After watching this film again I read the book. The screenwriter has chosen to place an emphasis on the difference in class between Lady Franklin and Leadbitter, which confuses the plot. In the book version, she is a liberal who dislikes class distinctions, and he is a businessman who sees himself capable of becoming as rich as she is. She admires and respects him (and loves him in a sense), but her romantic inclinations are towards men who need her (weak men), and not towards someone as self-sufficient and strong as Leadbitter. Leadbitter brings her out of her depression, but he then mistakes her gratitude for love.
The man she falls in love with in the film is nothing like the man she loves in the novel. In the novel he is a more-or-less penniless painter, whom she hopes to help to realise his full (as she sees it) potential.
I think Hartley was in one sense showing that Leadbitter and Lady Franklin were able to overcome the class barrier even if they weren't able to become romantically involved. I doubt that he would have liked the film, despite the powerful acting.
The man she falls in love with in the film is nothing like the man she loves in the novel. In the novel he is a more-or-less penniless painter, whom she hopes to help to realise his full (as she sees it) potential.
I think Hartley was in one sense showing that Leadbitter and Lady Franklin were able to overcome the class barrier even if they weren't able to become romantically involved. I doubt that he would have liked the film, despite the powerful acting.