Keeper of the Flame (film)
Encyclopedia
Keeper of the Flame is a dramatic film
from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(MGM). It stars Katharine Hepburn
and Spencer Tracy
. Hepburn plays the widow of a famous civic leader who has suddenly died in an accident. Tracy plays a former war correspondent
who intends to write a flattering biography of the dead man, only to find that his death is shrouded in mystery. The film was directed by George Cukor
from a screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart
.
). They remain after the rest of the press leave.
Forrest's widow, Christine (Katharine Hepburn), refuses to speak to reporters throughout the proceedings. However, O'Malley befriends youngster Jeb (Daryl Hickman), son of the gatekeeper of the Forrest estate, Jason Rickards (Howard Da Silva
). The grief-stricken boy shows him a way into the mansion, where he meets Christine. Though she is cordial enough, she refuses any cooperation with his biography. After O'Malley leaves, Forrest's private secretary, Clive Kerndon (Richard Whorf
), fearful of how the reporter will react to the brushoff, convinces Christine to offer her help so that they can steer him in the direction they want.
As time goes on, O'Malley gains the widow's trust. Christine is the "keeper of the flame", protecting her husband's memory and reputation. O'Malley's instincts tell him that some secret is being kept from him. He discovers that Forrest's elderly, mentally ill mother (Margaret Wycherly
) is living in a separate house on the vast estate. Despite her servants' attempts to keep them apart, he manages to speak with her and obtains more clues from her ramblings.
O'Malley notices "the arsenal," a stone building near the Forrest mansion which served as Robert Forrest's office and library. One afternoon, O'Malley observes smoke rising from the arsenal's chimney. When he asks Kerndon about the building's purpose, Kerndon (who cannot see the smoke) tells him it is only a storehouse. O'Malley slips away to investigate. He discovers Christine burning what she claims are love letters, but he suspects otherwise. Later, Kerndon telephones somebody and assures the unnamed party that he will take care of the situation.
As O'Malley learns more, he begins to wonder if Christine and her cousin Geoffrey Midford (Forrest Tucker
) are lovers and murderers. However, Geoffrey's announcement of his engagement to Rickard's daughter, and Christine's reaction, discounts that theory.
When O'Malley admits he has fallen in love with her, Christine finally breaks down and reveals the ugly truth. Her husband was corrupted by the power and adulation he received. He became a fascist
, plotting to gain control of the United States and use his enormous influence to turn Americans to fascist ideals. She shows O'Malley papers stored in the arsenal which reveal how Forrest (backed by secretive, ultra-wealthy, power-hungry individuals) planned to use racism
, anti-union
feeling, and antisemitism to divide the country, turning one group against another if it became too powerful to control, in order to create the chaos that would let him seize power.
Christine discovered the plot the day before her husband's death. She went riding the next morning and came upon the washed-out bridge. She could have warned her husband, but decided that a "clean death in the rain was the best thing that could happen to Robert Forrest." O'Malley convinces her to help him write a book detailing Forrest's scheme.
Kerndon eavesdrops, then locks the sole arsenal door and sets the building ablaze. Through an opening, he fatally shoots Christine with a pistol. He attempts to kill O'Malley, too, but misses. When an automobile rushes to the scene, Kerndon shoots at the passengers and is struck by the vehicle.
O'Malley writes a book titled Christine Forrest: Her Life, which exposes the plot.
The script was based on an unpublished book by I.A.R. (Ida) Wylie
. RKO Pictures
bought the book in outline form in April 1941, but encountered casting
difficulties and sold the rights to MGM in December 1941 for $50,000. A day or two after MGM obtained the rights, MGM Vice-President Eddie Mannix
realized the source material was political and tried to kill the film. But after the attack on Pearl Harbor
, Mannix relented and the production went forward. Once the film went into production at MGM, the book was published by Random House
in April 1942. MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer
assigned the script to Donald Ogden Stewart—one of his favorite screenwriters. Mayer's choice seemed unusual, because up to that time Stewart had written only light romantic comedies featuring wealthy East Coast socialites. But Mayer felt Stewart's strongly leftist
political leanings would enable him to turn out a better screenplay. Stewart approached the project with gusto. "I wrote an adaptation from a novel that tells about the fascist mice who are nibbling away at our country while we're busy fighting a good war," he said. Stewart believed Hollywood had punished him for years for his political views, and felt vindicated by the assignment. "Here was my compensation for the sabotage of my radical attempt to do my bit...," he later wrote. The script was the one he was "most proud to have been connected with" during his entire career. Stewart, however, had extensive problems adapting the novel for the screen, and filming—originally due to begin in June 1942—was delayed for several months while he worked on the screenplay. Stewart consulted with the Bureau of Motion Pictures in the U.S. Office of War Information
, an agency of the U.S. federal government created in June 1942 to promote patriotism and warn the public about domestic spying.
Spencer Tracy had been cast as the male lead in the film just days after MGM purchased the rights to the novel. George Cukor was chosen to direct in late April 1942 because he had dealt well with troubled and headstrong actors in the past, and Tracy was considered a difficult actor to direct. Bronisław Kaper, who had come to MGM in 1935 from Nazi Germany
, was assigned to compose the film score
. William H. Daniels
was named the cinematographer.
Katharine Hepburn joined the cast in mid-April 1942 after Stewart sent her a copy of the unfinished script. Hepburn was fascinated by the character of Christine, and felt that doing the film would be a way of contributing to the war effort
. MGM executives did not want Hepburn attached to the picture, feeling it was an inappropriate follow-up for her (first) previous pairing with Tracy in Woman of the Year
(which had been released in January 1942). But Hepburn insisted, and MGM gave way. Hepburn's involvement caused additional problems with the script, however. Since sending Hepburn an early draft of the script, Stewart had toned down the novel's love story, built up the O'Malley role, and emphasized the action. Hepburn was troubled by the new drafts, and asked for more romance. Although Hepburn had spent much of the prior year searching for scripts with equally strong male and female parts for her and Tracy, she now asked that the O'Malley role be restored to the function it served in the novel (where O'Malley is impotent, troubled, and despairing of love) and her own part expanded. Film producer
Victor Saville
threatened to resign if the changes were made, and Spencer Tracy supported him. The changes were rejected.
Nonetheless, the script still had numerous problems, and Stewart refused to recognize these shortcomings. In late summer 1942, Cukor brought in Zoë Akins
, one of his favorite playwrights and screenwriters, to help with the script. Victor Saville worried that Stewart was basing more and more of the script on William Randolph Hearst
, one of Louis B. Mayer's best friends, and that this might torpedo the picture.
As script work continued, casting on the film (which had been delayed months) went ahead in mid-1942. Richard Whorf was cast as the villain, Clive Kerndon, in early June. Frank Craven, Audrey Christie, Donald Meek, and Donald McNally were all cast in mid-July. Pauline Lord
was cast in late July, and Darryl Hickman added in early August. Craven, whose character was not initially specified, was given the role of Dr. Fielding in early August. Forrest Tucker and Percy Kilbride were the last members of the cast hired. Phyllis Brooks
tested for a part in the film in mid-June, but was not cast. A search was even made for the voice of Robert Forrest.
, with no location shooting
. Hepburn had already begun her extramarital affair with Spencer Tracy, and the production was notorious for the ways in which Hepburn doted on Tracy. Tracy drank heavily during the shoot, and Hepburn was his constant guardian, nurse, maid, and gofer
during this time. She tried to keep him out of the bars, assisted him when he was drunk, reinforced his ego, and ran lines with him. But Hepburn herself continued to be upset by the script, and dealt with this problem by isolating herself from friends and family in order to concentrate on her interpretation of the role. Cukor, with a reputation for promiscuity with other men, may also have carried on a sexual affair with actor Forrest Tucker during the production. Nevertheless, the production was a smooth one. Filming was going so well that in the middle of the production Cukor asked Hepburn to talk to Judy Garland
in an attempt to convince Garland of the need to sober up
. In order to add realism to the production, Cukor consulted with and brought onto the set reporters from United Press
for advice on how newspapermen would handle Forrest's funeral. Based on their critiques, Cukor changed the scene in the village hotel's bar so that instead of drinking and talking about the funeral, the reporters get to work drafting articles on their typewriters. The script, too, was changed to permit the bartender to make a quip about reporters working rather than drinking.
Reshoots occurred in September and October. Katharine Hepburn returned to Hollywood in early September for retakes, and Pauline Lord was called back in early October.
Although James E. Newcom was the film's editor
, Cukor had final cut
on the film. Pauline Lord's scenes were deleted from the picture, and her name did not appear on cast lists.
, was unhappy with the picture and found it heavy-handed.
Keeper of the Flame premiered at Radio City Music Hall
on Thursday, March 18, 1943. The premiere served as a fundraiser for the Outdoor Cleanliness Association (a group dedicated to public lighting and enforcement of trash laws). The premiere did not go well: MGM head Louis B. Mayer stormed out, enraged at the way the film seemed to equate wealth with fascism. It opened in Los Angeles
at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
on Thursday, April 1, 1943.
Keeper of the Flame made its Australia
n premiere at the Metro Theatre in Melbourne
in June 1943.
MGM promoted Spencer Tracy for an Academy Award for Best Actor
but he was not nominated.
Keeper of the Flame made its American television debut in March 1957.
members of Congress
complained about the film's apparently leftist politics, and demanded that Will H. Hays
, President of the Motion Picture Production Code, establish guidelines regarding propagandization for the motion picture industry.
Although the film was held over for a fourth week at Radio City Music Hall (most films lasted a week), it did not do well at the box office nationally and is considered the least successful of the Hepburn-Tracy films.
Critical reaction at the time was mixed. While at least one reviewer felt the film was reminiscent of motion pictures like Citizen Kane
and Rebecca, Hedda Hopper
called it "Citizen Kane with all the art scraped off". Bosley Crowther
, writing in The New York Times
, concluded that while the first half of the film was very good, the latter half felt slow and failed to deliver emotional punch. Crowther called the film "a courageous and timely drama" and praised Tracy and Hepburn for performances that featured "taut solemnity". But the script seemed uneven dramatically ("...the nature of this story is a murder mystery and yet the interest is centered much more upon the dead man than on the hunt"), and a critical problem was that the audience "is informed much sooner than the journalist what the nature of Forrest was, and the story drags while we wait for the journalist to catch up." Crowther still enjoyed Cukor's direction, which he felt sustained mystery even when little existed. Like Crowther, the Chicago Tribune
and other critics pointed out that the picture seemed slow. The Hartford Courant
, meanwhile, raved about the film: "Hepburn and Tracy have given us a great film in Keeper of the Flame... Great because of the courage and daring it took to make it, the magnificent production it has been given, the excellent acting within it, and the exciting, tense story it contains." Generally speaking, the film was better received in the eastern half of the United States.
Cukor himself was highly dissatisfied by the film. "I suspect the story was basically fraudulent," he told an interviewer. Like many critics, he felt that "as a piece of storytelling, the unfolding of a mystery, the first half of Keeper of the Flame is a damn good show", but the rest of the film had substantial problems. He praised Spencer Tracy's work, saying: "Tracy...was at his best in the picture. Subdued, cool, he conveyed the ruthlessness of the reporter sent to investigate Forrest's death without seeming to try. He was ideally cast in the role, grimly and skeptically exploring the secret of the dead boys' club hero who was in fact a rampant fascist." Hepburn, he felt, was hindered by the role and her approach to it. "It was Kate's last romantic glamour-girl part, and she acted with some of that artificiality she'd supposedly left behind at RKO. That first scene, floating into a room in yards and yards of draperies with these lillies—well, it was all far, far too much. I don't think I really believed in the story, it was pure hokeypokey, and her part was phony, highfalutin." He particularly disliked Hepburn's entrance in the film, with the long dress and lillies. But he felt Hepburn did her best: "That's awfully tricky isn't it? And doesn't she give long, piercing looks at his portrait over the mantel? Well. I think she finally carried a slightly phony part because her humanity asserted itself, and her humor. They always did." Overall, though, Cukor felt the film was leaden, and that it had "a wax work quality". Even screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart eventually came to feel the film was "tedious, wooden, and heavy-handed".
More recently, critics have reassessed the film positively. These reviews note that the film is a good example of the type of anti-fascist films produced in America early in World War II
. One film historian has concluded that Keeper of the Flame is "truly provocative in that it was one of Hollywood's few forays into imagining the possibility of homegrown American Fascism and the crucial damage which can be done to individual rights when inhumane and tyrannical ideas sweep a society through a charismatic leader." Others have pointed out the film's "...astonishing...bold effort to shape American public opinion." Other authors have noted that the film is different from other anti-fascist films of the period in that it clearly links wealth and fascism and points out the ways in which patriotism may far too easily be turned toward fascist ends.
The technical quality of Keeper of the Flame has been highly praised since its release. William H. Daniels' cinematography and lighting design has been described as lush and virtuosic. Daniels received accolades from his peers for his work on the film. Other historians have pointed out that the film's score is particularly good. For example, one review noted that the music goes silent during the climactic scene in which Katharine Hepburn reveals her secrets to Spencer Tracy—an effective and unexpected emotional tactic.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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...
(MGM). It stars Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
and Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
. Hepburn plays the widow of a famous civic leader who has suddenly died in an accident. Tracy plays a former war correspondent
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
who intends to write a flattering biography of the dead man, only to find that his death is shrouded in mystery. The film was directed by George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
from a screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart
Donald Ogden Stewart was an American author and screenwriter.-Life:His hometown was Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Yale University, where he became a brother to the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity , in 1916 and was in the Naval Reserves in World War I.After the war he started to write and found...
.
Plot
When national hero Robert Forrest is killed in an automobile accident, the entire United States goes into deep mourning. Admirer and renowned journalist Stephen O'Malley (Spencer Tracy) returns from Europe to write a biography of the great man. Among the throngs covering the funeral, he finds his old friends and fellow reporters, Jane Harding (Audrey Christie) and Freddie Ridges (Stephen McNallyStephen McNally
Stephen McNally was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in many westerns and action films. He was an attorney in the late 1930s before pursuing a career in acting.-Career:...
). They remain after the rest of the press leave.
Forrest's widow, Christine (Katharine Hepburn), refuses to speak to reporters throughout the proceedings. However, O'Malley befriends youngster Jeb (Daryl Hickman), son of the gatekeeper of the Forrest estate, Jason Rickards (Howard Da Silva
Howard Da Silva
Howard Da Silva was an American actor.-Early life:He was born Howard Silverblatt in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Benjamin and Bertha Silverblatt. His parents were both Yiddish speaking Jews born in Russia. He had a job as a steelworker before beginning his acting career on the stage...
). The grief-stricken boy shows him a way into the mansion, where he meets Christine. Though she is cordial enough, she refuses any cooperation with his biography. After O'Malley leaves, Forrest's private secretary, Clive Kerndon (Richard Whorf
Richard Whorf
Richard Whorf was an American actor, author, director, and designer.Richard was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah Whorf. Richards's older brother was the well-known American linguist, Benjamin Lee Whorf. Whorf began his acting career on the Boston stage as a teenager then moving...
), fearful of how the reporter will react to the brushoff, convinces Christine to offer her help so that they can steer him in the direction they want.
As time goes on, O'Malley gains the widow's trust. Christine is the "keeper of the flame", protecting her husband's memory and reputation. O'Malley's instincts tell him that some secret is being kept from him. He discovers that Forrest's elderly, mentally ill mother (Margaret Wycherly
Margaret Wycherly
Margaret Wycherly was an English stage and film actress.-Early life:Wycherly was born Margaret De Wolfe in London, England of American parents, Dr. and Mrs. J. L. De Wolfe. She was married to writer Bayard Veiller in 1901. They had a son, Anthony Veiller , who also became a writer...
) is living in a separate house on the vast estate. Despite her servants' attempts to keep them apart, he manages to speak with her and obtains more clues from her ramblings.
O'Malley notices "the arsenal," a stone building near the Forrest mansion which served as Robert Forrest's office and library. One afternoon, O'Malley observes smoke rising from the arsenal's chimney. When he asks Kerndon about the building's purpose, Kerndon (who cannot see the smoke) tells him it is only a storehouse. O'Malley slips away to investigate. He discovers Christine burning what she claims are love letters, but he suspects otherwise. Later, Kerndon telephones somebody and assures the unnamed party that he will take care of the situation.
As O'Malley learns more, he begins to wonder if Christine and her cousin Geoffrey Midford (Forrest Tucker
Forrest Tucker
Forrest Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television from the 1940s to the 1980s. Tucker, who stood 190 cm tall and weighed 93 kg , appeared in nearly 100 action films in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:Forrest Meredith Tucker was born in Plainfield, Indiana, a son of...
) are lovers and murderers. However, Geoffrey's announcement of his engagement to Rickard's daughter, and Christine's reaction, discounts that theory.
When O'Malley admits he has fallen in love with her, Christine finally breaks down and reveals the ugly truth. Her husband was corrupted by the power and adulation he received. He became a fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, plotting to gain control of the United States and use his enormous influence to turn Americans to fascist ideals. She shows O'Malley papers stored in the arsenal which reveal how Forrest (backed by secretive, ultra-wealthy, power-hungry individuals) planned to use racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, anti-union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
feeling, and antisemitism to divide the country, turning one group against another if it became too powerful to control, in order to create the chaos that would let him seize power.
Christine discovered the plot the day before her husband's death. She went riding the next morning and came upon the washed-out bridge. She could have warned her husband, but decided that a "clean death in the rain was the best thing that could happen to Robert Forrest." O'Malley convinces her to help him write a book detailing Forrest's scheme.
Kerndon eavesdrops, then locks the sole arsenal door and sets the building ablaze. Through an opening, he fatally shoots Christine with a pistol. He attempts to kill O'Malley, too, but misses. When an automobile rushes to the scene, Kerndon shoots at the passengers and is struck by the vehicle.
O'Malley writes a book titled Christine Forrest: Her Life, which exposes the plot.
Cast
- Spencer TracySpencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
as Steven O'Malley - Katharine HepburnKatharine HepburnKatharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
as Christine Forrest - Richard WhorfRichard WhorfRichard Whorf was an American actor, author, director, and designer.Richard was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts to Harry and Sarah Whorf. Richards's older brother was the well-known American linguist, Benjamin Lee Whorf. Whorf began his acting career on the Boston stage as a teenager then moving...
as Clive Kerndon - Margaret WycherlyMargaret WycherlyMargaret Wycherly was an English stage and film actress.-Early life:Wycherly was born Margaret De Wolfe in London, England of American parents, Dr. and Mrs. J. L. De Wolfe. She was married to writer Bayard Veiller in 1901. They had a son, Anthony Veiller , who also became a writer...
as Mrs. Forrest - Forrest TuckerForrest TuckerForrest Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television from the 1940s to the 1980s. Tucker, who stood 190 cm tall and weighed 93 kg , appeared in nearly 100 action films in the 1940s and 1950s.-Early life:Forrest Meredith Tucker was born in Plainfield, Indiana, a son of...
as Geoffrey Midford - Frank CravenFrank CravenFrank Craven was an American stage and film actor, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for originating the role of the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder's Our Town....
as Doctor Fielding, one of the few critical of Forrest - Stephen McNallyStephen McNallyStephen McNally was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in many westerns and action films. He was an attorney in the late 1930s before pursuing a career in acting.-Career:...
as Freddie Ridges - Percy KilbridePercy KilbridePercy W. Kilbride was an American character actor. The son of Irish immigrants, he made a career of playing country hicks, most memorably as Pa Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle series of feature films.-Career:...
as Orion Peabody, O'Malley's taxi driver - Audrey Christie as Jane Harding
- Darryl HickmanDarryl HickmanDarryl Gerard Hickman is an American film and television actor, former television executive, and child star of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
as Jeb Rickards - Donald MeekDonald MeekDonald Meek was a Scottish-born American character actor. He first worked as a stage actor and later became a film actor, starring in several movies including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Miss Broadway, and State Fair. Before becoming an actor, he fought in the Spanish-American War and...
as Mr. Arbuthnot - Howard Da SilvaHoward Da SilvaHoward Da Silva was an American actor.-Early life:He was born Howard Silverblatt in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Benjamin and Bertha Silverblatt. His parents were both Yiddish speaking Jews born in Russia. He had a job as a steelworker before beginning his acting career on the stage...
as Jason Rickards - William Newell as Piggot
Script and casting
Ida Alexa Ross Wylie
Ida Alexa Ross Wylie, also Ida Alena Ross Wylie, born 16 March 1885 in Melbourne, died 4 November 1959 in Princeton, New Jersey, usually known by her pen name I. A. R...
. RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
bought the book in outline form in April 1941, but encountered casting
Casting (performing arts)
In the performing arts, casting is a pre-production process for selecting a cast of actors, dancers, singers, models and other talent for a live or recorded performance.-Casting process:...
difficulties and sold the rights to MGM in December 1941 for $50,000. A day or two after MGM obtained the rights, MGM Vice-President Eddie Mannix
Eddie Mannix
Edgar Joseph "Eddie" Mannix was an American film studio executive....
realized the source material was political and tried to kill the film. But after the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, Mannix relented and the production went forward. Once the film went into production at MGM, the book was published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in April 1942. MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
assigned the script to Donald Ogden Stewart—one of his favorite screenwriters. Mayer's choice seemed unusual, because up to that time Stewart had written only light romantic comedies featuring wealthy East Coast socialites. But Mayer felt Stewart's strongly leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
political leanings would enable him to turn out a better screenplay. Stewart approached the project with gusto. "I wrote an adaptation from a novel that tells about the fascist mice who are nibbling away at our country while we're busy fighting a good war," he said. Stewart believed Hollywood had punished him for years for his political views, and felt vindicated by the assignment. "Here was my compensation for the sabotage of my radical attempt to do my bit...," he later wrote. The script was the one he was "most proud to have been connected with" during his entire career. Stewart, however, had extensive problems adapting the novel for the screen, and filming—originally due to begin in June 1942—was delayed for several months while he worked on the screenplay. Stewart consulted with the Bureau of Motion Pictures in the U.S. Office of War Information
United States Office of War Information
The United States Office of War Information was a U.S. government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services. It operated from June 1942 until September 1945...
, an agency of the U.S. federal government created in June 1942 to promote patriotism and warn the public about domestic spying.
Spencer Tracy had been cast as the male lead in the film just days after MGM purchased the rights to the novel. George Cukor was chosen to direct in late April 1942 because he had dealt well with troubled and headstrong actors in the past, and Tracy was considered a difficult actor to direct. Bronisław Kaper, who had come to MGM in 1935 from Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, was assigned to compose the film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
. William H. Daniels
William H. Daniels
William H. Daniels, A.S.C. was a film cinematographer best known as Greta Garbo's personal lensman. Early in his career he worked regularly with director Erich von Stroheim.-Career:...
was named the cinematographer.
Katharine Hepburn joined the cast in mid-April 1942 after Stewart sent her a copy of the unfinished script. Hepburn was fascinated by the character of Christine, and felt that doing the film would be a way of contributing to the war effort
War effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force...
. MGM executives did not want Hepburn attached to the picture, feeling it was an inappropriate follow-up for her (first) previous pairing with Tracy in Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year
Woman of the Year is a romantic comedy film. The movie is about an emancipated woman, chosen "Woman of the Year", and her colleague-turned-husband and their efforts to negotiate a path to marital bliss....
(which had been released in January 1942). But Hepburn insisted, and MGM gave way. Hepburn's involvement caused additional problems with the script, however. Since sending Hepburn an early draft of the script, Stewart had toned down the novel's love story, built up the O'Malley role, and emphasized the action. Hepburn was troubled by the new drafts, and asked for more romance. Although Hepburn had spent much of the prior year searching for scripts with equally strong male and female parts for her and Tracy, she now asked that the O'Malley role be restored to the function it served in the novel (where O'Malley is impotent, troubled, and despairing of love) and her own part expanded. Film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Victor Saville
Victor Saville
Victor Saville was an English film director, producer and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954...
threatened to resign if the changes were made, and Spencer Tracy supported him. The changes were rejected.
Nonetheless, the script still had numerous problems, and Stewart refused to recognize these shortcomings. In late summer 1942, Cukor brought in Zoë Akins
Zoe Akins
Zoë Akins was an American playwright, poet, and author.- Early years :Born in Humansville, Missouri, Akins was educated in Illinois and later in St. Louis, where she began her writing career...
, one of his favorite playwrights and screenwriters, to help with the script. Victor Saville worried that Stewart was basing more and more of the script on William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
, one of Louis B. Mayer's best friends, and that this might torpedo the picture.
As script work continued, casting on the film (which had been delayed months) went ahead in mid-1942. Richard Whorf was cast as the villain, Clive Kerndon, in early June. Frank Craven, Audrey Christie, Donald Meek, and Donald McNally were all cast in mid-July. Pauline Lord
Pauline Lord
Pauline Lord was an American stage and film actress-Biography:She was born in Hanford, California to Edward Lord and Sara Foster...
was cast in late July, and Darryl Hickman added in early August. Craven, whose character was not initially specified, was given the role of Dr. Fielding in early August. Forrest Tucker and Percy Kilbride were the last members of the cast hired. Phyllis Brooks
Phyllis Brooks
Phyllis Brooks was an American actress and model. Brooks was born Phyllis Seiler in Boise, Idaho on July 18, 1915. She began her career in films at age 20, and had been known as the "Ipana Toothpaste Girl" due to her work as a model...
tested for a part in the film in mid-June, but was not cast. A search was even made for the voice of Robert Forrest.
Principal filming and post-production
Principal filming began the last week of August 1942. The entire picture was filmed on a sound stageSound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
, with no location shooting
Location shooting
Location shooting is the practice of filming in an actual setting rather than on a sound stage or back lot. In filmmaking a location is any place where a film crew will be filming actors and recording their dialog. A location where dialog is not recorded may be considered as a second unit...
. Hepburn had already begun her extramarital affair with Spencer Tracy, and the production was notorious for the ways in which Hepburn doted on Tracy. Tracy drank heavily during the shoot, and Hepburn was his constant guardian, nurse, maid, and gofer
Gofer
A gofer or go-fer is an employee who is often sent on errands. "Gofer" reflects the likelihood of instructions to go for coffee, dry cleaning, or stamps, or to make other straightforward or familiar procurements. The term gofer originated in North America...
during this time. She tried to keep him out of the bars, assisted him when he was drunk, reinforced his ego, and ran lines with him. But Hepburn herself continued to be upset by the script, and dealt with this problem by isolating herself from friends and family in order to concentrate on her interpretation of the role. Cukor, with a reputation for promiscuity with other men, may also have carried on a sexual affair with actor Forrest Tucker during the production. Nevertheless, the production was a smooth one. Filming was going so well that in the middle of the production Cukor asked Hepburn to talk to Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in an attempt to convince Garland of the need to sober up
Sobriety
Sobriety is the condition of not having any measurable levels, or effects from, alcohol or other drugs that alter ones mood or behaviors. According to WHO "Lexicon of alcohol and drug terms..." sobriety is continued abstinence from alcohol and psychoactive drug use...
. In order to add realism to the production, Cukor consulted with and brought onto the set reporters from United Press
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
for advice on how newspapermen would handle Forrest's funeral. Based on their critiques, Cukor changed the scene in the village hotel's bar so that instead of drinking and talking about the funeral, the reporters get to work drafting articles on their typewriters. The script, too, was changed to permit the bartender to make a quip about reporters working rather than drinking.
Reshoots occurred in September and October. Katharine Hepburn returned to Hollywood in early September for retakes, and Pauline Lord was called back in early October.
Although James E. Newcom was the film's editor
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
, Cukor had final cut
Final cut privilege
Final cut privilege is a film industry term, usually used when a director has contractual authority over how a film is ultimately released for public viewing.- Condition :...
on the film. Pauline Lord's scenes were deleted from the picture, and her name did not appear on cast lists.
Release
The film was screened for the Office of War Information's Bureau of Motion Pictures on December 2, 1942. The Bureau's chief, Lowell MellettLowell Mellett
Lowell Mellett was a journalist best known for supervising the series Why We Fight during World War 2.-Early life:Born in small-town Indiana, Mellett claimed his interest in public affairs came from holding a torch in rallies for rivals Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison since, as he wrote, "a...
, was unhappy with the picture and found it heavy-handed.
Keeper of the Flame premiered at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
on Thursday, March 18, 1943. The premiere served as a fundraiser for the Outdoor Cleanliness Association (a group dedicated to public lighting and enforcement of trash laws). The premiere did not go well: MGM head Louis B. Mayer stormed out, enraged at the way the film seemed to equate wealth with fascism. It opened in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Grauman's Chinese Theatre is a movie theater at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. It is on the historic Hollywood Walk of Fame.The Chinese Theatre was commissioned following the success of the nearby Grauman's Egyptian Theatre which opened in 1922...
on Thursday, April 1, 1943.
Keeper of the Flame made its Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n premiere at the Metro Theatre in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in June 1943.
MGM promoted Spencer Tracy for an Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
but he was not nominated.
Keeper of the Flame made its American television debut in March 1957.
Reception
The film generated some political controversy. RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
members of Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
complained about the film's apparently leftist politics, and demanded that Will H. Hays
Will H. Hays
William Harrison Hays, Sr. , was the namesake of the Hays Code for censorship of American films, chairman of the Republican National Committee and U.S. Postmaster General from 1921 to 1922....
, President of the Motion Picture Production Code, establish guidelines regarding propagandization for the motion picture industry.
Although the film was held over for a fourth week at Radio City Music Hall (most films lasted a week), it did not do well at the box office nationally and is considered the least successful of the Hepburn-Tracy films.
Critical reaction at the time was mixed. While at least one reviewer felt the film was reminiscent of motion pictures like Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
and Rebecca, Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
called it "Citizen Kane with all the art scraped off". Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
, writing in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, concluded that while the first half of the film was very good, the latter half felt slow and failed to deliver emotional punch. Crowther called the film "a courageous and timely drama" and praised Tracy and Hepburn for performances that featured "taut solemnity". But the script seemed uneven dramatically ("...the nature of this story is a murder mystery and yet the interest is centered much more upon the dead man than on the hunt"), and a critical problem was that the audience "is informed much sooner than the journalist what the nature of Forrest was, and the story drags while we wait for the journalist to catch up." Crowther still enjoyed Cukor's direction, which he felt sustained mystery even when little existed. Like Crowther, the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
and other critics pointed out that the picture seemed slow. The Hartford Courant
The Hartford Courant
The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is a morning newspaper for most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury...
, meanwhile, raved about the film: "Hepburn and Tracy have given us a great film in Keeper of the Flame... Great because of the courage and daring it took to make it, the magnificent production it has been given, the excellent acting within it, and the exciting, tense story it contains." Generally speaking, the film was better received in the eastern half of the United States.
Cukor himself was highly dissatisfied by the film. "I suspect the story was basically fraudulent," he told an interviewer. Like many critics, he felt that "as a piece of storytelling, the unfolding of a mystery, the first half of Keeper of the Flame is a damn good show", but the rest of the film had substantial problems. He praised Spencer Tracy's work, saying: "Tracy...was at his best in the picture. Subdued, cool, he conveyed the ruthlessness of the reporter sent to investigate Forrest's death without seeming to try. He was ideally cast in the role, grimly and skeptically exploring the secret of the dead boys' club hero who was in fact a rampant fascist." Hepburn, he felt, was hindered by the role and her approach to it. "It was Kate's last romantic glamour-girl part, and she acted with some of that artificiality she'd supposedly left behind at RKO. That first scene, floating into a room in yards and yards of draperies with these lillies—well, it was all far, far too much. I don't think I really believed in the story, it was pure hokeypokey, and her part was phony, highfalutin." He particularly disliked Hepburn's entrance in the film, with the long dress and lillies. But he felt Hepburn did her best: "That's awfully tricky isn't it? And doesn't she give long, piercing looks at his portrait over the mantel? Well. I think she finally carried a slightly phony part because her humanity asserted itself, and her humor. They always did." Overall, though, Cukor felt the film was leaden, and that it had "a wax work quality". Even screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart eventually came to feel the film was "tedious, wooden, and heavy-handed".
More recently, critics have reassessed the film positively. These reviews note that the film is a good example of the type of anti-fascist films produced in America early in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. One film historian has concluded that Keeper of the Flame is "truly provocative in that it was one of Hollywood's few forays into imagining the possibility of homegrown American Fascism and the crucial damage which can be done to individual rights when inhumane and tyrannical ideas sweep a society through a charismatic leader." Others have pointed out the film's "...astonishing...bold effort to shape American public opinion." Other authors have noted that the film is different from other anti-fascist films of the period in that it clearly links wealth and fascism and points out the ways in which patriotism may far too easily be turned toward fascist ends.
The technical quality of Keeper of the Flame has been highly praised since its release. William H. Daniels' cinematography and lighting design has been described as lush and virtuosic. Daniels received accolades from his peers for his work on the film. Other historians have pointed out that the film's score is particularly good. For example, one review noted that the music goes silent during the climactic scene in which Katharine Hepburn reveals her secrets to Spencer Tracy—an effective and unexpected emotional tactic.