The Razor's Edge (1946 film)
Encyclopedia
The Razor's Edge is the first film version of W. Somerset Maugham
's 1944 novel
. It was released in 1946 and stars Tyrone Power
, Gene Tierney
, John Payne
, Anne Baxter
, Clifton Webb
, Herbert Marshall
, supporting cast Lucile Watson
, Frank Latimore
and Elsa Lanchester
. Marshall plays Somerset Maugham. The film was directed by Edmund Goulding
.
(Marshall) is himself a minor character, drifting in and out of the lives of the major players, opens at a party held following World War I
in 1919 at a country club
in Chicago, Illinois. Elliott Templeton (Webb), an expatriate, has returned to the United States for the first time since before the war to visit his sister, Edith Bradley (Watson), and his niece, Isabel (Tierney), engaged to be married to Larry Darrell (Power), of whom Elliott strongly disapproves for rejecting both inclusion in their social stratum and working in the common world.
Larry is traumatized by the death of a comrade who sacrificed himself on the last day of the war to save Larry, and announces that he plans to "loaf" on his small inheritance of $3,000 a year. He refuses a job offer from the father of his friend Gray (Payne), a millionaire
who is hopelessly in love with Isabel too. Larry and Isabel agree to postpone their marriage so that he can got to Paris and try to clear his muddled thoughts. Meanwhile, Larry’s childhood friend, Sophie Nelson (Bancroft), settles into a happy marriage with Bob MacDonald (Latimore), only lose to him and their baby in a tragic car accident.
In Paris, Larry immerses himself in a Bohemian
life. After a year, Isabel visits and Larry asks her to marry him immediately. Isabel does not understand his search for meaning and breaks their engagement. Before she returns to Chicago she cannot carry through with a scheme to seduce Larry and trick him into making an "honest woman" of her. She marries Gray to provide her the elite social and family life she craves. Meanwhile, Larry works in a coal mine in France, where a [Defrocking|[defrocked priest]], Kosti (Kortner), urges him travel to India to learn from a mystic. Larry studies at a monastery in the Himalayas under the tutelage of the Holy Man (Humphreys), then makes a lone pilgrimage to the mountaintop where he finds enlightenment. The Holy Man tells Larry to return to the world to share what he now knows about life.
Back in Paris, Maugham meets Elliott by chance and learns that Isabel and her family are living with Elliott after being financially ruined by the stock market crash of 1929. Gray has had a nervous breakdown
and suffers from terrible headaches. Elliott "sold short" before the crash and "made a killing" in the market. Maugham arranges a lunch for Elliott and his household to meet an old friend, who turns out to be Larry. Larry is able to help Gray using an Indian form of hypnotic suggestion
. Later at a disreputable nightclub, they encounter Sophie, now a drunkard. Larry reforms and arranges to marry Sophie, but when he tells Isabel, who is still in love with him, she ploys to prove to Larry that Sophie's reform is only temporary. She successfully tempts Sophie back into drinking and Sophie disappears. Sophie is murdered and her death reunites Larry and Maugham during the police investigation.
Maugham and Larry visit Elliott on his deathbed in the South of France. Larry gives Elliott peace of mind after he is deliberately excluded from an important soiree hosted by a princess with whom he had a row, herself once an American Midwesterner
like Elliott. Larry persuades Miss Keith (Lanchester), her social secretary, to allow him to use a blank invitation to counterfeit one for Elliott. Isabel inherits her uncle's fortune, which she can use to underwrite Gray's attempt to rebuild his father's bankrupt brokerage. Larry refuses to reconcile with Isabel, deducing that she caused Sophie's return to drinking, and ultimately, her murder. Instead he decides to work his way back to America aboard a tramp steamer. Maugham tries to console Isabel with the knowledge that Larry in happy because he has found in himself the quality of true "goodness."
purchased the film rights from Maugham in March 1945 for $50,000 plus 20% of the film's net profit
s. The contract stipulated that Maugham would receive an additional $50,000 if the film did not start shooting by February 2, 1946. In August 1945, producer Darryl F. Zanuck
had the second unit
begin shooting in the mountains around Denver, Colorado
which were to portray the Himalayas
in the film. The stars had not yet been cast, Larry Darrell was played by a stand-in
and was filmed in extreme long shot
. Zanuck wanted Tyrone Power to star and delayed casting until Power finished his service
in the Marines
in January 1946.
Zanuck originally hired George Cukor
to direct, but creative differences led to Cukor's removal. Although Maugham wanted his friend (whom he had in mind when he created the character) Gene Tierney for Isabel, Zanuck chose Maureen O'Hara
, but told her to not tell anyone. O'Hara shared her secret with Linda Darnell
, but Zanuck found out, fired O'Hara, and hired Tierney. Betty Grable
and Judy Garland
were originally considered for the role of Sophie before Baxter was cast. Maugham wrote an early draft of the screenplay
but it is unknown how much of his version, if any, was used in the final script.
, and Webb as the worldly Uncle Elliott was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
. The film was also nominated for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White
and Best Picture
(Richard Day
, Nathan Juran
, Thomas Little
, Paul S. Fox
).
W. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
's 1944 novel
The Razor's Edge
The Razor’s Edge is a book by W. Somerset Maugham published in 1944. Its epigraph reads, "The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard." taken from a verse in the Katha-Upanishad....
. It was released in 1946 and stars Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
, 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...
, John Payne
John Payne (actor)
John Payne was an American film actor who is mainly remembered as a singer in 20th Century Fox musical films, and for his leading roles in Miracle on 34th Street and the NBC western television series The Restless Gun.-Background:Payne was born in Roanoke, Virginia...
, Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter was an American actress known for her performances in films such as The Magnificent Ambersons , The Razor's Edge , All About Eve and The Ten Commandments .-Early life:...
, Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb
Clifton Webb was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for his Oscar-nominated roles in such films as Laura, The Razor's Edge, and Sitting Pretty...
, Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
, supporting cast Lucile Watson
Lucile Watson
-Career:Watson began her career on the stage debuting on Broadway in the play Hearts Aflame in 1902. Her next play was The Girl With Green Eyes, the first of several Clyde Fitch stories. At the end of 1903, Lucile appeared in Fitch's "Glad of It"...
, Frank Latimore
Frank Latimore
Franklin Latimore was an American actor best known for his character ‘Dr. Ed Coleridge’ on the television soap opera Ryan's Hope....
and Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
. Marshall plays Somerset Maugham. The film was directed by Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding was a British film writer and director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 20s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray and...
.
Plot
The film, in which W. Somerset MaughamW. Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham , CH was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and, reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.-Childhood and education:...
(Marshall) is himself a minor character, drifting in and out of the lives of the major players, opens at a party held following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1919 at a country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
in Chicago, Illinois. Elliott Templeton (Webb), an expatriate, has returned to the United States for the first time since before the war to visit his sister, Edith Bradley (Watson), and his niece, Isabel (Tierney), engaged to be married to Larry Darrell (Power), of whom Elliott strongly disapproves for rejecting both inclusion in their social stratum and working in the common world.
Larry is traumatized by the death of a comrade who sacrificed himself on the last day of the war to save Larry, and announces that he plans to "loaf" on his small inheritance of $3,000 a year. He refuses a job offer from the father of his friend Gray (Payne), a millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
who is hopelessly in love with Isabel too. Larry and Isabel agree to postpone their marriage so that he can got to Paris and try to clear his muddled thoughts. Meanwhile, Larry’s childhood friend, Sophie Nelson (Bancroft), settles into a happy marriage with Bob MacDonald (Latimore), only lose to him and their baby in a tragic car accident.
In Paris, Larry immerses himself in a Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
life. After a year, Isabel visits and Larry asks her to marry him immediately. Isabel does not understand his search for meaning and breaks their engagement. Before she returns to Chicago she cannot carry through with a scheme to seduce Larry and trick him into making an "honest woman" of her. She marries Gray to provide her the elite social and family life she craves. Meanwhile, Larry works in a coal mine in France, where a [Defrocking|[defrocked priest]], Kosti (Kortner), urges him travel to India to learn from a mystic. Larry studies at a monastery in the Himalayas under the tutelage of the Holy Man (Humphreys), then makes a lone pilgrimage to the mountaintop where he finds enlightenment. The Holy Man tells Larry to return to the world to share what he now knows about life.
Back in Paris, Maugham meets Elliott by chance and learns that Isabel and her family are living with Elliott after being financially ruined by the stock market crash of 1929. Gray has had a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and suffers from terrible headaches. Elliott "sold short" before the crash and "made a killing" in the market. Maugham arranges a lunch for Elliott and his household to meet an old friend, who turns out to be Larry. Larry is able to help Gray using an Indian form of hypnotic suggestion
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
. Later at a disreputable nightclub, they encounter Sophie, now a drunkard. Larry reforms and arranges to marry Sophie, but when he tells Isabel, who is still in love with him, she ploys to prove to Larry that Sophie's reform is only temporary. She successfully tempts Sophie back into drinking and Sophie disappears. Sophie is murdered and her death reunites Larry and Maugham during the police investigation.
Maugham and Larry visit Elliott on his deathbed in the South of France. Larry gives Elliott peace of mind after he is deliberately excluded from an important soiree hosted by a princess with whom he had a row, herself once an American Midwesterner
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
like Elliott. Larry persuades Miss Keith (Lanchester), her social secretary, to allow him to use a blank invitation to counterfeit one for Elliott. Isabel inherits her uncle's fortune, which she can use to underwrite Gray's attempt to rebuild his father's bankrupt brokerage. Larry refuses to reconcile with Isabel, deducing that she caused Sophie's return to drinking, and ultimately, her murder. Instead he decides to work his way back to America aboard a tramp steamer. Maugham tries to console Isabel with the knowledge that Larry in happy because he has found in himself the quality of true "goodness."
Production history
20th Century Fox20th 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...
purchased the film rights from Maugham in March 1945 for $50,000 plus 20% of the film's net profit
Net profit
Net profit or net revenue is a measure of the profitability of a venture after accounting for all costs. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 91 percent responded that they found the "net profit" metric very useful...
s. The contract stipulated that Maugham would receive an additional $50,000 if the film did not start shooting by February 2, 1946. In August 1945, producer Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
had the second unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
begin shooting in the mountains around Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
which were to portray the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
in the film. The stars had not yet been cast, Larry Darrell was played by a stand-in
Stand-in
A stand-in for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting.Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of production. Lighting setup can be a slow and tedious process; during this time the actor will often be somewhere else...
and was filmed in extreme long shot
Long shot
In photography, filmmaking and video production, a long shot typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings...
. Zanuck wanted Tyrone Power to star and delayed casting until Power finished his service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
in the Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
in January 1946.
Zanuck originally hired George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
to direct, but creative differences led to Cukor's removal. Although Maugham wanted his friend (whom he had in mind when he created the character) Gene Tierney for Isabel, Zanuck chose Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara
Maureen O'Hara is an Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne...
, but told her to not tell anyone. O'Hara shared her secret with Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell
Linda Darnell was an American film actress.Darnell was a model as a child, and progressed to theater and film acting as an adolescent. At the encouragement of her mother, she made her first film in 1939, and appeared in supporting roles in big budget films for 20th Century Fox throughout the 1940s...
, but Zanuck found out, fired O'Hara, and hired Tierney. Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
and Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
were originally considered for the role of Sophie before Baxter was cast. Maugham wrote an early draft of the 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...
but it is unknown how much of his version, if any, was used in the final script.
Cast
- Tyrone PowerTyrone PowerTyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
as Larry Darrell - 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...
as Isabel Bradley - John PayneJohn PayneJohn Payne may refer to:*John Payne , an English Catholic priest martyr, one of the Catholic Forty Martyrs of England and Wales...
as Gray Maturin - Anne BaxterAnne BaxterAnne Baxter was an American actress known for her performances in films such as The Magnificent Ambersons , The Razor's Edge , All About Eve and The Ten Commandments .-Early life:...
as Sophie MacDonald - Clifton WebbClifton WebbClifton Webb was an American actor, dancer, and singer known for his Oscar-nominated roles in such films as Laura, The Razor's Edge, and Sitting Pretty...
as Elliott Templeton - Herbert MarshallHerbert MarshallHerbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
as W. Somerset Maugham - Lucile WatsonLucile Watson-Career:Watson began her career on the stage debuting on Broadway in the play Hearts Aflame in 1902. Her next play was The Girl With Green Eyes, the first of several Clyde Fitch stories. At the end of 1903, Lucile appeared in Fitch's "Glad of It"...
as Louisa Bradley - Frank LatimoreFrank LatimoreFranklin Latimore was an American actor best known for his character ‘Dr. Ed Coleridge’ on the television soap opera Ryan's Hope....
as Bob MacDonald - Elsa LanchesterElsa LanchesterElsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
as Miss Keith - Cecil HumphreysCecil Humphreys-Selected filmography:* The Elusive Pimpernel * The Tavern Knight * Greatheart * The Four Just Men * Dick Turpin's Ride to York * The Glorious Adventure * Irish Luck...
as the Holy Man - Fritz KortnerFritz KortnerFritz Kortner was an Austrian-born stage and film actor and theatre director.Kortner was born in Vienna as Fritz Nathan Kohn. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After graduating, he joined Max Reinhardt in Berlin in 1911 and then Leopold Jessner in 1916. Also in that year...
as Kosti
Awards
Baxter won the Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressAcademy 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...
, and Webb as the worldly Uncle Elliott was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor 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 actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
. The film was also nominated for Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White
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...
and Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(Richard Day
Richard Day (art director)
Richard Day was a Canadian art director. He won seven Academy Awards and was nominated for a further 13 in the category Best Art Direction He worked on 265 films between 1923 and 1970....
, Nathan Juran
Nathan Juran
Naftuli "Nathan" Hertz Juran was an American film art director and film director who is most noted for winning the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for How Green Was My Valley and for directing science fiction and fantasy films such as Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. He was also the brother of...
, 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...
, Paul S. Fox
Paul S. Fox
Paul S. Fox was an American set decorator. He won three Academy Awards and was nominated for ten more in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Fox won three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and was nominated for ten more:Won...
).