home, near Matlock in Derbyshire. The film's sets were designed by the art director William C. Andrews. It is based on the 1929 play The Lady with a Lamp by Reginald Berkeley.
Plot
Illustrating the political complexities the hard-headed nurse had to battle in order to achieve sanitary medical conditions during the Crimean War. Opposed in the uppermost circles of British government because she is "merely" a woman, Florence Nightingale is championed by the Hon. Sidney Herbert (Michael Wilding), minister of war. Herbert pulls strings to allow Nightingale and her nursing staff access to battlefield hospitals, and in so doing changes the course of medical history.
Main cast
Anna Neagle as Florence Nightingale
Michael Wilding as Lord Herbert
Felix Aylmer as Lord Palmerston
Gladys Young as Mrs Bracebridge
Julian D'Albie as Mr Bracebridge
Arthur Young as William Gladstone
Edwin Styles as Mr Nightingale
Helen Shingler as Parthenope Nightingale
Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs Sidney Herbert
Clement McCallin as Richard M. Milnes
Helena Pickard as Queen Victoria
Peter Graves as Prince Albert
Sybil Thorndike as Miss Bosanquet
Monckton Hoffe as Lord Stratford
Cecil Trouncer as Sir Douglass Dawson
Michael Craig as Wounded Soldier
Box office
The film was popular at the British box office.
Critical reception
TV Guide gave the film three out of four stars, and noted, "the contrast in settings--between stately British homes and the squalor of the hospital--focuses the viewer's attentions on what the real battles were. Honorable mention should be given to Lewthwaite's editing of the war sequences."; while Leonard Maltin also gave the film three out of four stars, noting a "Methodical recreation of 19th- century nurse-crusader Florence Nightingale, tastefully enacted by Neagle."; while Variety observed, "Anna Neagle adds another portrait to her screen gallery of famous women. Her characterization of Florence Nightingale is a sincerely moving study...Michael Wilding is not too happily cast as Sidney Herbert, War Minister. Within limitations, he makes the best of this part. The strong feature cast includes Felix Aylmer, with an exceptionally good study of Lord Palmerston. Herbert Wilcox, as always, directs in a plain, straightforward manner."