The Great Gatsby (1949 film)

The Great Gatsby

Original film poster
Directed by Elliott Nugent
Produced by Richard Maibaum
Written by Richard Maibaum
Cyril Hume
Based on The Great Gatsby 
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Starring Alan Ladd
Betty Field
Macdonald Carey
Ruth Hussey
Barry Sullivan
Shelley Winters
Howard Da Silva
Music by Robert Emmett Dolan
Cinematography John F. Seitz
Edited by Ellsworth Hoagland
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
 July 13, 1949
Running time
 91 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Great Gatsby (1949) is a feature film released by Paramount Pictures, directed by Elliott Nugent, and produced by Richard Maibaum, from a screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume. It is based on the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The music score was by Robert Emmett Dolan and the cinematography by John F. Seitz. The production was designed by Roland Anderson and Hans Dreier and the costumes by Edith Head.

The film stars Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Ruth Hussey, and Barry Sullivan and features Shelley Winters, Howard Da Silva and Elisha Cook, Jr.. Da Silva would later appear in the 1974 version.

Cast

Production notes

Plans to make the film were announced in 1946, with Ladd, Maibaum and Hume all attached.[1] However, it was pushed back a number of years, reportedly due to censorship concerns.[2]

Gene Tierney was to be loaned out to Paramount to star as Daisy. Tyrone Power had stipulated that he would star as long as Tierney was cast. Elliott Nugent and producer Maibaum felt Tierney's beauty would be a distraction for Daisy. Tierney was dropped, and Power left the production.

John Farrow, who had made a number of films with Alan Ladd, was originally meant to direct, but he left the project after a disagreement with Maibaum over casting.[3] He was replaced by Nugent.[4]

This was the second film adaptation of the novel, after the 1926 silent version (now considered a lost film because no prints are known to exist). In 2012, a new print of the 1949 film was produced.[5]

References

  1. ↑ PAT O'BRIEN TO STAR IN 'THE BIG ANGLE': Crime Drama Was Written by Author of 'Bombardier'-- 'Gatsby' to Be Remade Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 26 Feb 1946: 31.
  2. ↑ NOTES ABOUT PICTURES AND PEOPLE: New York to Get Another Film Unit -- Ticket Tax Cut Asked -- Addenda By A.H. WEILER. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 26 Oct 1947: X5.
  3. ↑ "Mary Armitage's FILM CLOSE-UPS.". The Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 27 March 1948. p. 2 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  4. ↑ NUGENT REPLACES FARROW ON MOVIE: Named by Paramount to Direct 'The Great Gatsby,' Remake of Fitzgerald Novel By THOMAS F. BRADYSpecial to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 13 Feb 1948: 26.
  5. ↑ Music Box Theatre, Chicago, Illinois. Music Box Calendar for August 2012, page 29.

External links