Lonelyhearts is a 1958 film noir

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...

drama film directed by Vincent J. Donehue

Vincent J. Donehue

Vincent Julian Donehue was an American director noted mainly for his theatre work, with occasional film and television credits....

. It is based on the play by Howard Teichmann and the 1933 novel Miss Lonelyhearts

Miss Lonelyhearts

Miss Lonelyhearts, published in 1933, is Nathanael West's second novel. It is an Expressionist black comedy set in New York City during the Great Depression.-Plot summary:...

by Nathanael West

Nathanael West

Nathanael West was a US author, screenwriter and satirist.- Early life :...

.

The film stars Montgomery Clift

Montgomery Clift

Edward Montgomery Clift was an American film and stage actor. The New York Times’ obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men"....

, Robert Ryan

Robert Ryan

Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...

, Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy was an American actress. Trained as a dancer, she devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. Originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, her career prospects improved following her portrayal of Nora Charles...

, Jackie Coogan

Jackie Coogan

John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...

, Dolores Hart

Dolores Hart

Dolores Hart is an American Roman Catholic nun and former actress. She made 10 films in 5 years, playing opposite Stephen Boyd, Montgomery Clift, George Hamilton and Robert Wagner, having made her movie debut with Elvis Presley in Loving You .-Background:Dolores Hicks was the only child of the...

, and Maureen Stapleton

Maureen Stapleton

Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television.-Early life:Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family...

 in her first film role. Stapleton was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 as well as for a Golden Globe.

Background and production

Nathanael West's novel on which this film was based was adapted for the screen in 1933

1933 in film

-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....

 as Advice to the Lovelorn starring Lee Tracy

Lee Tracy

William Lee Tracy was an American actor.- Early life :Tracy was born in Atlanta, Georgia.After graduating from Western Military Academy in 1918 he studied electrical engineering at Union College, and then served as a 2nd lieutenant in World War I. In the early 1920s he decided to work as an actor...

. It was made by 20th Century Pictures and distributed by United Artists

United Artists

United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....

, directed by Alfred L. Werker

Alfred L. Werker

Alfred L. Werker was a film director whose work in movies spanned from 1917 through 1957. After a number of film production jobs and assistant directing, Werker co-directed his first film, Ridin' the Wind in 1925 alongside director Del Andrews...

 from a screenplay by Leonard Praskins. The film was more of a comedy-drama than this version.

In 1957, the novel was adapted into a stage play entitled Miss Lonelyhearts by Howard Teichmann. It opened on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 at the Music Box Theatre

Music Box Theatre

The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...

 on October 3, 1957 in a production directed by Alan Schneider

Alan Schneider

Alan Schneider was an American theatre director and mentor responsible for more than 100 theatre productions. In 1984 he was honored with a Drama Desk Special Award for serving a wide range of playwrights...

 and designed by Jo Mielziner

Jo Mielziner

Joseph "Jo" Mielziner was an American theatrical scenic, and lighting designer born in Paris, France. He is "the most successful set designer of the Golden era of Broadway", and worked on both stage plays and musicals.-Career:He was the son of artist Leo Mielziner, Sr...

. It ran for only twelve performances.

Plot

The story opens on a small-town street. A man throws a bundle of papers onto the sidewalk from the back of a truck labeled "Chronicle". Clift is sitting in a bar when a woman offers him a drink. He refuses, telling her how alcohol seems to be poisonous to him. After talking with her for a while, he finds out that she is married to the editor of the paper where he is hoping to work. The editor shows up to meet his wife only to find her talking to Monty. When he asks how Monty found him, Monty says, "I heard that there was a bar where newspaper people hang out. I came here since it is the closest to the Chronicle, the only paper in town." The Mrs. says that Monty can write and that he deserves the chance to prove it. Ryan says, "OK, so write!" Clift hems and haws momentarily, but then delivers the following story: "The Chronicle is pleased to announce the addition of a new member to our staff. He met the Editor in Chief, who went so far as to insult his own wife in an effort to provoke the new staff member. Instead of punching the editor in the face, he accepted a position on the paper."