The Pride and the Passion
Encyclopedia
The Pride and the Passion (1957
) is a historical film drama starring Cary Grant
, Frank Sinatra
and Sophia Loren
made by Stanley Kramer
Productions. Set in the Napoleonic era, it is the story of a British officer (Grant) who has orders to retrieve a huge cannon from Spain and take it to the British forces by ship. But first the leader of the Spanish guerrillas (Sinatra) wants to transport the cannon 1,000 km across Spain
to help in the capture of Ávila from the French before he releases the cannon to the British. Most of the movie deals with the hardships of transporting the cannon across rivers and through mountains while evading the occupying French forces and culminates in the final battle for Ávila. A sub-plot is the struggle for the affections of Loren by the two officers.
The picture was filmed in Technicolor
and VistaVision
, and released by United Artists
. It was directed and produced by Stanley Kramer
from a screenplay
by Edna Anhalt
, Edward Anhalt
, and Earl Felton, very loosely based on the novel The Gun
by C.S. Forester. Saul Bass
created the opening title sequence of the film. The film co-starred Theodore Bikel
and Jay Novello
. Sinatra performed his own stunts in the film.
, Napoleon's armies overrun Spain. An enormous cannon, belonging to a Spanish army, is abandoned when it slows down the army's retreat. French cavalrymen are dispatched to retrieve it.
Britain, Spain's ally, sends Royal Navy
captain Anthony Trumbull (Grant
) to find the cannon and see that it is handed over to British forces. However, when Trumbull arrives at the Spanish headquarters, he finds that it has been evacuated and is now occupied by a guerrilla band led by the French-hating Miguel (Sinatra
). Miguel agrees to help Trumbull search for the cannon, although the two men come to dislike each other. One cause of their enmity is Miguel's mistress Juana (Sophia Loren
), who falls in love with Trumbull.
Meanwhile, sadistic General Jouvet (Theodore Bikel
), the French commander in Avila
, orders the execution of Spaniards who do not give information of the cannon's whereabouts. The cannon has in fact undergone an arduous journey in the direction of Avila, which Miguel is obsessed with capturing.
The guerrilla band, whose ranks have swelled considerably, almost loses the cannon when General Jouvet deploys artillery near a mountain pass that they need to use to get to Avila. With help from the local populace, they get the cannon through, although it rolls down a hillside and is badly damaged.
The cannon is hidden in a cathedral while it is repaired, once having to be disguised as an ornamental piece during a religious celebration. French officers are informed about the cannon's presence, however, but the cannon has been moved by the time the officers arrived and they scorn the informant.
When the cannon finally arrives at the guerrillas' camp near Avila, Trumbull and Miguel prepare to attack the city. However, Avila is defended by strong walls and eighty cannons, Trumbull going so far to estimate that half of the guerrillas will be killed during the assault. He tries to convince Juana not to participate in the attack, but, the next day, she goes with the men.
The cannon is used to breach the walls, and, despite suffering heavy losses (including Juana and Miguel), the guerrillas get inside the city. Jouvet is killed and the remaining French troops are overrun in the town square. After the battle, Trumbull places Miguel's body in front of the statue of Avila's patron saint.
The cannon appears to have been based on a real prototype from Jaipur
, in India, the Jaivana Cannon, one of the largest cannon ever built.
, during a time when the couple was having marital problems and she was to be away from Sinatra whilst shooting part of The Sun Also Rises
in various locales around Europe, including Spain. When there was to be no reconciliation, Sinatra hurriedly left the production, asking director Stanley Kramer
to condense all of his scenes for as brief as possible shooting schedule for his part. Kramer obliged. Conversely, Cary Grant was happy to get away from his failing marriage to Betsy Drake
.
Despite the film's problems, Kramer was nominated by the Directors Guild of America
for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
On 14 March 2011, BBC Radio 4
's Afternoon Play broadcast The Gun Goes to Hollywood by Mike Walker
, an imagination of the behind-the-scenes ructions, including Sinatra's leaving the production early and Grant falling in love with co-star Loren, from the viewpoint of script doctor Earl Felton, who was drafted in to save the day. The play was directed by Kate McAll
and the cast included Steven Weber
as Earl Felton, Greg Itzin as Cary Grant, Kate Steele as Sophia Loren, Jonathan Silverman
as Frank Sinatra and Jonathan Getz as Stanley Kramer.
praised the film's production values, stating "Top credit must go to the production. The panoramic, longrange views of the marching and terribly burdened army, the painful fight to keep the gun mobile through ravine and over waterway - these are major pluses." However Ephraim Katz
in The Film Encyclopedia describes it as "overblown empty epic nonsense".
1957 in film
The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
) is a historical film drama starring Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
made by Stanley Kramer
Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer was an American film director and producer. Kramer was responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous "message" movies...
Productions. Set in the Napoleonic era, it is the story of a British officer (Grant) who has orders to retrieve a huge cannon from Spain and take it to the British forces by ship. But first the leader of the Spanish guerrillas (Sinatra) wants to transport the cannon 1,000 km across Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to help in the capture of Ávila from the French before he releases the cannon to the British. Most of the movie deals with the hardships of transporting the cannon across rivers and through mountains while evading the occupying French forces and culminates in the final battle for Ávila. A sub-plot is the struggle for the affections of Loren by the two officers.
The picture was filmed in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and VistaVision
VistaVision
VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35mm motion picture film format which was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954....
, and released 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....
. It was directed and produced by Stanley Kramer
Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer was an American film director and producer. Kramer was responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous "message" movies...
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 Edna Anhalt
Edna Anhalt
Together with then husband Edward Anhalt, screenwriter Edna Anhalt enjoyed some considerable success in a ten year stretch from 1947 to her retirement in 1957. This stretch was capped with an Oscar win for Elia Kazan's 1950 film Panic in the Streets, and another nomination two years later for The...
, Edward Anhalt
Edward Anhalt
Edward Anhalt was a noted screenwriter, producer, and documentary film-maker. After working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for Pathé and CBS-TV he teamed with his wife Edna Anhalt, née Richards, during World War II to write pulp fiction...
, and Earl Felton, very loosely based on the novel The Gun
The Gun (novel)
thumb|1st US edition The Gun is a novel by C.S. Forester about an imaginary series of incidents involving a single eighteen-pound cannon during the Spanish Peninsular War against Napoleon Bonaparte...
by C.S. Forester. Saul Bass
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was a Jewish-American graphic designer and filmmaker, best known for his design of motion picture title sequences....
created the opening title sequence of the film. The film co-starred Theodore Bikel
Theodore Bikel
Theodore Meir Bikel is a character actor, folk singer and musician. He made his film debut in The African Queen and was nominated for an Academy award for his supporting role as Sheriff Max Muller in The Defiant Ones ....
and Jay Novello
Jay Novello
Jay Novello was an American radio, film, and television character actor.Born in Chicago as Michael Romano, of Italian descent, Novello began his career as a radio actor, playing Jack Packard on the Hollywood version of I Love a Mystery for a brief period, circa 1944...
. Sinatra performed his own stunts in the film.
Plot
During the Peninsular WarPeninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, Napoleon's armies overrun Spain. An enormous cannon, belonging to a Spanish army, is abandoned when it slows down the army's retreat. French cavalrymen are dispatched to retrieve it.
Britain, Spain's ally, sends Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
captain Anthony Trumbull (Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
) to find the cannon and see that it is handed over to British forces. However, when Trumbull arrives at the Spanish headquarters, he finds that it has been evacuated and is now occupied by a guerrilla band led by the French-hating Miguel (Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
). Miguel agrees to help Trumbull search for the cannon, although the two men come to dislike each other. One cause of their enmity is Miguel's mistress Juana (Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
), who falls in love with Trumbull.
Meanwhile, sadistic General Jouvet (Theodore Bikel
Theodore Bikel
Theodore Meir Bikel is a character actor, folk singer and musician. He made his film debut in The African Queen and was nominated for an Academy award for his supporting role as Sheriff Max Muller in The Defiant Ones ....
), the French commander in Avila
Ávila
-History:In pre-Roman times , it was inhabited by the Vettones, who called it Obila and had here one of their strongest fortresses....
, orders the execution of Spaniards who do not give information of the cannon's whereabouts. The cannon has in fact undergone an arduous journey in the direction of Avila, which Miguel is obsessed with capturing.
The guerrilla band, whose ranks have swelled considerably, almost loses the cannon when General Jouvet deploys artillery near a mountain pass that they need to use to get to Avila. With help from the local populace, they get the cannon through, although it rolls down a hillside and is badly damaged.
The cannon is hidden in a cathedral while it is repaired, once having to be disguised as an ornamental piece during a religious celebration. French officers are informed about the cannon's presence, however, but the cannon has been moved by the time the officers arrived and they scorn the informant.
When the cannon finally arrives at the guerrillas' camp near Avila, Trumbull and Miguel prepare to attack the city. However, Avila is defended by strong walls and eighty cannons, Trumbull going so far to estimate that half of the guerrillas will be killed during the assault. He tries to convince Juana not to participate in the attack, but, the next day, she goes with the men.
The cannon is used to breach the walls, and, despite suffering heavy losses (including Juana and Miguel), the guerrillas get inside the city. Jouvet is killed and the remaining French troops are overrun in the town square. After the battle, Trumbull places Miguel's body in front of the statue of Avila's patron saint.
The cannon appears to have been based on a real prototype from Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
, in India, the Jaivana Cannon, one of the largest cannon ever built.
Cast
- Cary GrantCary GrantArchibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
- Capt. Anthony Trumbull - Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
- Miguel - Sophia LorenSophia LorenSophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
- Juana - Theodore BikelTheodore BikelTheodore Meir Bikel is a character actor, folk singer and musician. He made his film debut in The African Queen and was nominated for an Academy award for his supporting role as Sheriff Max Muller in The Defiant Ones ....
- General Jouvet - John WengrafJohn WengrafJohn Wengraf was an Austrian actor.Wengraf emigrated to England in 1933 as the Nazis began their rise to power. Wengraf appeared unbilled in a couple of films, as well as in some of the first BBC live-television shows ever presented...
- Sermaine - Jay NovelloJay NovelloJay Novello was an American radio, film, and television character actor.Born in Chicago as Michael Romano, of Italian descent, Novello began his career as a radio actor, playing Jack Packard on the Hollywood version of I Love a Mystery for a brief period, circa 1944...
- Ballinger - Jose NietoJosé NietoJosé Nieto , is a Spanish musician and composer, best known for his film work.- Life :Born in Madrid, Spain, in 1943, in 1958 he joined the band "Los Pekenikes", playing the drums. He began his career as a professional musician in 1962 in orchestras and jazz dance groups...
- Carlos - Philip Van ZandtPhilip Van ZandtPhilip "Phil" Van Zandt was a Dutch actor of film, stage and television. He made over 220 film and television appearances between 1939 and 1958.-Career:...
- Colonel Vidal
Troubled production
Shot on location in Spain, rumors persist that Frank Sinatra only took a part in the film to be near his wife Ava GardnerAva Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, during a time when the couple was having marital problems and she was to be away from Sinatra whilst shooting part of The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises (1957 film)
The Sun Also Rises is a 1957 film adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name, with the screenplay written by Peter Viertel. It starred Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer and Errol Flynn. Much of it was filmed on location in France and Spain in Cinemascope and color by Deluxe...
in various locales around Europe, including Spain. When there was to be no reconciliation, Sinatra hurriedly left the production, asking director Stanley Kramer
Stanley Kramer
Stanley Earl Kramer was an American film director and producer. Kramer was responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous "message" movies...
to condense all of his scenes for as brief as possible shooting schedule for his part. Kramer obliged. Conversely, Cary Grant was happy to get away from his failing marriage to Betsy Drake
Betsy Drake
Betsy Drake is an American actress, psychotherapist and writer. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant.-Early life and education:Drake, the eldest child of two American expatriates, was born in Paris, France...
.
Despite the film's problems, Kramer was nominated by the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
On 14 March 2011, BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Afternoon Play broadcast The Gun Goes to Hollywood by Mike Walker
Mike Walker (radio dramatist)
Mike Walker is a radio dramatist and feature and documentary writer. His radio work includes both original plays and adaptations of novels, classical and modern...
, an imagination of the behind-the-scenes ructions, including Sinatra's leaving the production early and Grant falling in love with co-star Loren, from the viewpoint of script doctor Earl Felton, who was drafted in to save the day. The play was directed by Kate McAll
Kate McAll
Kate McAll is Executive Producer, Radio Drama at BBC Wales. There she is a radio director and producer for BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. Her credits include How I Live Now and The Worst Journey in the World , along with seven Torchwood radio episodes.-Radio Plays:Sources:* * * -References:...
and the cast included Steven Weber
Steven Weber (actor)
Steven Robert Weber is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the television show Wings which aired throughout the 1990s on NBC.-Early life:...
as Earl Felton, Greg Itzin as Cary Grant, Kate Steele as Sophia Loren, Jonathan Silverman
Jonathan Silverman
-Personal life:Silverman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Devora and Hillel Emanuel Silverman, a rabbi. He is the grandson of famous Conservative Rabbi Morris Silverman. David Schwimmer was his best friend in high school. He is married to actress Jennifer Finnigan who he briefly co...
as Frank Sinatra and Jonathan Getz as Stanley Kramer.
Box office and critical reception
Opening to mixed reviews on July 10, 1957, The Pride and The Passion would prove to be successful at the box office, spurred no doubt by the popularity of the leading actors. With box office rentals of $4.7 million from a gross of $8.75 million, this would be one of the 20 highest grossing films of 1957. VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
praised the film's production values, stating "Top credit must go to the production. The panoramic, longrange views of the marching and terribly burdened army, the painful fight to keep the gun mobile through ravine and over waterway - these are major pluses." However Ephraim Katz
Ephraim Katz
Ephraim Katz was a writer, journalist, and filmmaker who devoted his life to gathering the information in his book, The Film Encyclopedia, first published in 1979....
in The Film Encyclopedia describes it as "overblown empty epic nonsense".
External links
- Variety's Review: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117794130.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0
- BBC Radio 4's The Afternoon Play - The Gun Goes to Hollywood: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00zdhzs