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The Bridge of San Luis Rey

 
Movies:

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

  • Director: Rowland V. Lee
  • AMG Rating: starstar
  • Genre: Drama
  • Movie Type: Disaster Film
  • Main Cast: Lynn Bari, Akim Tamiroff, Francis Lederer, Alla Nazimova, Louis Calhern
  • Release Year: 1944
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 89 minutes

Plot

First filmed in 1928, Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer-winning novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey is given a ponderous treatment in this 1944 remake. Like the novel, the film begins at the end, with the collapse of a rope bridge in 18th century Peru. The story then flashes back to the lives of the five unfortunates killed in the collapse. Among the five are singer-turned-couresan Michaela (Lynn Bari), her obsequious Uncle Pio (Akim Tamiroff), feuding twin brothers Manuel and Estaban (both played by Francis Lederer) and the envious Marquesa (Nazimova). Trying to make sense of the lives and deaths of the five is sensitive young priest Brother Juniper (Donald Woods). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast

Blanche Yurka - The Abbess; Donald Woods - Brother Juniper; Emma Dunn - Dona Mercedes; Barton Hepburn - Don Rubio; Joan Lorring - Pepita; Abner Biberman - Malta; Minerva Urecal - Servant to Uncle Pio

Credit

Rowland V. Lee - Director, Harvey Manager - Editor, Dimitri Tiomkin - Composer (Music Score), Dimitri Tiomkin - Musical Direction/Supervision, John W. Boyle - Cinematographer, Benedict E. Bogeaus - Producer, Howard Estabrook - Screenwriter, Herman Weissman - Screenwriter, Thornton Wilder - Book Author
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Wikipedia: The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1944 film)
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The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rowland V. Lee
Produced by Rowland V. Lee
Benedict Bogeaus
Written by Howard Estabrook
Herman Weissman
Thornton Wilder (novel)
Starring Lynn Bari
Francis Lederer
Akim Tamiroff
Alla Nazimova
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography John W. Boyle
John J. Mescall (uncredited)
Editing by Harvey Manger
Distributed by United Artists
Release date(s) February 11, 1944
Running time 107 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a 1944 drama film made by Benedict Bogeaus Productions and released by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Rowland V. Lee with Benedict Bogeaus as co-producer. The screenplay by Howard Estabrook and Herman Weissman was adapted from the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder. The music score was by Dimitri Tiomkin and the cinematography by John W. Boyle and an uncredited John J. Mescall.

The film stars Lynn Bari, Francis Lederer, Akim Tamiroff, Alla Nazimova and Louis Calhern.

Despite a low budget and several notable deviations from the Thornton Wilder novel, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score (Dimitri Tiomkin).

Background and production

The film and novel are very loosely based on the real life story of Micaela Villegas (1748—1819), a famous Peruvian entertainer known as La Perichole, whose life was also the inspiration for the novella Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée, an opéra bouffe, La Périchole by Jacques Offenbach, Jean Renoir’s 1953 film Le Carrosse d'or (The Golden Coach) and an earlier part-talkie film version of The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1929) starring Lili Damita.

The film was remade once more in 2004 with the title The Bridge of San Luis Rey and starring F. Murray Abraham, Kathy Bates and Pilar López de Ayala.

Cast

External links


 
 

 

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