The Barretts of Wimpole Street is a 1934 American romantic drama film directed by Sidney Franklin based on the 1930 play of the same title by Rudolf Besier.

It depicts the real-life romance between poets Elizabeth Barrett (Norma Shearer) and Robert Browning (Fredric March), despite the opposition of her abusive father Edward Moulton-Barrett (Charles Laughton).

It was written by Ernest Vajda, Claudine West, and Donald Ogden Stewart, from the successful 1930 play The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolf Besier, and starring Katharine Cornell.

The numerous love letters that Robert and Elizabeth exchanged before their marriage give readers a great deal of information about this famous courtship in their own words.

"[6][7] Andre Sennwald of The New York Times called the film "a drama of beauty, dignity and nobility", praising Shearer's performance as "a brave and touching piece of acting" and Laughton as "superb.

"[8] Variety called it "truly an actor's picture" with a "final stretch that grips and holds", but that overall it was "slow" and "talky" and suggested its running time could have been shortened.

Although McKelway found it "hard to accept Miss Shearer in her role", he called it "sensibly handled from beginning to end, and every now and then Mr. Laughton creates moments as effective, I think, as any you have seen on the screen.

[1][2][3] Its unexpected success in rural U.S. markets, despite its upper-class themes, was mentioned in the 1935 Variety article famously headlined "Sticks Nix Hick Pix".

This version starred Jennifer Jones as Elizabeth, John Gielgud as her father, Bill Travers as Robert Browning, and Keith Baxter in his film debut.