Diane (film)
Encyclopedia
Diane is a 1956 American historical film drama
about the life of Diane de Poitiers
, produced by MGM. It was directed by David Miller
and produced by Edwin H. Knopf
from a screenplay
by Christopher Isherwood
based on a story by John Erskine
. The music score was composed by Miklós Rózsa
, Robert H. Planck was the cinematographer
. It was filmed in CinemaScope
.
The film starred Lana Turner
, Pedro Armendáriz
, Roger Moore
, and Marisa Pavan
, and featured Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Torin Thatcher
, Taina Elg
, John Lupton
, Henry Daniell
, Melville Cooper
and an early film appearance by Stuart Whitman
.
Diane de Poitiers (Lana Turner), mistress of Prince Henri (Roger Moore), the future King Henry II
, rises to a position of absolute power through her manipulation of the men in her life. Those men include King Francis I
(Pedro Armendariz) and Diane's husband, the Count de Brèze (Torin Thatcher). Diane's principal foe is the scheming Catherine de' Medici
(Marisa Pavan), who for the first time in her life has met her match.
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...
about the life of Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress...
, produced by MGM. It was directed by David Miller
David Miller (director)
David Miller was an American movie director who directed such varied films as Billy the Kid with Robert Taylor and Brian Donlevy, Flying Tigers with John Wayne, and Love Happy with the Marx Brothers.-Filmography:* Bittersweet Love * Executive Action * Hail, Hero! * Hammerhead...
and produced by Edwin H. Knopf
Edwin H. Knopf
Edwin H. Knopf was an American film producer, film director, and screenwriter.-Biography:He was born in New York City and went to work early in his life in the editorial department of his brother Alfred A. Knopf's publishing business.After trying his hand at acting, Edwin turned to producing in 1928...
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 Christopher Isherwood
Christopher Isherwood
Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an English-American novelist.-Early life and work:Born at Wyberslegh Hall, High Lane, Cheshire in North West England, Isherwood spent his childhood in various towns where his father, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army, was stationed...
based on a story by John Erskine
John Erskine (educator)
John Erskine was a U.S. educator and author, born in New York City and raised in Weehawken, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia University ....
. The music score was composed by Miklós Rózsa
Miklós Rózsa
Miklós Rózsa was a Hungarian-born composer trained in Germany , and active in France , England , and the United States , with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953...
, Robert H. Planck was the cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
. It was filmed in CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
.
The film starred Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
, Pedro Armendáriz
Pedro Armendáriz
Pedro Armendáriz was a Mexican actor of the cinema of Mexico and Hollywood.-Early life:Born Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico to Pedro Armendáriz García-Conde and Adela Hastings . He was also the cousin of actress Gloria Marín...
, Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
, and Marisa Pavan
Marisa Pavan
Marisa Pavan is an Italian-born actress who first became famous as the twin sister to movie star Pier Angeli before achieving movie stardom on her own...
, and featured Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Torin Thatcher
Torin Thatcher
Torin Thatcher was an English actor born in Bombay, British India, India), to English parents. He was an imposing, powerfully built figure noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains....
, Taina Elg
Taina Elg
Taina Elg is a Finnish-American actress and dancer. She has appeared on stage, film and television.-Biography:She was born in Helsinki, but later raised in Turku by her parents, Helena Dobroumova and Åke Elg, a pianist. In 1957 she won the Golden Globe for the Foreign Newcomer Award - Female...
, John Lupton
John Lupton
John Rollin Lupton was an American film and television actor.Upon graduation from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Lupton secured immediate stage work. Then he was signed as a contract player at MGM in Hollywood...
, Henry Daniell
Henry Daniell
Henry Daniell was an English actor, best known for his villainous movie roles, but who had a long and prestigious career on stage as well as in films....
, Melville Cooper
Melville Cooper
George Melville Cooper , best known as Melville Cooper, was a British stage, film and television actor. Among his roles are the cowardly Sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn, and Mr...
and an early film appearance by Stuart Whitman
Stuart Whitman
Stuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
.
Plot
The action is set in 16th century France.Diane de Poitiers (Lana Turner), mistress of Prince Henri (Roger Moore), the future King Henry II
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
, rises to a position of absolute power through her manipulation of the men in her life. Those men include King Francis I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
(Pedro Armendariz) and Diane's husband, the Count de Brèze (Torin Thatcher). Diane's principal foe is the scheming Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II of France....
(Marisa Pavan), who for the first time in her life has met her match.
Cast
- Lana TurnerLana TurnerLana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
- Diane de PoitiersDiane de PoitiersDiane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress... - Pedro ArmendárizPedro ArmendárizPedro Armendáriz was a Mexican actor of the cinema of Mexico and Hollywood.-Early life:Born Pedro Gregorio Armendáriz Hastings in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico to Pedro Armendáriz García-Conde and Adela Hastings . He was also the cousin of actress Gloria Marín...
- King Francis I of France - Roger MooreRoger MooreSir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
- Prince Henri (later King Henry IIHenry II of FranceHenry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
) - Marisa PavanMarisa PavanMarisa Pavan is an Italian-born actress who first became famous as the twin sister to movie star Pier Angeli before achieving movie stardom on her own...
- Catherine de' MediciCatherine de' MediciCatherine de' Medici was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II of France.... - Sir Cedric Hardwicke - Ruggieri
- Torin ThatcherTorin ThatcherTorin Thatcher was an English actor born in Bombay, British India, India), to English parents. He was an imposing, powerfully built figure noted for his flashy portrayals of screen villains....
- Count de Brèze - Taina ElgTaina ElgTaina Elg is a Finnish-American actress and dancer. She has appeared on stage, film and television.-Biography:She was born in Helsinki, but later raised in Turku by her parents, Helena Dobroumova and Åke Elg, a pianist. In 1957 she won the Golden Globe for the Foreign Newcomer Award - Female...
- Alys - John LuptonJohn LuptonJohn Rollin Lupton was an American film and television actor.Upon graduation from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Lupton secured immediate stage work. Then he was signed as a contract player at MGM in Hollywood...
- Regnault - Henry DaniellHenry DaniellHenry Daniell was an English actor, best known for his villainous movie roles, but who had a long and prestigious career on stage as well as in films....
- Gondi - Ronald Green - The Dauphin
- Sean McClorySean McClorySean McClory was an Irish actor whose career spanned six decades and included well over 100 films and television series.-Early years:...
- Count Montgomery - Geoffrey TooneGeoffrey TooneGeoffrey Toone was an Irish-born character actor.Most of Toone's film roles after the 1930s were in supporting parts, usually as authority figures, though he did play the lead character in the Hammer Films production The Terror of the Tongs in 1961Toone was born in Dublin, Ireland to English...
- Duke of Savoy - 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...
- Count Ridolfi - Melville CooperMelville CooperGeorge Melville Cooper , best known as Melville Cooper, was a British stage, film and television actor. Among his roles are the cowardly Sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn, and Mr...
- Court Physician