Main Cast: Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Sophia Loren, Theodore Bikel, John Wengraf
Release Year: 1957
Country: US
Run Time: 132 minutes
Plot
As was his custom, producer/director Stanley Kramer made some iconoclastic casting decisions when mounting his $5 million production The Pride and the Passion. Adapted from The Gun, a novel by C. S. Forester, the film is set in Spain during the Napoleonic wars. Captain Anthony Trumbull (Cary Grant), a British military officer, is ordered to retrieve a large and unwieldly abandoned cannon, then transport the weapon to the British lines, where it will be used to attack the French garrison at Avila. Hotheaded guerilla leader Miguel (Frank Sinatra) agrees to help Trumball move the cannon over hill and dale, even though he hates the Englishman's guts. Tagging along on the arduous odysseys is Miguel's fiery mistress Juana (Sophia Loren), who develops a yearning for the stolid Trundall (then-lovers Loren and Grant would later be teamed in Houseboat). Pride and the Passion made a mint at the box-office for both Kramer and United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Jose Nieto - Carlos; Carlos Larranga - Jose; Philip Van Zandt - Vidal; Paco El Laberinto - Manolo; Carlos Casaravilla - Leonardo; Nana de Herrera - Maria; Felix de Pomes - Bishop; Luis Guedes - French Soldier; Jay Novello - Ballinger; Juan Olaguivel - Ramon; Julian Ugarte - Enrique
Credit
Gil Parrondo - Art Director, Fernando Carrere - Art Director, Paco Reyes - Choreography, Lt.Col. Luis Cano - Consultant/advisor, Joe King - Costume Designer, Carter De Haven, Jr. - First Assistant Director, Stanley Kramer - Director, Frank Kramer - Director, Ellsworth Hoagland - Editor, Frederic Knudtson - Editor, George Antheil - Composer (Music Score), Ernest Gold - Musical Direction/Supervision, Peggy Lee - Songwriter, John O'Gorman - Makeup, Bernard Ponedel - Makeup, Jose Maria Sanchez - Makeup, Rudolph Sternad - Production Designer, Franz Planer - Cinematographer, Stanley Kramer - Producer, Willis Cook - Special Effects, Maurice Ayers - Special Effects, Edward Anhalt - Screenwriter, Edna Anhalt - Screenwriter, C.S. Forester - Book Author
The Pride and the Passion (1957) is a historical film drama starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren made by Stanley Kramer Productions. Set in the Napoleonic era, it is the story of a British officer (Grant) who has orders to retrieve a huge cannon from Spain and take it to the British forces by ship. But first the leader of the Spanish guerrillas (Sinatra) wants to transport the cannon 1000 km across Spain to help in the capture of Ávila from the French before he releases the cannon to the British. Most of the movie deals with the hardships of transporting the cannon across rivers and through mountains while evading the occupying French forces and culminates in the final battle for Ávila. A sub-plot is the struggle for the affections of Loren by the two officers.
Shot on location in Spain, rumors persist that Frank Sinatra only took a part in the film to be near his wife Ava Gardner, during a time when the couple was having marital problems and she was to be away from Sinatra whilst shooting part of The Sun Also Rises in various locales around Europe, including Spain. When there was to be no reconciliation, Sinatra hurriedly left the production, asking director Stanley Kramer to condense all of his scenes for as brief as possible shooting schedule for his part. Kramer obliged. Conversely, Cary Grant was happy to get away from his failing marriage to Betsy Drake
Despite the film's problems, Kramer was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
Box office and critical reception
Opening to mixed reviews on July 10, 1957, The Pride and The Passion would prove to be successful at the box office, spurred no doubt by the popularity of the leading actors. With box office rentals of $4.7 million from a gross of $8.75 million, this would be one of the 20 highest grossing films of 1957. Variety praised the film's production values, stating "Top credit must go to the production. The panoramic, longrange views of the marching and terribly burdened army, the painful fight to keep the gun mobile through ravine and over waterway - these are major pluses." Ephraim Katz in The Film Encyclopedia describes it as "overblown empty epic nonsense".[1]
References
^ Ephraim Katz The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia, 1998, (third edition) London: Macmillan, p767. The Film Encyclopedia is this work's American title.
