Jupiter's Darling (film)
Encyclopedia
Jupiter's Darling is a musical
romance film
released by MGM
in 1955
and directed by George Sidney
. It starred Esther Williams
as the Roman woman Amytis, Howard Keel
as Hannibal, the Carthaginian
military commander and George Sanders
as Fabius Maximus
, Amytis's fiance. In the film, Amytis helps Hannibal swim the Tiber River to take a closer look at Rome's fortifications.
The film features many historical characters, including Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Scipio Africanus
who appears briefly, in addition to Hannibal. Carthaginians Mago Barca
and Maharbal
also appear.
Jupiter's Darling was based on Robert Sherwood
's anti-war comedy film The Road to Rome (1927).
The film was the last of three films Williams and Keel made together, the other two being Pagan Love Song (1950) and Texas Carnival
(1951).
. She, along with writers Leo Pogostin and Chuck Walters
created the premise for Athena while making Easy to Love
, and Walters finished the script while Williams was on maternity leave. However, Athena had already begun shooting when Williams arrived back from leave, and the studio had changed the swimming sequences to dancing sequences and replaced Williams with Jane Powell
. Williams was then assigned Jupiter's Darling. Jo Ann Greer
, who sang for Williams, also dubbed June Allyson
in MGM's The Opposite Sex
and Rita Hayworth
in three films, including Pal Joey (film)
.
During shooting, Williams broke her left eardrum, which had already been broken in five other films. She was fitted with a prosthesis from latex that covered her nose and ears that prevented water from rushing in. As a result, she could barely hear, taste or smell while wearing it.
In one of the film's scenes, Amytis, while fleeing from Hannibal and his soldiers, rides a horse over the edges of a cliff on the Tiber River. Williams refused to do the scene, and when the studio refused to cut it, the director called in a platform diver that Williams knew, Al Lewin. The stunt took place one time; the studio got its shot, and Lewin broke his back.
. The cast, including a 350-pound baby elephant named Jupiter's Darling, embarked on a tour of nine U.S. cities.
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
romance film
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
released by MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
in 1955
1955 in film
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
and directed by George Sidney
George Sidney
George Sidney was an American film director and film producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-Career:...
. It starred Esther Williams
Esther Williams
Esther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
as the Roman woman Amytis, Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
as Hannibal, the Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
military commander and George Sanders
George Sanders
George Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as Fabius Maximus
Fabius Maximus
Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator was a Roman politician and general, born in Rome around 280 BC and died in Rome in 203 BC. He was Roman Consul five times and was twice Dictator in 221 and again in 217 BC. He reached the office of Roman Censor in 230 BC...
, Amytis's fiance. In the film, Amytis helps Hannibal swim the Tiber River to take a closer look at Rome's fortifications.
The film features many historical characters, including Roman generals Fabius Maximus and Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
who appears briefly, in addition to Hannibal. Carthaginians Mago Barca
Mago Barca
Mago, son of Hamilcar Barca, also spelled Magon, Phoenician MGN, "God sent" , was a member of the Barcid family, and played an important role in the Second Punic War, leading forces of Carthage against the Roman Republic in Hispania, Gallia Cisalpina and Italy...
and Maharbal
Maharbal
Maharbal was Hannibal's cavalry commander during the Second Punic War. He was often critical to the success of the side of Carthage over Rome...
also appear.
Jupiter's Darling was based on Robert Sherwood
Robert Sherwood
Robert Sherwood may refer to:*Robert Emmet Sherwood , American playwright, editor, and screenwriter*Robert Edmund Sherwood , American clown and author*Bobby Sherwood , American bandleader...
's anti-war comedy film The Road to Rome (1927).
The film was the last of three films Williams and Keel made together, the other two being Pagan Love Song (1950) and Texas Carnival
Texas Carnival
Texas Carnival is a 1951 musical film directed by Charles Walters. It stars Esther Williams, Red Skelton and Howard Keel.-Cast:*Esther Williams as Debbie Telford*Red Skelton as Cornie Quinell*Howard Keel as Slim Shelby*Ann Miller as Sunshine Jackson...
(1951).
Cast
- Esther WilliamsEsther WilliamsEsther Jane Williams is a retired American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team...
as Amytis - Howard KeelHoward KeelHarold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
as Hannibal - Marge ChampionMarge ChampionMarge Champion is an American dancer, choreographer, and pedagogue. In addition, she also worked in film and appeared in a number of television variety shows.-Early years:...
as Meta - Gower ChampionGower ChampionGower Carlyle Champion was an American actor, theatre director, choreographer, and dancer.-Early years:Champion was born in Geneva, Illinois, the son of John W. Champion and Beatrice Carlisle. He was raised in Los Angeles, California, where he graduated from Fairfax High School...
as Varius - George SandersGeorge SandersGeorge Sanders was a British actor.George Sanders may also refer to:*George Sanders , Victoria Cross recipient in World War I...
as Fabius Maximus - Richard HaydnRichard HaydnRichard Haydn was an English comic actor in radio, films and television.-Early life and career:Born George Richard Haydon in London, he was known for playing eccentric characters, such as Edwin Carp, Claud Curdle, Richard Rancyd and Stanley Stayle. Much of his stage delivery was done in a...
as Horatio - William DemarestWilliam DemarestCarl William Demarest was an American character actor. He frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles.-Early life and career:...
as Mago - Norma VardenNorma VardenNorma Varden was an English actress with a long film career in Hollywood.Born in London, the daughter of a retired sea-captain, Varden was a child prodigy. She trained as a concert pianist in Paris and performed in England before deciding to take up acting...
as Fabia - Douglass DumbrilleDouglass DumbrilleDouglass Dumbrille was a Canadian actor and one of the Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood.-Life and career:...
as Scipio - Henry CordenHenry CordenHenry Corden was a Canadian-born American actor and voice artist best-known for taking over the role of Fred Flintstone after Alan Reed died in 1977. His official debut as Fred's new voice was on the 1977 syndicated weekday series Fred Flintstone and Friends for which he provided voice-overs on...
as Carthalo - Michael AnsaraMichael AnsaraMichael Ansara is a Syrian-born American stage, screen, and voice actor best known for his portrayal of Cochise in the American television series Broken Arrow, Kane in the 1979-81 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Commander Kang on three different Star Trek TV series.- Early life and...
as Maharbal - Martha WentworthMartha WentworthMartha Wentworth was an American actress.Originally a radio actress, she became a film actress in the 1940s, starring in several Red Ryder Western films...
as Widow Titus - John Olszewski as Principal Swimming Statue
- Esther Williams' singing voice dubbed by Jo Ann GreerJo Ann GreerJo Ann Greer had one of the most distinctive and elegant voices, yet least-known faces of all the successful jazz and pop singers in show business....
Production
Williams had been on maternity leave for three months while pregnant with daughter Susan, and had assumed that she would get straight to work on the film AthenaAthena (film)
Athena is a romantic musical comedy, starring Jane Powell, Edmund Purdom, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Louis Calhern, and Norma Varden, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer....
. She, along with writers Leo Pogostin and Chuck Walters
Charles Walters
Charles Walters was a Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies in from the 1940s to the 1960s....
created the premise for Athena while making Easy to Love
Easy to Love (film)
Easy to Love is a 1953 musical film directed by Charles Walters. It stars Esther Williams and Van Johnson.-Cast:*Esther Williams as Julie Hallerton*Van Johnson as Ray Lloyd*Tony Martin as Barry Gordton*John Bromfield as Hank...
, and Walters finished the script while Williams was on maternity leave. However, Athena had already begun shooting when Williams arrived back from leave, and the studio had changed the swimming sequences to dancing sequences and replaced Williams with Jane Powell
Jane Powell
Jane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
. Williams was then assigned Jupiter's Darling. Jo Ann Greer
Jo Ann Greer
Jo Ann Greer had one of the most distinctive and elegant voices, yet least-known faces of all the successful jazz and pop singers in show business....
, who sang for Williams, also dubbed June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
in MGM's The Opposite Sex
The Opposite Sex
The Opposite Sex is a 1956 musical film.It is a remake of the 1939 classic comedy The Women. Both films are based on Claire Boothe Luce's original play...
and Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
in three films, including Pal Joey (film)
Pal Joey (film)
Pal Joey is a 1957 film, loosely adapted from the musical play of the same name, and starring Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, and Kim Novak. Jo Ann Greer sang for Hayworth, as she had done previously in Affair in Trinidad and Miss Sadie Thompson. Kim Novak's singing voice was dubbed by Trudy Erwin...
.
During shooting, Williams broke her left eardrum, which had already been broken in five other films. She was fitted with a prosthesis from latex that covered her nose and ears that prevented water from rushing in. As a result, she could barely hear, taste or smell while wearing it.
In one of the film's scenes, Amytis, while fleeing from Hannibal and his soldiers, rides a horse over the edges of a cliff on the Tiber River. Williams refused to do the scene, and when the studio refused to cut it, the director called in a platform diver that Williams knew, Al Lewin. The stunt took place one time; the studio got its shot, and Lewin broke his back.
Release
The film's world premiere was held in Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. The cast, including a 350-pound baby elephant named Jupiter's Darling, embarked on a tour of nine U.S. cities.