| Anna Lucasta | |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring | Eartha Kitt |
| Release date(s) | January 16, 1959 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Anna Lucasta is a 1959 film directed by Arnold Laven. It stars Eartha Kitt and Sammy Davis Jr..[1] “Anna Lucasta” was written by Chicago born Philip Yordan (1914–2003)son of Polish immigrants; a versatile and successful Oscar winning film writer, whom wrote westerns, historical epics, thrillers, and sci-fi scripts throughout his writing career. Anna Lucasta was originally meant to have Polish principals, but when Yordan failed to find a producer, he gave the script to the American Negro Theatre Company (est. 1940 in Harlem, New York). The American Negro Theatre Company’s stated mission was “to break down the barriers of black participation in the theater; to portray Negro life as they honestly saw it; [and] to fill in the gap of a black theater which did not exist.” They originally encouraged community based writers, and strived to stay away from Broadway-bound clichés. Receiving the Anna Lucasta script in 1944, was a turning point for the ANT. It was revised extensively to be well suited for a black cast, and became an immediate success; leading it to be Yordan’s only work to be a Broadway hit.
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In 1959, United Artists produced a film version of Anna Lucasta starring Eartha Kitt as Anna Lucasta. Anna is a sassy African American beauty who was forced to make a living on the streets near the San Diego naval station at a young age after her father had kicked her out. She spends her nights drinking and seducing men in the area. Meanwhile, her mother and father live in Los Angeles, along with their son and daughter and their respective spouses under one roof. Her father Joe, an aging alcoholic, receives a letter one day from his old friend Otis Slocum in Alabama. In his letter, Otis tells Joe he will be sending his son Rudolph, to California with four thousand dollars, in hopes that Joe can help Rudolph find a fine wife. Frank, Anna’s brother in law, and her brother Stanley see this as a scheming opportunity to get their share of the $4000. Her mother Theresa, thinks Anna would be a fine wife for Rudolph, and that it would be a great opportunity for her to get a fresh start. Joe becomes livid at the thought and refuses to speak her name.
After being coerced by the family, he goes to San Diego to bring Anna home. He finds Anna at Noah’s Wharf Café drinking and kissing sailor Danny Johnson, played by Sammy Davis Jr., who had just proposed Anna go away with him. Joe insists Anna come home, and since Danny’s proposal did not include marriage, she decides to return home to Los Angeles with her father. Anna quickly catches on to Frank’s and Stanley’s scheme. Rudolph arrives to the Lucasta residence and is instantly struck by Anna’s beauty. He courts her for a while and finally confesses his feelings to her. Anna reveals the reason she was in San Diego, why her father kicked her out and how she had to make a living on the streets to survive. Rudolph doesn’t care about her past and proposes marriage to Anna. Just before the wedding, Rudolph gets news that he has been hired to be a teacher at a college nearby. Joe, who overheard the news, goes down to the college and tells the Dean that his new hire’s wife is a tramp. Just after the wedding, Danny shows up determined to take Anna away. After finding out her father’s plans to sabotage any chance of a good life with Rudolph, Anna flees with Danny. They party together in San Diego for a week, until Danny runs out of funds. Anna mentions she has trosseau money in her parents home. They decide to go back to the house to get the money so they could pay their fare to Brazil. When they get there, Anna finds her father in bed, moaning, calling Anna his little angel. She takes her father’s hand, and he dies. Anna breaks out into tears, and Danny leaves the house. As he is leaving, Rudolph and the family are returning from church. Rudolph sees Danny leaving and assumes Anna is back home and in excitement, runs into the house.
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2. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Anna Lucasta." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004.
3. Robinson, Lisa Clayton. "American Negro Theatre." Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition. Ed. Kwame AnthonyAppiah. Ed. Henry LouisGates Jr.. Oxford African American Studies Center. Tue Feb 15 15:04:36 EST 2011. http://www.oxfordaasc.com/article/opr/t0002/e0176.
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