Got a whale of a tale to tell you, lads. A whale of a tale or two. 'Bout the flappin' fish and the girls I've loved, on nights like this with the moon above. A whale of a tale and it's all true, I swear by my tattoo - - - -
The above song lyrics are from my favorite Kirk Douglas motion picture, Walt Disney's, 1954, "20,000 League Under the Sea", more later. When an actor appeared in 95 different roles, produced 31 motion pictures, and directed 2. You need a book to tell their story, but this is a blog and I've picked 12 motion pictures to give my reader just a taste of the actor's career.
The above 1955 lobby card, shows Kirk Douglas portraying "Johnny Hawks", with Italian actress Elsa Martinelli. This was only her 3rd motion picture, and her 1st English language film. She portrayed the Native American young woman, "Onahati".
Issur Danielovitch was born on December 9, 1916, in Amsterdam, New York. He was the 4th of 7-children, and the only boy born to Byrna (Bertha) Sangel Danielovitch, and Herschel (Harry) Danielovitch. His parents are Jewish immigrants from what is today Belarus. In this home the only language spoken was Yiddish. According to Kirk Douglas's autobiography, 1988's, "The Ragman's Son", describing his family life:
My father, who had been a horse trader in Russia, got himself a horse and a small wagon, and became a ragman, buying old rags, pieces of metal, and junk for pennies, nickels, and dimes ... Even on Eagle Street, in the poorest section of town, where all the families were struggling, the ragman was on the lowest rung on the ladder. And I was the ragman's son.
According to his autobiography, "Harry" was an abusive, alcoholic, who drank all the little money he made, causing his mother and sister to live in:
crippling poverty
According to Kirk Douglas's, 2007, "Let's Face It: 90 Years of Living, Loving, and Learning", upon arrival in the United States, his parent's adopted the same last name as his Uncle, Demsky, to better blend into the American experience. As a result, Issur Danielovitch, grew up with the nickname of "Izzy" Demsky.
Iassur wanted to be an actor, but after graduating high school, in which he had appeared in several plays, he faced the situation of not having the money to pay for college. He talked his way into the office of the "Dean" of "St. Lawrence University", a church of "Christian Universalism". He was given a loan, which he would pay back working part-time as a gardener, and a janitor. Issur graduated, below, in 1939 with a "Bachelor's Degree".
...it's very snappy and quite intriguingly played by a cast that has been well and smartly directed by Jacques Tourneur. Robert Mitchum is magnificently cheeky and self-assured as the tangled 'private eye,' consuming an astronomical number of cigarettes in displaying his nonchalance. And Jane Greer is very sleek as his Delilah, Kirk Douglas is crisp as a big crook and Richard Webb, Virginia Huston, Rhonda Fleming and Dickie Moore are picturesque in other roles. If only we had some way of knowing what's going on in the last half of this film, we might get more pleasure from it. As it is, the challenge is worth a try.
Of Kirk Douglas's next nine roles, two always seem to stand-out. 1949's, "Champion", is a boxing story about the rise and fall of "Midge Kelly", portrayed by Kirk Douglas. Who was nominated for the "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Best Actor Oscar". The following year, he portrayed the fictional trumpet player "Rick Martin", in "Young Man with a Horn". The screenplay by Carl Foreman was based upon the 1938 novel by Dorothy Baker. That was based upon the life of Jazz cornetist Blix Beiderbecke, with Harry James providing the music coming from the horn of Kirk Douglas. The motion picture co-starred Lauren Bacall and Doris Day.
Kirk Douglas portrayed "Chuck Tatum". One month earlier, Douglas had been seen in director Raul Walsh's, Western, "Along the Great Divide", co-starring with Virginia Mayo and John Ager. At the time of filming, Agar was close to finalizing his messy divorce from Shirley Temple. My article, "John Agar His Fall That Led to Science Fiction Cult Status", is available to read at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2015/03/john-agar-his-fall-that-led-to-science.html
Jan Sterling portrayed "Lorriane Minosa". Sterling had just been seen, with fifth billing, in 1951's, "The Mating Season", a "B" comedy drama starring 1940's actors, Gene Tierney, John Lund, and Miriam Hopkins. In 1954, she was one of the passengers in director William "Wild Bill" Wellman's, "The High and the Mighty", and in 1956, was in a stark version of George Orwell's, "1984", co-starring with Edmond O'Brien and Michael Redgrave. My article is "Jan Sterling: Lingerie - Fate - and a Motion Picture Career" at:
The first incident was in 1925, when W. Floyd Collins was trapped after a landside, inside Sand Cave, part of Mammoth Cave National Park, the largest cave system in world, located in Kentucky. The Louisville newspaper, the "Courier-Journal", sent reporter William Burke Miller to cover it and his coverage, became a national event and won Miller a "Pulitzer Prize".
The second incident was in April 1949, when three-year-old Kathy Fiscus of San Marino, California, fell into an abandoned well, and during the rescue operation, which lasted for several days, attracted thousands of lookie-loos.
Sadly, in both events, Collins and the little Fiscus girl died, before rescuers could reach them.
Mr. Boot, I'm a $250-a-week newspaperman. I can be had for $50.He's hired for $60 a week, but "Boot" is leery of his new reporter. A year passes and "Tatum" has remained sober, but writing boring local articles.
One day, "Chuck Tatum", and photographer, "Herbie Cook", portrayed by Robert Arthur, are sent to cover a small-town rattle snake hunt. They stop for gasoline and learn of a local man, "Leo Minosa", portrayed by Richard Benedict, has gotten trapped while gathering Indian artifacts in the collapse of an Indian cliff dwelling.
The two go out to the scene, are able to get close enough to talk with "Minosa", and pass him food.
"Tatum" goes to "Sheriff Kretzer", portrayed by Ray Teal, to give "Chuck" the exclusive access to "Leo Minosa", in exchange for newspaper coverage that will guarantee "Kretzer's" re-election.
Enter Joseph Breen of the "Hayes Censorship Office", who objected to Billy Wilder's depiction, on-screen, of a corrupt law enforcement officer. Breen insisted, to get the screenplay passed, dialogue had to be added to tell the audience that "Sheriff Kretzer" would be held responsible for his actions.
Next, "Tatum" and "Kretzer", go to the construction contractor, "Sam Smollett", portrayed by Frank Jaquet, to inquire about the rescue operation. They're told it will take 12 to 16 hours to get "Leo" freed. The two convince "Smollett" to drill from above, which will take a week, and keep the rescue attempt of "Leo Minosa" on the nations front page.
"Lorraine Minosa", "Leo's" wife, wanted out of their struggling business, a combination trading post and restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly, because of "Chuck Tatum's" stories, tourists are coming and her business is making money for the first time.
Above, Jan Sterling, Kirk Douglas, and Robert Arthur.
Young, "Herbie Cook", is thinking he could become a major photographer by selling photos to magazines like "Life" and "Look" over the rescue story. "Chuck Tatum" has gotten the young man's values changing to his own. The two quit the local newspaper and "Tatum" talks his old boss into exclusive stories for $1,000 per day and his old job.
Remorseful, "Chuck Tatum" sends a newsflash that "Leo" will be rescued within the next 12 hours. He goes to "Smollett' and tells him to stop drilling and shore up the walls, but learns that the vibrations from the drilling have made that option impossible. "Tatum" goes to "Lorraine Minosa", and in both a verbal and physical fight with her, she grabs a pair of scissors and stabs "Chuck".
The picture ends as "Tatum" walks back into the offices of the "Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin", goes up to "Boot" and asks:
How'd you like to make yourself $1,000 a day, Mr. Boot? I'm a $1,000-a-day newspaperman. You can have me for nothin'
Then, falls down, dead!
Found on "Robert Ebert.com", dated August 12, 2007 is:
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-ace-in-the-hole-1951
Although the film is 56 years old, I found while watching it again that it still has all its power. It hasn't aged because Wilder and his co-writers, Walter Newman and Lesser Samuels, were so lean and mean [with their dialogue] ... [Kirk Douglas'] focus and energy ... is almost scary. There is nothing dated about [his] performance. It's as right-now as a sharpened knife.
In 1961, writer Harold Robbins's novel, "The Carpetbagger's" was released and the debate as to who his "Hollywood" types were really. Two characters have always been considered based upon real personalities. The main character of "Jonas Chord, Jr." was a too obvious, "TWA" founder and one time owner of "RKO" studios, Howard Robard Hughes Jr., and "Rina Marlowe's" name was a give away for actress, "Jean Harlow". Even "Rina's" fictional husband, "Claude Dunbar" was extremely close to Harlow's, Paul Bern. It's the third main character, Cowboy actor, "Nevada Smith" that even today, remains a major debate. My article on the 1961 novel, the 1964 motion picture, and the mystery of "Smith" is "TOM MIX, KEN MAYNARD, WILLIAM BOYD: The Mystery of Who Was Author Harold Robbins's 'Nevada Smith" for my readers investigation at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2025/03/tom-mix-ken-maynard-william-boyd.html
What does "The Carpetbagger's" have to do with Kirk Douglas? We have to go back NINE-YEARS to:
THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL premiered in Los Angles on December 25, 1952
Like the novel "The Carpetbagger's", this screenplay's character's were based upon real "Hollywood Personalities", with threats of lawsuits being made over them. While the public's guessing game continued.
The screenplay was based upon a short story, "Of Good and Evil", by George Bradshaw, found in a 1948 issue of "Cosmopolitan Magazine". Bradshaw would expand his short story into a longer version after "The Bad and the Beautiful" was released, entitled, "Memorial to a Bad Man".
Charles Schnee wrote the actual screenplay and among his others is being the co-writer on director Howard Hawks's, 1949's, "Red River", and the "Second Red Scare" science fiction, 1950's, "The Next Voice You Hear".
The motion picture was directed by Vincente Minnelli. He had just directed the George and Ira Gershwin musical, "An American in Paris", co-starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. Minnelli followed this motion picture with another major musical, 1953's, "The Band Wagon", co-starring Fred Astaire, and Cyd Charisse.
The Main Cast:
Lana Turner portrayed "Georgia Lorrison". Turner had just co-starred with Fernando Lamas in the "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer", 1952, "The Merry Widow".
Lana Turner's character of "Georgia Lorrison" is a daughter of a "Great Profile Actor Father" like John Barrymore. Making "Georgia" a version of 31-years-old, Diana Barrymore, who was married to her third husband at the film's release.
Kirk Douglas portrayed "Jonathan Shields". His two previous motion picture were "BIG" pictures, the 1952 Western, "The Big Trees", and director Howard Hawks's, 1952, Western, "The Big Sky".
Kirk Douglas's character of motion picture producer "Jonathan Shields" is a composite. According to the "Turner Classic Website" at:
Stories about the film's basis in fact were so strong that independent producer David O. Selznick asked one of his lawyers to view the film and let him know if it contained anything libelous about him. Despite the parallels between Selznick's life and that of the father-obsessed independent producer played by Douglas, the lawyer determined that there were no grounds for a lawsuit.
The head of "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer" at the time the motion picture was in production, Isadore "Dore" Schary, is on record as stating he believed Charles Schnee's screenplay, had blended David O' Selznick, Orson Welles, and horror/terror master Val Lewton into one character. With a little bit of future legitimate theater producer, David Merrick, 1961, "Irma La Douce", 1963, "Oliver", and 1964, "Hello Dolly".
Walter Pidgeon portrayed "Harry Pebbel". He had just co-starred with Esther Williams, Victor Mature, and David Brian's, 1952, "Million Dollar Mermaid". After this feature film, Walter Pidgeon was reunited with his "Mrs. Miniver" co-star, Greer Garson in the financial loss, 1953's, "A Scandal at Scourie".
Pidgeon's role was based upon "B" movie producer, Harry Rapf, who worked on "MGM's" low budget films. Rapf's passed away in 1949, but his film included 1930's, "Min and Bill", 1933's, "Tug Boat Annie", both starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery, and 1937's, "Thoroughbred's Don't Cry", starring Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, and Sophie Tucker.
Dick Powell portrayed screenplay writer, "James Lee Bartlow". Powell had just co-starred with Rhonda Fleming in the film-noir, 1951's, "Cry Danger".
Gloria Grahame portrayed his wife, "Rosemary Bartlow". Grahame had been in producer and director Cecil B. DeMille's, 1952, "The Greatest Show on Earth".
"Bartlow" is based upon novelist William Faulkner, who worked on the screenplays for director Howard Hawks's, 1944, "To Have and Have Not", and 1946's, "The Big Sleep", among other films. "Rosemary" is a character that is obviously based upon in temperament and background to Faulkner's actual wife.
Barry Sullivan portrayed "Fred Amiel". Sullivan had just been seen in the Esther Williams, Joan Evans, and Vivian Blaine, 1952, "Skirts Ahoy!".
There appears to be no specific person that this character is based upon. According to the screenplay, "Fred Amiel" co-produces with "Jonathan Shields", "The Doom of the Cat Men", which is a homage to producer Val Lewton's, 1942, horror classic, "The Cat People". Which uses lightening and mood to scare the pants off the audience, but never shows actual violence, or blood. This specific filming in "The Bad and the Beautiful", tends to place Val Lewton as the inspiration for both characters.
Gilbert Roland portrayed "Victor 'Gaucho' Ribera". Roland had just been seen in another Western, the very forgotten, 1952, "Apache War Smoke", co-starring with Robert Horton, five-years before the first of his 189-episodes of televisions "Wagon Train". Between 1946 - 1947, he was the motion picture's "The Cisco Kid" in 6-movies.
Gilbert Roland's character's last name seems to point to Porfirio Rubirosa Ariza. Whom many sources linked the playboy Dominican diplomat, and rumored assassin to documented affairs with:
Dolores Del Río, Eartha Kitt, Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Maria Montez, Rita Hayworth, Dorothy Dandridge, Lupe Velez, Soraya Esfandiary, Peggy Hopkins, Joyce, Joan Crawford, Veronica Lake, Kim Novak, Judy Garland, Eva Peron, and Amalia Rodrigues
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porfirio_Rubirosa
Leo G. Carroll portrayed "Henry Whitfield". Carroll had just appeared in the Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, and Ava Gardner, 1952 version of American an author Ernest Hemmingway's, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro".
Kathleen Freeman portrayed "Mrs. March". Freeman had just portrayed "Gertrud Holf", in the 1952 version of "The Prisoner of Zenda".
Carroll's "Whitfield"was director Alfred Hitchcock, and Freeman's assistant to "Whitfield", was Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville. They're seen left, below.
My reader has the player's in this psychological drama about an unscrupulous movie producer that uses others as pawns in a chess game to reach the pinocle his chosen professional. Rather than attempt to tell you the story line, I give my reader, as of this writing, a link to an excellent copy of the motion picture to enjoy the performances.
https://archive.org/details/the-bad-and-the-beautiful-1952-vincente-minnelli
My next motion picture is rarely known, or seen by the majority of the fans of Kirk Douglas. It was also the 1st American Made Motion Picture, that was filmed in the newly created "State of Israel". A little "Hollywood History" can be found in my article "The Creation of Today's Middle East-'HISTORIC REALITY vs HOLLYWOOD': T. E. Lawrence, Prince Faisal, Lowell Thomas, and Mickey Marcus" at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2021/05/the-creation-of-todays-middle-east.html
THE JUGGLER released on May 5, 1953
In “The Juggler” Douglas plays Hans Muller a Jewish Munich native who, before the war had been a celebrated and beloved juggler but whose concentration camp experience had emotionally crippled him (early in the picture at the Haifa disembarkation) Muller accosts a woman and her children insisting they were his family, despite knowing his family was murdered. When asked by an emigration official what he can do besides juggle, he says:
I can wash dishes, sweep barracks, clean toilets. I can also smile while being beaten by fists, feet, straps and long rubber hoses. I can be used as a guinea pig for new drugs and old poisons. All of which we learned as guests of the Nazis.
Muller’s mental damage is further revealed where he inadvertently kills an Israeli policeman mistaking him for a Nazi. Douglas’s escape, eventual capture and inevitable rehabilitation, was profiled against the rugged landscape of an emerging Israel.
- - - - thanks to the conception and to the performance that Mr. Douglas gives, a strong and compelling sense of character and of human pathos does come through.
Walter Elias Disney and animator Max Fleischer had been feuding since the 1920's, and this next motion picture finally brought the feud to an end, sort of. My article is "The Walt Disney, Max Fleischer Animation Feud" at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2015/04/the-great-walt-disney-max-fleischer.html
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA premiered in West Germany on June 29, 1954 at the "Berlin International Film Festival"
The screenplay was based upon French author, Jules Gabriel Verne's, "Vinge Mille Lieues sous Les Mers (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)", first serialized starting in March 1869. in French publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel's periodical, "Magasin d'education et de recreation (Education and Recreation Store)".
Above, Jules Gabriel Verne, below, Pierre-Jules Hetzel
My article on the author is "Jules Verne On The Motion Picture Screen" dreaming of the future at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2022/01/jules-verne-on-motion-picture-screen.html
Earl Felton turned Verne's novel into a screenplay. The following comes from director Richard Fleischer's 1993, autobiography, "Just Tell Me When to Cry":
Earl was crippled from childhood with polio. He had no use of his legs, but he navigated beautifully with a crutch and cane... Earl normally hated anybody [helping]... him and would sometimes lay about him with his cane.
Among his early work was the Bruce Cabot and Virginia Grey, 1937 crime drama, "The Bad Guy", and two series films starring Warren William, 1940's, "The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date", and "The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance". Earl Felton wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay for director Preston Surges, Classic Comedy Western, 1949's, "The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend", starring Betty Grable. After this motion picture, it was the Robert Mitchum and Gilbert Roland, 1956,"Bandido!", and without credit, producer and director Stanley Kramer's, 1957, "The Pride and the Passion", co-starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, and Sophia Loren.
Richard Fleischer was the film's director and the personal choice of Walt Disney, see my article on the animation feud. At this time, he had completed 5-series of shorten old movies entitled "Flicker Flashbacks", a documentary, and a few "B" films for "Columbia Pictures", such as 1952's, "The Happy Time", co-starring Charles Boyer and Louis Jourdan. Later, after this feature, Richard Fleischer would direct among other feature films, 1966's, "Fantastic Voyage", the American portions of 1970's, "Tora! Tora! Tora!:", and 1973's, "Soylent Green".
Kirk Douglas portrayed "Ned Land". The motion picture that followed this feature is my next to speak too.
James Mason portrayed "Captain Nemo". Mason had just co-starred with Janet Leigh and Robert Wagner in 1954's, "Prince Valiant". He would follow this motion picture portraying "Norman Maine", opposite Judy Garland, in the 1954 musical version of "A Star Is Born". My article is "James Mason: A Spotlight On His 1950's Roles"at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2023/09/james-mason-spotlight-on-his-1950s-roles.html
Paul Lukas portrayed "Professor Pierre Aronnax". Lukas was a classic 1930's, 1940's, leading man. Among his films were the 1933 horror mystery, "Secret of the Blue Room", co-starring with Lionel Atwill and Gloria Stuart, Katharine Hepburn's, 1933, "Little Women", portraying "Athos" in the 1935 "The Three Musketeers", and co-starring in director Alfred Hitchcock's 1938, "The Lady Vanishes". Paul Lukas was featured in the Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard classic horror comedy, 1940's, "The Ghost Breakers", in 1943, he co-starred with Bette Davis in "Watch on the Rhine", followed by co-starring with Errol Flynn in 1944's, "Uncertain Glory".
Peter Lorre portrayed the assistant to "Professor Aronnax", "Conseil". Lorre had just been seen in director John Huston's dark comedy, 1953's, "Beat the Devil", starring Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, and Gina Lollobrigida, and co-written with John Huston by Truman Capote. My article is "PETER LORRE: Overlooked, or Forgotten Performances" at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2017/11/peter-lorre-overlooked-or-forgotten.html
Two Overlooked Solid Actors:
Robert J. Wilke portrayed "The First Mate of the Nautilus". Wilke's first on-screen appearance was in one of the uncredited roles of an "Earthquake Survivor" in 1936's, "San Francisco", starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald featuring Spencer Tracy. Which was followed by the stunt man/actor appearing as an uncredited "Henchman", in mostly "B" Westerns, and the occasional "B" crime film. However, his face became more known than his name over his more than 300-roles . Along with Lee Van Cleef and Sheb Wooley, the three finally were recognized, still as Western villains, in the classic 1952 Western, "High Noon", starring Gary Cooper. Below, Robert J. Wilke is in the center between Paul Lukas and James Mason.
Ted de Corisa portrayed "Navy Captain Farragut". De Corsia was another recognizable face without putting a name to it. The actor's first on-screen role was very different than Robert Wilke. He portrayed the 5th-credited role in co-writer, director, and star, Orson Welles's, 1947, "The Lady from Shanghai", also starring Rita Hayworth. Ted de Corisa had no uncredited roles, but was best known for his gangster portrayals. Although, he played the Tartar, "Kumlek", out to get his woman back from the future Mongol, "Genghis Khan", portrayed by John Wayne, in producer Howard Hughes's, 1956, "The Conqueror".
I don't want to forget Kirk Douglas's romantic lead, actress Esmeralda, portraying according to the website, "IMDb" at https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9110894/?ref_=ttfc_fcr_3_17 portrayed the role of a "Seal". The website is looking for more information on the actress, her bio, and trivia.
An Overview of Earl Felton's screenplay:
The year is 1868, the American Civil War ended three-years earlier, and there are reports of a sea monster attacking and sinking shipping in the Pacific Oceans. (The novel's events take place between the Summer of 1866 into 1868).
Two events take place, one has master harpooner, "Ned Land", approaching a group of people, with two saloon women, Laurie Mitchell and Gloria Poll, on each of his arms.
The group are listening to "Old Billy", portrayed by J. M. Kerrigan, and a fast talking "Casey", portrayed by Fred Graham, telling the group tall tales about "Billy" surviving the monster's attack.
"Ned" provokes the two men starting a brawl, is arrested by the police.
The second is "Professor Aronnax" and his apprentice/assistant "Conseil" are told that their ship will not leave port, because of the fear of the monster. The two are stuck in the United States, but along comes "John Howard", of the United States Department of State, and offers the two a way around the stoppage of shipping.
The offer is to spend some time on the United States Naval frigate "The Abraham Lincoln" searching for the sea monster. Then "Captain Faragate" declares the search over, he will take the two to any part they want. The professor accepts the terms and on-board "The Abraham Lincoln" meets master harpooner, "Ned Land".
There was no sight of any sea monster, several whales mistaken, and the professor's theory that the monster is a "Narwhal". "Ned" gets out his guitar and sings a sailors song in one of the few times Kirk Douglas was given in motion pictures to show off this talent.
"Ned" sings the Norman Gimbel and Al Hoffman's:
Man cannot look upon the face of the Gorgon and live!
There is hope for the future. And when the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass... in God's good time.
UILSSE released October 6, 1954 in Italy.
The motion picture would come to the United States as "Ulysses", on August 17, 1955.
Note the reversal of the two leading actors between Italy and the United States on the above posters.
The motion picture was Produced, by soon to be major names in Worldwide cinema, Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti. It was an American and Italian co-production.
The adaptation of Greek poet Homer's work, "The Odyssey", was by American Ben Hecht. Among Hecht's screenplays are, 1934's, "Viva Villa", that starred Wallace Beery and Fay Wray, 1939's, "Wuthering Heights", Directed by William Wyler, the Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara, 1942, pirate story, "The Black Swan", and Alfred Hitchcock's, 1946,
The initial screenplay was written by Franco Brusati. Who wrote the 1968 screenplay for Director Franco Zefferilli's adaptation of William Shakespeare's, "Romeo and Juliet". While in 1974, he wrote the screenplay and directed "Bread and Chocolate". Which was nominated by the "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences" for "Best Foreign Language Film".
There were several other contributing screenplay writers as the filming progressed. These are, Ennio De Concini, Hugh Gray, Ivo Perilli and American author, Irwin Shaw, the novels, "The Young Lions" and "Rich Man, Poor Man".
Mario Camerini, in 1926, had Directed, "Maciste contro lo sceicco (Maciste Against the Shiek)" and assisted as both a Director and screenplay writer on this feature.
Kirk Douglas portrayed "Ulisse (Ulysses)". Douglas would be seen, next, in 1955's, "The Racers".
Silvana Mangano portrayed two different roles, "Penelope" and "Circe". Mangano raised herself from poverty to become one of the major dramatic Italian actresses of the 1950's and 1960's.
Above, she is the enchantress, "Circe".
Antony Quinn portrayed "Antinoos (Antinous)". This was the second of three feature films Quinn made, at this time, in Italy. He had already been seen, Internationally, in Director Federico Fellini's, 1954, "La Strada".
Rossana Podesta portrayed "Nausicaa". Podesta was five films away from International Stardom. That fifth film was director Robert Wise's epic, based upon Homer's "The Iliad", "Helen of Troy".
The movie opens in the palace of the "King of Ithaca", "Ulysses", who has been missing for seven years, since the sacking of the City of Troy. His wife, "Queen Penelope", has many suitors for his crown including "Antinous". In point of fact, these suitors are all freeloaders, and "Penelope" has been putting them off with one excuse after another, but time is running out for her.
One morning, the stranger goes alone, to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea and looks at the waves coming ashore. As the stranger watches, he starts to remember that he is "Ulysses", King of Ithaca, and the events leading him to Phaeacia.
The movie now switches to the sacking and burning of Troy. "Ulysses" is confronted by "Cassandra", played by Argentine actress Elena Zareschi, the daughter of the King and Queen of Troy and sister of "Paris", within the temple of the God, Neptune. "Cassandra", the Temple's Priestess, places a curse upon the King of Ithaca.
As his ship sets sail from Troy for Ithaca, a strange storm comes up, and blows the ship off course.
After the storm ends, an island is seen, and "Ulysses" and his crew go ashore to find food. There, they will encounter the Giant Cyclops, "Polyphemus", played by Italian actor Umberto Silvestri, the son of Neptune.
"Ulysses" and his crew find a cave and upon entering, they discover food, but more important a large vat of wine. The crew becomes very drunk as "Polyphemus" enters, finds "Ulysses" and his crew, blocks the entrance with a large boulder and plans to eat them all. "Ulysses" is able to get a large wooden stake into a fire pit and with some of his remaining crew. They ram the hot tip of the stake into the eye of the cyclops.
Back at sea, the ship approaches the rocks of the sirens that drive seamen crazy with their song. "Ulysses" tells his crew to lash him to mast pole, so that he may hear the call of the sirens, but orders his crew to put cloth, covered in wax, in their ears to avoid going mad.
"Circe" is a sorceress and makes "Ulysses" believe he is in love with her. Time passes, and "Ulysses" stays with 'Circe" for years, but he finally realizes what she's been doing to him. She now calls upon the dead crew of "Ulysses", to return from the Underworld, to convince him to stay with her. However, by having called back his dead, "Circe" has also made a mistake. Joining the crew of phantoms is "Anticlea", played by Italian stage actress Evi Maltagliati, the mother of "Ulysses". She gets her son to remember who he is and helps him escape from "Circe's" island. "Ulysses" builds a raft and he sets out to sea and comes to Phaeacia.
The Stranger, now reveals that he is really, "Ulysses, King of Ithaca" and asks for help to return home to his wife "Penelope". "Nausicaa" is heartbroken, but as a royal princess, understands. "Ulysses" is told about the suitors for his wife's hand. So, when he returns, he hides his identity, as a beggar, to see what is happening.
Earlier, "Penelope", has revealed her plan to stop the suitors. She shows them the bow of "Ulysses", and tells the group, that whomever can string and shoot the bow will be her husband. "Ulysses", unseen and watching from the shadows of the great hall and hearing his wife, now turns to leave. However, his pet dog comes up to him and he pets the animal. Also, having watched the strange beggar from the shadows, is "Telemachus", played by Italian actor Franco Interlenghi, the son of "Ulysses" and the two reveal themselves to each other. Together they hatch a plan for the following days archery contest.
Besides, stringing the bow, an arrow must be shot through twelve axe heads with holes in them. Everyone fails and the beggar approaches and askes "Penelope" for a chance to string the bow. The suitors laugh at him, but "Penelope" lets the beggar try.
One of the suitors calls out that the beggar's "Ulysses". "Ulysses" turns and starts killing each of his wife's suitors with the help of his son. In the end husband and wife are reunited.
There are directors who would have taken over. Minnelli was respectful of the script. He approached it almost as a writer would to get the essence, and be true to the material, true to history, true to the letters [Van Gogh had written his brother, Theo], true to what I had written.
Kirk Douglas portrayed "Vincent van Gogh". He had just been in the 1955 Western, "The Indian Fighter", and would follow this feature film co-starring with Susan Hayworth, in the 1957, comedy, "Top Secret Affair". Below self portrait by Van Gogh, next to Kirk Douglas as the Dutch painter.
Anthony Quinn portrayed painter "Paul Gauguin". Quinn would follow this motion picture with the 1956 French-Italian co-production of author Victor Hugo's, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", co-starring Gina Lolobrigida.
James Donald portrayed "Theo van Gogh". Among the Scottish actors roles is "Major Clipton" in director David Lean's, 1957, "The Bridge on the River Kwai", "Frank Lerner" in Walt Disney's, 1959, "Third Man on the Mountain", "Ramsey, The SBO", in director John Sturges's, 1963, "The Great Escape", and "Doctor Roney" in the 1967 motion picture, "Quatermass and the Pit" aka: "Five Million Years to Earth".
Pamela Brown portrayed "Christine, Vincent's lover, a fictional name based upon his mistress Sien Hoornik (Clasina Maria Hoornik)". She had just been in the British dramatic film, 1956's, "Now and Forever", starring Jannette Scott.
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Kirk Douglas was nominated for the "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Best Actor Oscar", and won the "Golden Globe Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama". His performance is described by the film critic for "The New Yorker, Magazine", John McCarten:
Even if the movie doesn't delve as deeply as it might into the mental processes that made van Gogh behave the way he did, it nevertheless, in the person of Kirk Douglas, confronts us with a character well worth our absorbed attention. Mr. Douglas, who, wearing red whiskers, bears a striking resemblance to van Gogh's self-portraits, succeeds most skillfully in arousing a conviction that he is, in truth, a painter beside himself to capture light and hold it forever on canvas.
The following link will take my reader, at the time of this writing, to this excellent portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, starring a very intense Kirk Douglas.
https://archive.org/details/lust-for-life
Hollywood had turned 30 seconds of reality into as much as 30 minutes of gunfighting action. The date was Wednesday, October 26, 1881, the location was Tombstone, Arizona. When at 3 PM local time Eight Men met in what became the most famous gunfight of the old West.
The above paragraph opens my article, "The Gunfight at the O.K." as Reinvented by Hollywood" shooting it out at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2015/03/the-gunfight-at-ok-corral-as-reinvented.html
GUNFIGHT AT THE O. K. CORRAL premiered in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 28, 1957
For the record, the "Last Train From Gun Hill" premiered on July 9, 1959, and is about Kirk Douglas portraying "Marshall Matt Morgan", bringing in the son for the rape and murder of the Marshall's Native American Wife of his best friend, Anthony Quinn's, "Craig Belden".
The motion picture was directed by John Sturges, who directed a sequel with a different cast as 1967's, "Hour of the Gun". Sturges also directed 1959's, "Last Train From Gun Hill", 1955's, "Bad Day at Black Rock", 1960's, "The Magnificent Seven", 1963's, "The Great Escape", 1968's, "Ice Station Zebra", and 1972's, "Joe Kidd".
The screenplay was written by author Leon Uris, author of the novels and writer of the screenplays for 1955's, "Battle Cry", 1959's, "The Angry Hills", and 1960's, "Exodus".
It was based upon a short story "The Killer", by George Scullin, that was about the relationship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. I could not locate anymore information about the content and according to the "Turner Classic Website" at:
https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/4614/gunfight-at-the-ok-corral#notes
Although various articles list Stuart Lake's 1931 book Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshall as an additional source text for Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the book is not credited in the SAB* or any contemporary reviews.
*Screenwriter's Approval Board
Some Interesting Cast Choices:
It should be noted that John Sturges hired Kirk Douglas to portray "Wyatt Earp" and Burt Lancaster to portray "Doc Holliday". The two actors got together and decided to switch roles on the producer, Hal B. Wallis and the director John Sturges.
Burt Lancaster portrayed "Marshall Wyatt Earp (Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp)". Lancaster had just co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in 1956's, "The Rainmaker", and would follow this motion picture co-starring with Tony Curtis in 1957's, "Sweet Smell of Success". My article is "Burt Lancaster: Circus Acrobat Turned Actor", on the high trapeze at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2016/04/burt-lancaster-circus-acrobat-turned.html
Kirk Douglas portrayed "Doc Holliday (John Henry Holliday)", and would follow this feature with the next one I will be mentioning.
Rhonda Fleming portrayed "Laura Denbow". Like "Clementine Carter", in director John Ford's, 1946, "My Darling Clementine", or even earlier, "Sarah Allen", in 1939's, forgotten, "Frontier Marshall", the character is fictional. Fleming had just been seen in 1957's, "The Buster Keaton Story" starring Donald O'Connor, and would follow this feature film with the Stewart Granger Western, 1957's, "Gun Glory".
Jo Van Fleet portrayed "Kate Fisher", born Maria Izabella Magdolna Horony aka: "Big Nose Kate". Fleet had just been seen in Clark Gable's, 1956, "The King and Four Queens" and followed this feature with the Anthony Perkins drama, 1958's, "This Angry Age".
John Ireland portrayed "Johnny Ringo (John Peters Ringo)". In 1946, John Ireland portrayed "Billy Clanton (William Harrison Clanton)", in director John Ford's, "My Darling Clementine". My article is "John Ireland: Westerns, Film-Noirs, A Little McCarthyism, and a Few Affairs" found at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2020/12/john-ireland-westerns-film-noirs-little.html
Dennis Hopper portrayed "Bill Clanton (William Harrison Clanton)" in this version of the gunfight. Hopper was appearing on television and his previous feature film was as the son of Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, in 1956's, "Giant". He followed this picture portraying "Napoleon" in director Irwin Allen's, 1957, "The Story of Mankind".
Kennth Tobey portrayed "Bat Masterston (Baortholemew William Barclay Masterson)". Tobey followed this feature portraying "Sheriff Buck Donnelly" in the overlooked 1957, "The Vampire". My article is "My Neighbors Actors Barbara Luddy and Kenneth Tobey" for your reading at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2016/10/a-memory-of-my-neighbors-barbara-luddy.html
Lyle Bettger portrayed "Joseph Isaac 'Ike' Clanton". Bettger was a familiar 1950's villain appearing in movies such as Cecil B. DeMille's, 1952, "The Greatest Show on Earth", and the John Wayne and Lana Turner, 1955, "The Sea Chase".
Earl Holliman portrayed "Deputy Sheriff Charlie E. Bassett". Holliman had just appeared in 1956's, "The Rainmaker", and followed this feature film co-starring with Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck in 1957's, "Trooper Hook".
Lee Van Cleef portrayed "Ed Bailey". Van Cleef had just been in director Samuel Fuller's, 1957, "China Gate", starring Gene Barry, Angie Dickinson, and Nat "King" Cole. My article is "LEE VAN CLEEF: A Mixture of 'B' and Spaghetti Westerns with a Side of Science Fiction and Just a Taste of Drama" at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2021/09/lee-van-cleef-mixture-of-b-and.html
The Basic Screenplay:
"Wyatt Earp" arrives in Fort Griffin, Texas, to serve legal papers to take into custody "Johnny Ringo" and "Ike Clanton". He discovers that "Sheriff Cotton Wilson", portrayed by Frank Faylen, was paid off by "Ike" and both men are long gone. While over in the saloon, "Doc Holliday" is apparently standing unarmed at the bar, is confronted by "Ed Bailey" over the killing of his younger brother by the gunfighter. "Bailey" calls out "Holliday", who turns and throws a hidden knife at the other and "Ed Bailey" lays dead upon the saloon's floor.
The story now switches to Dodge City, Kansas. Where "Wyatt Earp", after getting a promise from "Holliday" to stay away from that city for his help in "Fort Griffin", finds out that "Doc" and "Kate" are in town. However, a friendship is developing between the Marshal and the Gunfighter and if "Holliday" promises to stay out of trouble. Then "Wyatt" will let "Doc" and "Kate" stay.
Enter, gambler "Laura Denbow", who "Wyatt" now arrests for playing cards. The town rules forbid a woman to gamble.
Back in Dodge City, "Doc" finds out that "Kate" has left him for "Johnny Ringo".
Later, "Shanghai Pierce" and his gang come to town and are confronted by "Wyatt". Guns are not permitted to be worn on the respectable side of the Dodge City's "Deadline".
When "Doc" goes to his room, he finds "Kate",but he refuses to take her back. "Kate" promises to see him dead!
"Wyatt" now receives a letter from his brother, "Virgil Earp", played by John Hudson, to come to Tombstone, Arizona, and help him clean up the town and stop the "Clanton's". Who are led by "Ike" and tempting to "Wyatt" is the fact that "Ike's" gang includes "Ringo".
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th'inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
The motion picture, as I mentioned above, was Directed by Richard Fleischer. Who had just directed Robert Wagner and Terry Moore in 1956's, Second World War movie, "Between Heaven and Hell". He would direct Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell, and Diane Varsi in 1959's, "Compulsion", based upon the best-selling novel, which itself was based upon the real Leopold-Loeb murder case.
The screenplay was based upon the novel "The Viking", by Edison Marshall. Who had two previous novels turned into motion picture screenplays, Tyrone Power's, 1942, "Son of Fury", and Jeff Chandler's, 1954, "Yankee Pasha".
Marshall's novel was adapted into a screenplay by Dale Wasserman. Wasserman wrote scripts for several anthology drama television programs.
The actual screenplay was written by Calder Willingham.
The Main Cast:
Kirk Douglas portrayed "Einar". Douglas would follow this feature with 1959's, "Last Train from Gun Hill".
Tony Curtis portrayed "Eric". Curtis had just co-starred with Burt Lancaster, in 1957's "Sweet Smell of Success", and would follow this motion picture with 1958's, "Kings Go Forth", co-starring with Frank Sinatra and Natalie Wood. My article, "Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh: Their 5-Motion Pictures Together with Two Interludes", may be enjoyed at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2022/03/tony-curtis-and-janet-leigh-their-5.html
Ernest Borgnine portrayed "Ragnar". Borgnine had just appeared on the television anthology series, "Schiltz Playhouse", in the February 28, 1958, episode, "Two Lives Have I", and would follow this feature with 1958's, "The Badlanders" co-starring Alan Ladd.
Janet Leigh portrayed "Morgana". Janet Leigh had just co-starred with Charlton Heston and Orson Welles in Welles's classic film-noir crime film, 1958's, "Touch of Evil". She would follow this picture with the 1958 comedy, "The Perfect Furlough", co-starring with her husband, Tony Curtis. My article, "Janet Leigh Going 'Psycho' Within 'The Fog", will frighten by reader at:
http://www.bewaretheblog.com/2019/11/janet-leigh-going-psycho-within-fog.html
James Donald portrayed "Egbert".
Overview of the Screenplay:
The picture is set in mid-eighth-century Europe and opens with a Viking raid on Northumbria. Viking Chieftain "Ragnar" kills "King Edwin" and rapes his wife, "Queen Enid", played by Maxine Audley.
Two-months later, "Edwin's" cousin, the cruel, "Aella", played by Frank Thring, ascends the throne and during the ceremony, "Queen Enid" reveals to "Father Godwin", played by Alexander Knox, that she is pregnant with "Ragnar's" baby.
As part of the same ceremony to announce that "Aella" is king, "Queen Enid" takes the royal sword, "Requiter", and hands it to "Father Godwin" to present to the new king. As "Father Godwin" presents "Requiter" to "Aella", the pommel stone falls out of it, an omen (?), and is put back in its place.
"Queen Enid" now asks the new king for permission to retire to her chambers and later, secretly, delivers a son.
Meanwhile, someone has stolen the pommel stone from the sword "Requiter", and that will remain a mystery for twenty-years. Actually, the Queen had it placed around the neck of her son. Who was to be secretly taken to Italy for safety. What is not known to either "Queen Enid", or "Father Godwin", was that the ship carrying the baby was attacked by Vikings and never reached Italy.
Twenty-years later, in the castle of "King Aella", the Welsh "Princess Morgana" is pledged to him as his future bride. At the ceremony are both "Father Godwin" and the British Lord, "Egbert".
After that ceremony, "King Aella" accuses "Egbert" as being a traitor to his crown, but does nothing to the powerful Lord. This gives "Lord Egbert" the needed time to contact "Ragnar", who now returns to Northumberland, and takes him onboard his longship. "King Aella's" guess rings true, as "Lord Egbert" is an English spy for the Viking chieftain and has provided much information. "Egbert" is also a cousin of the late "Queen Enid", and is well aware of the story of her illegitimate son and the missing pommel stone.
After his longship docks, "Ragnar" is met by his son "Einar", who meets "Lord Egbert". "Einar" dislikes the idea of his father bringing an Englishman to their fjord, but will not kill him outright. After being told that "Egbert" was the source of "Ragnar's" information on Northumberland and will draw maps of the English shoreline for use on future raids.
Later, as "Egbert" and "Einar" are out riding, the Viking prince demonstrates his skill with a hawk, but before his hawk can make the kill, a second appears and takes the hawk's target. "Einar" and "Egbert" now come upon two slaves. One illegally, has a hunting hawk, that slave is always been a problem for "Einar", and is named "Eric", the other is a mute, "Sandpiper", played by Edric Connor.
"Eric" dares to speak harshly to "Einar" and brags about his skill in healing an injured hawk and teaching it to hunt. The two get into a heated argument, before "Einar" can take action, "Eric" aims the hawk towards the other and tells it to kill.
"Eric's" hawk attacks "Einar's" face and his eyes.
"Einar" has "Eric" taken in chains to his father, but not before "Lord Egbert" sees the pommel of the sword "Reguitar" around "Eric's" neck. The reader of the signs, "Kitala", played by Eileen Way, warns "Ragnar" and the assembled Vikings that any man killing "Eric" will die a horrible death by "Odin's" decree.
Instead, "Ragnar" orders that "Eric" be taken to the tide pool and let the water kill him, but "Kitala" states that "Odin" will still look upon "Ragnar" as ordering "Eric's" death. After "Eric" is removed from the great hall, "Egbert" asks what happens should "Eric" survive, and is told anyone can have him.
"Lord Egbert" goes to the tide pool, sees "Kitala" praying to "Odin", and "Sandpiper" watching the two Viking guards for "Eric", who's tied to a stake in the water. "Egbert" tells "Eric", if he survives, he might tell him the meaning of the pommel stone he has worn since birth. Suddenly, the winds change dramatically and "Kitala" tells everyone that "Odin's" daughters have come to save "Eric" and the water recedes.
The attack on "Morgana's" ship takes place and along with her maid "Bridget", played by Dandy Nichols, both are captured by "Einor".
At the longship's dock, "Morgana" is presented to "Ragnar", who decides that the women will stay on a guarded small ship in the center of the fjord. With the appearance of "Lord Egbert", "Morgana" confirms his status as a traitor.
That night, a drunken celebration takes place in the great hall with a little target practice at a Viking woman's braids, while "Eric" and "Sandpiper" meet with "Kitala".
"Kitala" shows "Eric" and "Sandpiper" a metal fish that seems always to point north. Vikings are afraid of sailing without the stars to guide them and have been lost in fog and never seen again. "Eric" asks "Kitala" where are the stars to make the fish look north and she reminds him that they're inside a tent without stars.
Meanwhile, the drunken "Eniar" has decided that he wants "Morgana", because she is the only woman who has ever refused his advances. Much to "Egbert's" dislike, "Ragnar" tells his son he'll forget the ransom and "Morgana" is his.
"Eniar" now takes a boat out to the ship holding the two women, goes on board, knocks the guard overboard, enters the cabin with the women and makes an advance toward "Morgana". Who admitted earlier to "Bridget" that she is attracted to him somewhat.
Unexpectedly, "Eric" appears and knocks out the drunken "Eniar", the women get their clothing and join him, "Katala", and "Sandpiper", and head toward the fog in a smaller ship. "Eniar" regains consciousness, realizes what happened, goes to his father, and several Viking longships set sail to capture "Eric" and the women.
Next, the frighten Vikings are ordered into the fog after "Eric", who is using the strange metal fish, and is safely ahead of them.
In the thick fog, two Viking ship collide and some men fall overboard, one of them is picked up by "Eric", and is "Ragnar. To "Einar" and the others, their chieftain is lost and dead. "Ragnar" and "Eric's" group come out of the fog and find a place to land and rest. There, "Morgana" finds another love in "Eric", the escaped Viking slave, and he gives her his pommel necklace as a sign of his love.
"Eric" is thanked for saving "Morgana" by "King Aella", who now turns his full attention toward "Ragnar".
At the same time, "Morgana" is visited in her chambers by "Father Godwin", who is startled to see the pommel around her neck. After "Morgana" tells him how she came by the necklace from "Eric", "Godwin" reveals the story of his birth.
To both "Morgana" and "Father Godwin", two facts have been discovered, the first is that "Enior" and "Eric" are half-brothers, and second, technically, "Eric" is the real King of Northumberland.
"Ragnar" is brought to a pit containing ravenous, hungry, wolves and is to be thrown into it.
"Ragnar" is not afraid of dying, but makes a request for a sword so he can die fighting like a Viking and enter Valhalla. Without a chance to defend himself, "Ragnar" would never enter the Viking heaven, but "Aella" refuses the request. "Eric" has a sword, cuts "Ragnar's" bonds, and gives it to him, and the Viking jumps into the pit of wolves and his death.
"Aella" now wants "Eric" put to death, but "Morgana" pleads for his life and the King agrees on one condition. "Eric" is told to put out the hand that gave "Ragnar" the sword and "Aella" cuts it off.
"Eric" now returns to "Eniar", who starts to attack the other, but is stopped and told what happen to his father. When "Eniar" walks into the main hall with "Eric", the other Vikings want him dead, but "Eniar" explains what happened and has "Eric" show them his missing hand.
Shortly afterwards, the entire Viking force, including "Lord Egbert", sets sail to Northumberland with "Eric" and the metal fish leading them.
The Vikings enter the fog and come out of it within sight of the shores of Northumbria. As they land, word starts to spread that the Vikings have come, and entire family's flee to "King Aella's" fortress for perceived safety.
The Vikings breach the fortress and enter killing its defenders.
Searching for "Morgana", "Eric" finds the frightened "King Aella", and throws him into his pit of hungry wolves. Meanwhile, "Einar" has climbed the outside walls to the tower chapel containing "Morgana" and "Father Godwin".
"Einar" kills "Father Godwin", "Morgana" reveals that "Eric" is his half-brother, and "Ragnar" was his father.
The Viking Chieftain still wants to possess "Morgana", but knows "Eric" is his competition and must be killed. "Einar" now seeks out his half-brother for their final confrontation.
"Eric" sees "Einar" with "Morgana", and the Viking gets the response he seeks, as the two enter combat.
Later, now the leader of both the Vikings and Northumberland, "Eric" stands with his future wife, "Morgana", and orders a Viking funeral for his brother "Einar"
The screenplay was written by American Anthony Veiller, among his screenplays are the William Powell and Jean Arthur, 1936 comedy mystery, "The Ex-Mrs Bradford". The Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rodgers, 1937, "Stage Door", the Clark Gable, Greer Garson, and Joan Blondell, 1945, "Adventure", the Edgar G. Robinson, Loretta Young, and Orson Welles's, 1946, "The Stranger", and director Robert Siodmak's 1946 version of Ernest Hemingway's ,1946, "The Killers", introducing Burt Lancaster, and starring Ava Gardner and Edmond O'Brien.
John Huston directed the motion picture and his last motion picture had been the 1962 psychological biography, "FREUD: The Secret Passion", starring Montgomery Clift, and followed this motion picture with his 1964 version of playwright Tennessee Williams's, "The Night of the Iguana", starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. My article is "JOHN HUSTON: 'Moby Dick' 1956, 'The Barbarian and the Geisha' 1958, 'Freud: The Secret Passion' 1962 and 'The List of Adrian Messenger' 1962" found at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2017/05/john-huston-moby-dick-1956-barbarian.html
The Three Characters Dealing with the List:
George C. Scott portrayed "Anthony Gethryn". Philip MacDonald's ex-British Secret Service Agent turned Newspaper Reporter and amaetur detective was first found in the 1924 novel "The Rasp". He first appeared, for three previous films, in 1939, "The Nursemaid Who Disappeared".
Dana Wynter, born in Berlin, Germany, acted for two-years under her birth name of Dagmar Winter. She co-starred in the 1956 science fiction classic, director Don Siegel's, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". The same year she came between Robert Taylor and Richard Todd, in "D-Day the Sixth of June", and in 1960, Wynter co-starred with Kenneth More, in "Sink the Bismarck".
French actor Jacques Roux portrayed "Raoul Le Borg".
Above left to right, George C. Scott, Raoul Le Borg, and Dana Wynter.
The Murderer, is revealed to the audience at the start of the mystery. The "Who" is not the mystery, the "Why" is:
Kirk Douglas portrayed "Vicar Atlee", "Mr. Pythian", "Arthur Henderson", and "George Brougham".
There are Four Cameo Actors in character make-ups, and this was a guessing game for the audience. After the mystery is solved, the audience saw each actor remove their make-up revealing who they were:
Robert Mitchum portrayed "Slattery". It's very hard to cover his features and he was an easy guess.
Burt Lancaster portrayed "The Lady Protesting the Fox Hunt". For different shots, John Huston actually used an actress, because again, it was hard to cover his known facial looks.
Tony Curtis portrayed "A street organ player".
Frank Sinatra portrayed "Gypsy the trained the Horse Avatar".
What I've told my reader doesn't have an effect on the mystery and the fun of John Huston's motion picture. In fact, Huston joined in with an Alfred Hitchcock like cameo:
Above left to right, George C. Scott, on horseback, John Houston as "Lord Ashton", and Clive Brook portraying the "Marquis of Gleneyre".
My hope is I have perked the interest of my readers, because this is all I'm saying about the picture. Except, as of this writing the following link takes you to "The List of Adrian Messenger":
https://archive.org/details/the-list-of-adrian-messenger
My 12th and final Kirk Douglas motion picture is a controversial political thriller. The following is modified from my 2018 article, "The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, Dr. Strangelove and Fail Safe: 1960's Cold War Paranoia" frightening American's at:
https://www.bewaretheblog.com/2018/09/the-manchurian-candidate-seven-days-in.html
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY had a dual premier in both Minneapolis and Washington D.C. on February 12, 1964
In 1962, authors Fletcher Knebel and Charles H. Bailey II published their novel "Seven Days in May".
According to Knebel he got his idea for the story after interviewing Air Force Chief of Staff Curtis Lemay. It is believed that Knebel and Bailey used Army General Edwin A, Walker as the model for Air Force General "James 'Gentleman Jim' Matton Scott".
Who was General Edwin A. Walker?
General Walker served in both World War 2 and the Korean War. He was a staunch Conservative Republican and was criticized by President Dwight David Eisenhower for expressing his political views while wearing his Army Uniform.
Walker resigned his commission in 1959, but President Eisenhower refused to accept it and instead assigned him to Command the 24th Infantry Division in Ausberg, Germany. Walker again resigned his commission in 1961, after being publicly admonished by the Joint Chiefs of Staff for calling both Eleanor Roosevelt and President Harry Truman "Pink" in print and violating the "Hatch Act".
For those of my readers unfamiliar with the source of the word "Pink" in this instance. In 1950 while running for the U.S. Senate in California against Democratic candidate actress Helen Gahagan Douglas. Richard Nixon knew that referring to her as a "Communist", or using the term "Red", in popular use for decades, might back fire on him. So he referred to Gahahan Douglas as wearing "Pink" underwear and the voters knew would he implied. In 1925 the word "Pinko" was first used. This referred to somebody with either extreme left wing leanings, or a communist sympathizer.
The 1939 "Hatch Act", actually "An Act to Prevent Pernicious Activities", was designed to prevent employees of the Executive Branch of the Government except the President, Vice President and certain designated high-level-officials from participating in some form of political activity. In the 1950 incident, General Edwin A. Walker, was telling his troops who to vote for in the upcoming elections.
President Kennedy accepted Walker's second resignation letter over other actions he had taken. Thus making him the only General to resign his commission during the 20th Century. Edwin Walker ran for Governor of Texas and lost to John Connally in 1962.
The following two entries are from a New York Times article dated September 30, 1962 concerning the desegregation of Mississippi schools..
In October 1962, while the nation was on the brink of nuclear war, Walker was arrested on the campus of the University of Mississippi for promoting race riots over the admission of African-American students.
On April 10, 1963 Edwin A. Walker was the target of an assassination attempt. After the "Warren Commission" finished their investigation into the assassination of President Kennedy. Within the Commission's report was their conclusion that the attempt of Walker's life had been by Lee Harvey Oswald.
This then was the man Fletcher Knebel and Charles H. Baily II turned into their head of the "Joint Chief of Staffs" for "Seven Days in May". When the novel came out President John F. Kennedy read it and was quoted as saying he believed such a military take over was very possible.
Turning the novel into a screenplay was given to Rod Sterling. The novel was set in May of 1974 and the implication is that is still the year of the movie. The novel takes place after a stalemated war in Iran. This is changed to the signing of a nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union in Sterling's screenplay. Making the Nation's Cold War fears, in 1964, a more ominous feature than a war with Iran.
The motion picture was released, as I mentioned, on February 12, 1964. What was actually going on for American's at that time? Here are some highlights between the start of the year and the date of the release of "Seven Days in May":
January 5th Barry Goldwater announced he will seek the Republican nomination for President.
January 7th in his first State of the Union. President Johnson declares the war on poverty.
January 12th the first U.S. Navy patrols of the South China Sea begins.
January 18th plans to build the World Trade Center are announced.
January 27th China and France announce diplomatic relations and U,S, Senator Margaret Chase Smith announces she will run for the Republican Presidential nomination.
January 28th a U.S. Air Force jet strays into East Germany and is shot down by Soviet fighters. The three man crew is killed.
January 30th the Vietnam War becomes front and center as General Nguyen Khanh leads a bloodless military coup d'etat to become President of South Vietnam.
February 3rd Black and Puerto Rican students protest racial segregation in New York City.
February 6th Cuba cuts off the normal water supply to the Guantanamo Navy Base.
February 7th a Jackson Mississippi jury trying Bryon De La Beckwith for the murder of Megar Evers in June 1963. Reports they can not reach a verdict and a mistrial is declared.
February 11th the Republic of China (Taiwan) severs diplomatic relations with France over their new agreement with Mainland China.
February 12th at the start of the ninth year of the Vietnam War this feature is released.
Portraying the central character "Air Force General James 'Gentleman Jim' Mattoon Scott" was Burt Lancaster.
Portraying his aide "USMC Colonel 'Jiggs' Casey was Kirk Douglas. This film, although he did not produce it, was Douglas's baby. He got Producer Edward Lewis and Director John Frankenheimer to make the motion picture and his friend Burt Lancaster to portray "Matoon Scott".
Portraying "President Jordon Lyman" was Fredrick March. Although the film takes place in the 1970's. There was no question that March was the current President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Lyman, in Rod Sterling's script, remarks that "General Walker" was one of those "False Profits". Who were offering themselves to the American People as a leader.
Ava Gardner was "Eleanor Holbrook".
Edmond O'Brien portrayed "Senator Ray Clark". O'Brien received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for this role.
Martin Balsam portrayed the aide to the President "Paul Girard".
The motion picture opens just after "President Lyman" has signed a very unpopular nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. To put the story once more in prospective.
In actuality, on August 5, 1963, the Soviet Union, the U.K. and the United States signed "The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treat (PNT)". Which, if my reader were to get a copy is really called the "Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water". In short the parties could only test underground. This did not ease the minds of American's about a Soviet build up of nuclear weapons, or the possibility of a nuclear war.
Five years later, on July 1, 1968, 18 members of the United Nations, including the Soviet Union and the United States, signed the "Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)". Which didn't go into effect until March 5, 1970. The main concept of this treaty was:
the NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT nuclear-weapon states in exchange agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
This was the first treaty involving the United States and the Soviet Union that used the word "Disarmament". So the tension in the United States at the time of both the novel and feature film over a potential Nuclear War was extremely high and the reason a War in Iran from the novel was substituted for "President Lyman's" nuclear disarmament treaty.
Speaking of substitution, as I write this article, in the United States my reader could change the Soviet Union into North Korea. With their nuclear program and the testing of missiles that potentially could reach Japan, Hawaii, Guam and even the West Coast of the United States.
Returning to John Frankenheimer's motion picture. Demonstrations have broken out across the country and especially around the White House over the disarmament treaty. As with many issues some demonstrators are pro and others con.
The treaty, although ratified by the United States Senate, has the President's opposition in full force. The military, while seemingly going along with it, look upon the disarmament treaty as kowtowing to the Soviet Union. Whom they distrust and consider our number one enemy.
By accident, "USMC Colonel 'Jiggs' Casey", the Director of the Joint Chief's staff, stumbles upon what appears to be a coup de tat in progress to remove both the President and his Cabinet by the Joint Chiefs. This is to take place at the end of the next "SEVEN DAYS", and the information was given to "Casey" by another officer presuming he's was part of coup de tat.
Is it true? It definitely seems unbelievable, but how to prove it one way or another?
Under the plan, a Top Secret Army Unit known as "ECOMCON (Emergency COMmunications CONtrol)"will seize control of the country's phone system. Along with both radio and television networks. While Congress is physically prevented from implementing the treaty.
"Colonel Casey" doesn't like a lot of "President Lyman's" policies, including the nuclear disarmament treaty, but he took an Oath to defend the Constitution and the Country against all enemies Foreign and Domestic. . He believes, if true, the actions of the Joint Chiefs are against that Oath.
"Jiggs" goes to "President Jordon Lyman" with his suspicions.
"Lyman" calls a meeting of those he feels he can trust, to bring them into what "Colonel Casey" may have uncovered.
"Casey" goes to "General Mattoon Scott's" ex-mistress, "Eleanor Holbrook", to see what information he can get to use against him. Such as indiscreet letters "Casey" is aware he wrote.
The alcoholic "Senator Ray Clark" is sent to Fort Bliss, near El Paso, Texas to locate a secret staging base for the coup and the President's aide, "Paul Girard", is sent to the Mediterranean to get a confession from "Vice Admiral Barnswell", portrayed by John Houseman, who refused to be part of the military plot to overthrow the government. He gets the confession, but on his way back to Washington, D.C., his plane crashes. Meanwhile, "Senator Clark" is taken prisoner by loyalists to "Mattoon Scott".However, the real base commander, not part of the plot, and a friend of "Jiggs", "Colonel William 'Mutt'Henderson", portrayed by Andrew Duggan, helps him escape. The two reach Washington, D.C., but when separated from "Senator Clarke", for a few minutes, "Colonel Henderson" is abducted.
"President Lyman" calls the Head of the Joint Chiefs "Air Force General James 'Gentleman Jim' Mattoon Scott" to the Oval Office. "Lyman" reveals his knowledge of the plot and demands that "Mattoon Scott" and the other plotters resign, He is refused, because the General feels he has the upper hand. As the President isn't using the letters obtained from "Eleanor Holbrook" to force the other's hand.
"Matoon Scott" tells the other Joint Chiefs to stay in the plot as the President has no concrete proof. He goes on television to address the nation, believing the American people are behind him.
"President Jordon Lyman" holds a Press Conference to counter "Mattoon-Scott" demanding the resignation of all members of the plotters to overthrow the United States Government. As he is speaking a man approaches and hands the President the confessional of "Vice Admiral Barnswell's", portrayed by John Houseman, found in the wreckage of "Paul Girard's" plane.
Afterwards copies of the confession are handed to each plotter and they all resign in disgrace. The President again addresses the country with a speech about the future.
The following is the cover of Fletcher Knebel's follow up novel to "Seven Days in May". It was picked up for a possible motion picture, but not made. It was felt the premise too extreme and might reflect too negatively on the office of the American Presidency. I leave my reader with the novel's tag line on the cover below, to decid, if they believe, one way or another, that the premise is too extreme.
Kirk Douglas's last on-screen role was in a French, August 14, 2008, mockumentary,"Meurtres à l'Empire State Building (The Empire State Building Murders)".
Kirk Douglas passed away at the age of 103, on February 5, 2020.
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