On the Riviera
Encyclopedia
On the Riviera is a 1951
musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox
. It was directed by Walter Lang
, produced by Sol C. Siegel from a screenplay
by Valentine Davies
and Phoebe and Henry Ephron
, based on the play The Red Cat by Rudolph Lothar and Hans Adler
, with dance sequences choreographed and staged by Jack Cole
.
Having extensive production value this is a "backstage" musical, all songs occurring as stage performances and many of the characters are stage performers. The film served as a vehicle for multi-talented Broadway veteran Danny Kaye
.
This was the third film version of the same story. The original was entitled Folies Bergère (1935) and starred Maurice Chevalier
, Merle Oberon
and Ann Sothern
. The remake
in 1941 was That Night in Rio
and starred Don Ameche
, Alice Faye
and Carmen Miranda
.
This version stars Danny Kaye
, Gene Tierney
and Corinne Calvet
with Marcel Dalio
, Henri Letondal, Sig Ruman
with uncredited featured dancer Gwen Verdon
.
It was nominated for two Academy Awards; for Best Music
and Best Art Direction
(Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller
, Joseph C. Wright
, Thomas Little
, Walter M. Scott
).
1951 in film
The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. It was directed by Walter Lang
Walter Lang
Walter Lang was an American film director.-Early life:Walter Lang was born in Memphis, Tennessee. As a young man he went to New York City where he found clerical work at a film production company. The business piqued his artistic instincts and he began learning the various facets of filmmaking...
, produced by Sol C. Siegel 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 Valentine Davies
Valentine Davies
Valentine Davies was an American film and television writer, producer, and director. His credits included Miracle on 34th Street , Chicken Every Sunday , The Bridges at Toko-Ri , and The Benny Goodman Story...
and Phoebe and Henry Ephron
Henry Ephron
Henry Ephron was a playwright, screenwriter and film producer who often worked with his wife Phoebe Wolkind Ephron.Born in Bronx, New York, He was active as a writer from the early 1940s through the early 1960s...
, based on the play The Red Cat by Rudolph Lothar and Hans Adler
Hans Adler
Hans Adler was a German author of humorous poems, many of which appeared in the magazine Simplicissimus and were later collected in the volume Affentheater....
, with dance sequences choreographed and staged by Jack Cole
Jack Cole (choreographer)
Jack Cole was an American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director known as the father of theatrical jazz dance.-Early life:...
.
Having extensive production value this is a "backstage" musical, all songs occurring as stage performances and many of the characters are stage performers. The film served as a vehicle for multi-talented Broadway veteran Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
.
This was the third film version of the same story. The original was entitled Folies Bergère (1935) and starred Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
, Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
and Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
. The remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
in 1941 was That Night in Rio
That Night in Rio
That Night in Rio is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche . It is one of several film adaptations of a play called The Red Cat by Rudolph Lothar and Hans Adler...
and starred Don Ameche
Don Ameche
Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
, Alice Faye
Alice Faye
Alice Faye was an American actress and singer, called by The New York Times "one of the few movie stars to walk away from stardom at the peak of her career." She is remembered first for her stardom at 20th Century Fox and, later, as the radio comedy partner of her husband, bandleader and comedian...
and Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda
Carmen Miranda, GCIH was a Portuguese-born Brazilian samba singer, Broadway actress and Hollywood film star popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was, by some accounts, the highest-earning woman in the United States and noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in the 1943 movie The Gang's...
.
This version stars Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
, Gene Tierney
Gene 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...
and Corinne Calvet
Corinne Calvet
Corinne Calvet was a French actress who appeared mostly in American films.Born Corinne Dibos in Paris, Calvet studied criminal law at the Sorbonne and made her debut in French radio, stage plays and cinema in the 1940s before being brought to Hollywood in the 1940s by producer Hal B. Wallis...
with Marcel Dalio
Marcel Dalio
Marcel Dalio was a French character actor. He had major roles in two of Jean Renoir's most famous films, Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game.- Biography :...
, Henri Letondal, Sig Ruman
Sig Ruman
Sig Ruman was a German-American actor known for his comic portrayals of pompous villains.-Life and career:...
with uncredited featured dancer Gwen Verdon
Gwen Verdon
Gwenyth Evelyn “Gwen” Verdon was an actress and dancer who won four Tony awards for her musical comedy performances. With flaming red hair and an endearing quaver in her voice, Verdon was a critically acclaimed dancer on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s...
.
It was nominated for two Academy Awards; for Best Music
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller
Leland Fuller
Leland Fuller was an American art director. He was nominated for six Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction...
, Joseph C. Wright
Joseph C. Wright
Joseph C. Wright was an American art director. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for ten more in the category Best Art Direction...
, Thomas Little
Thomas Little
Thomas Little was a United States set decorator on more than 450 Hollywood movies between 1932 and 1953. He won a total of 6 Oscars for art direction and received 21 nominations in the same category...
, Walter M. Scott
Walter M. Scott
Walter M. Scott was an Academy Award-winning set decorator who worked on films such as The Sound of Music and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid....
).
Plot
The film follows Jack Martin as he is offered a large amount of money to impersonate his look alike, Henri Duran.Cast
- Danny KayeDanny KayeDanny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
- Jack Martin / Henri Duran - Gene TierneyGene TierneyGene 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...
- Lili Duran - Corinne CalvetCorinne CalvetCorinne Calvet was a French actress who appeared mostly in American films.Born Corinne Dibos in Paris, Calvet studied criminal law at the Sorbonne and made her debut in French radio, stage plays and cinema in the 1940s before being brought to Hollywood in the 1940s by producer Hal B. Wallis...
- Colette - Marcel DalioMarcel DalioMarcel Dalio was a French character actor. He had major roles in two of Jean Renoir's most famous films, Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game.- Biography :...
- Philippe Lebrix - Jean MuratJean MuratJean Murat was a French actor. He was married to the French actress Annabella.-Selected filmography:* Carnival in Flanders * Les mutinés de l'Elseneur * On the Riviera * Alarm in Morocco...
- Felix Periton - Henri Letondal - Louis Foral
- Clinton SundbergClinton SundbergClinton Sundberg was a stage and film character actor.Sundberg was born in Appleton, Minnesota on December 7, with sources differing on his year of birth...
- Antoine - Sig RumanSig RumanSig Ruman was a German-American actor known for his comic portrayals of pompous villains.-Life and career:...
- Gapeaux - Joyce MackenzieJoyce MacKenzieJoyce MacKenzie is an American actress who appeared in films and television from 1946 to 1961. She is best remembered for being the eleventh actress to portray Jane. She played the role opposite Lex Barker's Tarzan in 1953's Tarzan and the She-Devil.-External links:...
- Mimi (as Joyce MacKenzie) - Monique Chantal - Minette
- Marina Koshetz - Mme. Louise Cornet
- Ann CodeeAnn CodeeAnn Codee was a Belgian actress with numerous hit films on her résumé.-Biography:Codee married actor Frank Orth around 1911 or so. She and her husband toured American vaudeville in the 1910s and 1920s in a comedy act. The team made its film debut in 1929, appearing in a series of multilingual...
- Mme. Periton - Mari BlanchardMari BlanchardMari Blanchard was an American actress, known for her roles as a B movie femme fatale in American films of the 1950s and early 1960s.-Career:In the late 1940s, Blanchard was a successful print model and film extra...
- Eugenie