Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought the film rights to
The Forsyte Saga in 1937 after much negotiating over a long period of time. Initial plans were to make an all-star film in the vein of
Dinner at Eight or
Grand Hotel, with
Norma Shearer,
Joan Crawford and
Franchot Tone mentioned as possible stars.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz was assigned to the project, which at one stage was going to be turned into two films.
James Hilton wrote a screenplay in 1938 and in 1939, and it was reported the film would be made as a vehicle for
Myrna Loy.
Clark Gable was going to star as Soames as his follow-up performance to
Gone with the Wind. This did not proceed. In July 1940, it was announced
Greer Garson would star in the film, which would most likely use many of the supporting cast from MGM's 1940 version of
Pride and Prejudice (which had starred Garson). Again, no film was made In 1945, it was announced that
Robert Lord was going to produce the first in a series of proposed movies based on the series from a script by
Robert Nathan.
Deborah Kerr and Garson were named as possible leads. Eventually, Garson was set for the female lead. She had reservations about the script and threatened to withdraw but changed her mind after further work on it.
Compton Bennett signed to direct, and producing duties were taken over by Leon Gordon, who said the film would mostly concentrate on the story of
A Man of Property (written between 1903 and 1906). These ended up being Tors, Lustig and Williams.) MGM wanted
Michael Wilding for one of the leads but were unable to get him. In November, it was announced Errol Flynn would join the cast – he was under contract to Warners, but MGM had had a one-picture call on his services ever since Warner Bros borrowed
William Powell from MGM for
Life with Father. Robert Young, Janet Leigh and Walter Pidgeon rounded out the main stars. Reportedly, Flynn was cast as the
bohemian artist Jolyon and Pidgeon as the stuffy banker Soames. When they met on the set, and discovered that they both were tired of being typecast, they decided to switch roles. (This casting was publicly confirmed in December.) Filming took place from December 1948 to March 1949. Flynn and Garson were recalled for reshoots in June. Robert Young later claimed he developed his English accent from listening to records of
Maurice Evans and
Laurence Olivier. Flynn and Garson got along surprisingly well during filming and discussed making another film together, such as a project about female pirate
Mary Burns. However, this movie was not made. ==Release==