The Great Gatsby (1949 film)
Encyclopedia
The Great Gatsby is a 1949 film
made by Paramount Pictures
. It was directed by Elliott Nugent
and produced by Richard Maibaum
, from a screenplay
by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume
based on the novel of the same title
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
and the play by Owen Davis
. The music score was by Robert Emmett Dolan and the cinematography by John F. Seitz
. The production was designed by Roland Anderson
and Hans Dreier
and the costumes by Edith Head
.
The film stars Alan Ladd
, Betty Field
, Macdonald Carey
, Ruth Hussey
, and Barry Sullivan
and features Shelley Winters
, Howard Da Silva
and Elisha Cook, Jr.
was to be loaned out to Paramount
to star as Daisy. Tyrone Power had stipulated that he would star as long as Tierney was cast. Elliott Nugent and producer Maibaum felt Tierney's beauty would be a distraction for Daisy. Tierney was dropped, and Power left the production.
This version was the second film version of the novel, after the 1926 silent version
, which is now considered a lost film
because no prints are known to exist. The story was filmed again in 1974
, with Robert Redford
and Mia Farrow
and in 2000, for television, with Toby Stephens
and Mira Sorvino
.
1949 in film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
made by Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. It was directed by Elliott Nugent
Elliott Nugent
Elliott Nugent was an American actor, writer, and film director. He successfully made the transition from silent film to sound. He directed The Cat and the Canary , starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard...
and produced by Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels....
, from a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume
Cyril Hume
Cyril Hume was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 29 films between 1924 and 1966.He was born in New York, New York and died in Palos Verdes, California.-Selected filmography:* The Invisible Boy...
based on the novel of the same title
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
and the play by Owen Davis
Owen Davis
Owen Gould Davis, Sr. was an American dramatist. He received the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his 1923 play Icebound, and penned hundreds of plays and scripts for radio and film. Before the First World War, he also wrote racy sketches of New York high jinks and low life for the Police Gazette...
. The music score was by Robert Emmett Dolan and the cinematography by John F. Seitz
John F. Seitz
John Francis Seitz, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer and inventor.He was nominated for seven Academy Awards.-Career:...
. The production was designed by Roland Anderson
Roland Anderson
Roland Anderson was an acclaimed movie art director, famous for receiving 15 Academy Award nominations but never winning an Oscar. Anderson's fist Oscar nomination was for his first film in 1933, "A Farewell to Arms". A frequent collaborator with Cecil B...
and Hans Dreier
Hans Dreier
Hans Dreier was a film art director.Born in Bremen, Germany, Dreier began his career in German film in 1919 and by the end of the 1920s had relocated to Hollywood....
and the costumes by Edith Head
Edith Head
Edith Head was an American costume designer who won eight Academy Awards, more than any other woman.-Early life and career:...
.
The film stars Alan Ladd
Alan Ladd
-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...
, Betty Field
Betty Field
Betty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
, Macdonald Carey
Macdonald Carey
Edward Macdonald Carey was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of our Lives...
, Ruth Hussey
Ruth Hussey
Ruth Carol Hussey was an American actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated role as photographer Elizabeth Imbrie in The Philadelphia Story.-Early life:...
, and Barry Sullivan
Barry Sullivan (actor)
Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
and features Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters was an American actress who appeared in dozens of films, as well as on stage and television; her career spanned over 50 years until her death in 2006...
, 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...
and Elisha Cook, Jr.
Production notes
Gene TierneyGene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is best remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven .Other notable roles include...
was to be loaned out to Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
to star as Daisy. Tyrone Power had stipulated that he would star as long as Tierney was cast. Elliott Nugent and producer Maibaum felt Tierney's beauty would be a distraction for Daisy. Tierney was dropped, and Power left the production.
This version was the second film version of the novel, after the 1926 silent version
The Great Gatsby (1926 film)
The Great Gatsby is a silent film adaptation of the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film was directed by Herbert Brenon, produced by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky at Famous Players-Lasky, and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is a famous example of a lost film....
, which is now considered a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
because no prints are known to exist. The story was filmed again in 1974
The Great Gatsby (1974 film)
The Great Gatsby is a 1974 romantic drama film distributed by Newdon Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Jack Clayton and produced by David Merrick, from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola based on F...
, with Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
and Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...
and in 2000, for television, with Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens is an English stage, television and film actor who has appeared in films in both Hollywood and Bollywood. He is best known for playing megavillain Gustav Graves in the James Bond film Die Another Day , Edward Fairfax Rochester in the BBC television adaptation of Jane Eyre and Philip...
and Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino
Mira Katherine Sorvino is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite and is also known for her role as Romy White in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.- Early life :Sorvino was born in Tenafly, New Jersey...
.