The Rose Tattoo (film)
Encyclopedia
The Rose Tattoo is a 1955 film
adaptation of the Tennessee Williams
play of the same name
. It was adapted by Williams and Hal Kanter
and directed by Daniel Mann
, with stars Anna Magnani
, Burt Lancaster
, Marisa Pavan
and Jo Van Fleet
. Williams originally wrote the play for Italian
Anna Magnani to play on Broadway in 1951, but she rejected the offer because of her difficulty with the English language at the time. By the time of this film adaptation, she was ready.
) proudly praising her husband Rosario (David Newell
) to her female neighbours in a shopping market, before revealing that she is pregnant with their second child. When she goes home with her shopping she finds Rosario asleep in bed and whispers to him that she is with child. Emerging from his room she finds a young woman named Estelle (Virginia Grey
) at the door who wants her to make a shirt for her lover from some expensive silk material she has bought. It transpires that Rosario is her lover as, when Serafina is out of the room, she steals a photograph of him from Serafina's sideboard before departing.
Later that night Rosario is out working (he is a van driver) and Serafina is busy working on the shirt for her customer. The women of the neighbourhood discover that Rosario has been killed in a road accident whilst trying to speed away from the police; it transpires that he was smuggling something illegal. When Serafina discovers her beloved husband's demise she collapses, and later the local doctor informs her daughter Rosa (Marisa Pavan
) and the women of the neighbourhood that Serafina has miscarried.
Three years later Serafina is a recluse, having withdrawn from the world. She has allowed her appearance to deteriorate. That particular day is the day of the high school graduation and the women of the neighbourhood are impatiently banging on her front door for their daughters' graduation dresses. Rosa is also begging for her graduation dress from her mother, but Serafina has locked them—along with the rest of Rosa's clothes—away. As all the girls are late for school, Rosa's teacher turns up in the neighbourhood demanding to know what is keeping them. She goes to the Delle Rose household and eventually makes Serafina see sense and she hands all the girls their dresses.
After much thought Serafina decides to attend her daughter's graduation and, comically, tries to get ready. During this time two women arrive asking if Serafina can quickly mend their bandanas for a festival they are going to. Serafina reluctantly does so, but is appalled by their talk of men and reprimands them however. However one of the women, Bessie (Jo Van Fleet
), takes offence and decides to inform Serafina that her late husband was no saint; quite the contrary he was having an affair. Serafina does not go to the graduation ceremony after this revelation, but instead sits alone in the dark until Rosa comes home. She is infuriated when Rosa introduces her to her new boyfriend Jack Hunter (Ben Cooper
) and insists that she will never see him again.
Rosa then runs away with Jack in disgust at her mother's actions, before a van driver named Alvaro (Burt Lancaster
) turns up asking for lodgings. A reluctant Serafina allows him to stay for the night and the two proceed to get drunk. As Alvaro flatters Serafina with compliments she begins to talk of her late husband, mentioning that he used to have a rose tattooed on his chest. Later that night Alvaro returns, having got a rose tattooed on his chest. Serafina is disgusted and goes to throw him out, stating that he is dishonouring Rosario's memory. Seeing the look of discomfort on his face at the mention of her late husband's name, Serafina goes to question him if he knew Rosario or not. Alvaro is uncomfortable, and Serafina goes on to ask him if he was unfaithful to her. When he does not respond she throws him out of the house.
The next day Serafina goes to visit Father De Leo and asks him if anyone had confessed to him about having an affair with Rosario three years previously. The priest insists that he cannot divulge this information, but the look on his face says it all for Serafina and she begins to persist that he tell her. Things get so bad that she is thrown out of the chapel, and as a result she is mocked by her female neighbours who she has come to alienate from her.
Depressed, Serafina meets Alvaro and insists that he drive her to a club her husband used to attend. Once there she meets Estelle who asked her to make a silk shirt for her lover and guesses correctly that she was having an affair with him. Estelle confesses that she was having an affair with Rosario before proceeding to show Serafina the rose tattooed on her chest as a symbol of her love for Rosario. Returning home she smashes Rosario's urn containing his ashes and gives Alvaro the silk shirt that the woman had wanted made for Rosario, before inviting him to spend the night with her.
Alvaro turns up hours later at the Delle Rose household intoxicated and, mortified by her actions, Serafina leaves him in a drunken stupor and retires to bed. That night Rosa returns home and falls asleep on the sofa. As Alvaro awakes from his drunken stupor he sees Serafina's beautiful daughter lying there asleep and moves over to kiss her. As he does Rosa wakes up and screams, before confronting her mother as to why there is a strange man in the house.
Serafina gets rid of him, but the following morning she finds him on top of a telephone pole outside her house begging for her forgiveness. Serafina and Rosa are extremely embarrassed and Serafina refuses to leave the house in order to make him come down, much to Rosa's frustration. At that moment Jack arrives and asks Serafina if he can marry Rosa. Serafina is stunned, but seeing that this is what Rosa wants she gives them her consent and they leave to be married. Serafina then calls Alvaro down from the telephone pole before declaring in front of her neighbours that they have to pick up from where they left off the night before. As they enter the house Serafina puts on the radio whilst Alvaro pours them a drink and they laugh together.
The premier of the movie was held at the Hotel Astor, New York on December 2, 1955, with the attendance of Arthur Miller
, Marlon Brando
, Marilyn Monroe
and Jayne Mansfield
among other celebrities.
Nominations
1954 in film
The year 1954 in film involved some significant events and memorable ones.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda...
adaptation of the Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
play of the same name
The Rose Tattoo
- External links :*...
. It was adapted by Williams and Hal Kanter
Hal Kanter
Hal Kanter was a writer, producer and director, principally for comedy actors such as Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley , for both feature films and television...
and directed by Daniel Mann
Daniel Mann
Daniel Mann, also known as Daniel Chugerman , was an American film and television director.Daniel Mann was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a stage actor since childhood, and attended Erasmus Hall High School, New York's Professional Children's School and the Neighborhood Playhouse...
, with stars Anna Magnani
Anna Magnani
Anna Magnani was an Italian stage and film actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four other international awards, for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo....
, Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
, 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 Jo Van Fleet
Jo Van Fleet
Jo Van Fleet was an American theatre and film actress.-Career:Van Fleet established herself as a notable dramatic actress on Broadway over several years, winning a Tony Award in 1954 for her skill in a difficult role, playing an unsympathetic, even abusive character, in Horton Foote's The Trip to...
. Williams originally wrote the play for Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
Anna Magnani to play on Broadway in 1951, but she rejected the offer because of her difficulty with the English language at the time. By the time of this film adaptation, she was ready.
Plot
The film begins with Serafina Delle Rose (Anna MagnaniAnna Magnani
Anna Magnani was an Italian stage and film actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four other international awards, for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo....
) proudly praising her husband Rosario (David Newell
David Newell
David Newell is a television actor who is remembered for his career as Mr. McFeely, the delivery man on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. His character's most famous catchphrase was "Speedy Delivery!" This was Newell's major role, but not his only one as he appeared in small film and TV parts...
) to her female neighbours in a shopping market, before revealing that she is pregnant with their second child. When she goes home with her shopping she finds Rosario asleep in bed and whispers to him that she is with child. Emerging from his room she finds a young woman named Estelle (Virginia Grey
Virginia Grey
Virginia Grey was an American actress.She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of director Ray Grey. One of her early babysitters was movie star Gloria Swanson. Grey debuted at the age of ten in the silent film Uncle Tom's Cabin as Little Eva...
) at the door who wants her to make a shirt for her lover from some expensive silk material she has bought. It transpires that Rosario is her lover as, when Serafina is out of the room, she steals a photograph of him from Serafina's sideboard before departing.
Later that night Rosario is out working (he is a van driver) and Serafina is busy working on the shirt for her customer. The women of the neighbourhood discover that Rosario has been killed in a road accident whilst trying to speed away from the police; it transpires that he was smuggling something illegal. When Serafina discovers her beloved husband's demise she collapses, and later the local doctor informs her daughter Rosa (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 the women of the neighbourhood that Serafina has miscarried.
Three years later Serafina is a recluse, having withdrawn from the world. She has allowed her appearance to deteriorate. That particular day is the day of the high school graduation and the women of the neighbourhood are impatiently banging on her front door for their daughters' graduation dresses. Rosa is also begging for her graduation dress from her mother, but Serafina has locked them—along with the rest of Rosa's clothes—away. As all the girls are late for school, Rosa's teacher turns up in the neighbourhood demanding to know what is keeping them. She goes to the Delle Rose household and eventually makes Serafina see sense and she hands all the girls their dresses.
After much thought Serafina decides to attend her daughter's graduation and, comically, tries to get ready. During this time two women arrive asking if Serafina can quickly mend their bandanas for a festival they are going to. Serafina reluctantly does so, but is appalled by their talk of men and reprimands them however. However one of the women, Bessie (Jo Van Fleet
Jo Van Fleet
Jo Van Fleet was an American theatre and film actress.-Career:Van Fleet established herself as a notable dramatic actress on Broadway over several years, winning a Tony Award in 1954 for her skill in a difficult role, playing an unsympathetic, even abusive character, in Horton Foote's The Trip to...
), takes offence and decides to inform Serafina that her late husband was no saint; quite the contrary he was having an affair. Serafina does not go to the graduation ceremony after this revelation, but instead sits alone in the dark until Rosa comes home. She is infuriated when Rosa introduces her to her new boyfriend Jack Hunter (Ben Cooper
Ben Cooper
Ben Cooper is a retired American actor of film and television, who won a Golden Boot award in 2005 for his work in westerns.-Early films:...
) and insists that she will never see him again.
Rosa then runs away with Jack in disgust at her mother's actions, before a van driver named Alvaro (Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
) turns up asking for lodgings. A reluctant Serafina allows him to stay for the night and the two proceed to get drunk. As Alvaro flatters Serafina with compliments she begins to talk of her late husband, mentioning that he used to have a rose tattooed on his chest. Later that night Alvaro returns, having got a rose tattooed on his chest. Serafina is disgusted and goes to throw him out, stating that he is dishonouring Rosario's memory. Seeing the look of discomfort on his face at the mention of her late husband's name, Serafina goes to question him if he knew Rosario or not. Alvaro is uncomfortable, and Serafina goes on to ask him if he was unfaithful to her. When he does not respond she throws him out of the house.
The next day Serafina goes to visit Father De Leo and asks him if anyone had confessed to him about having an affair with Rosario three years previously. The priest insists that he cannot divulge this information, but the look on his face says it all for Serafina and she begins to persist that he tell her. Things get so bad that she is thrown out of the chapel, and as a result she is mocked by her female neighbours who she has come to alienate from her.
Depressed, Serafina meets Alvaro and insists that he drive her to a club her husband used to attend. Once there she meets Estelle who asked her to make a silk shirt for her lover and guesses correctly that she was having an affair with him. Estelle confesses that she was having an affair with Rosario before proceeding to show Serafina the rose tattooed on her chest as a symbol of her love for Rosario. Returning home she smashes Rosario's urn containing his ashes and gives Alvaro the silk shirt that the woman had wanted made for Rosario, before inviting him to spend the night with her.
Alvaro turns up hours later at the Delle Rose household intoxicated and, mortified by her actions, Serafina leaves him in a drunken stupor and retires to bed. That night Rosa returns home and falls asleep on the sofa. As Alvaro awakes from his drunken stupor he sees Serafina's beautiful daughter lying there asleep and moves over to kiss her. As he does Rosa wakes up and screams, before confronting her mother as to why there is a strange man in the house.
Serafina gets rid of him, but the following morning she finds him on top of a telephone pole outside her house begging for her forgiveness. Serafina and Rosa are extremely embarrassed and Serafina refuses to leave the house in order to make him come down, much to Rosa's frustration. At that moment Jack arrives and asks Serafina if he can marry Rosa. Serafina is stunned, but seeing that this is what Rosa wants she gives them her consent and they leave to be married. Serafina then calls Alvaro down from the telephone pole before declaring in front of her neighbours that they have to pick up from where they left off the night before. As they enter the house Serafina puts on the radio whilst Alvaro pours them a drink and they laugh together.
The premier of the movie was held at the Hotel Astor, New York on December 2, 1955, with the attendance of Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
and Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...
among other celebrities.
Cast
- Anna MagnaniAnna MagnaniAnna Magnani was an Italian stage and film actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four other international awards, for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo....
– Serafina Delle Rose - Burt LancasterBurt LancasterBurton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
– Alvaro Mangiacavallo - 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...
– Rosa Delle Rose - Ben CooperBen CooperBen Cooper is a retired American actor of film and television, who won a Golden Boot award in 2005 for his work in westerns.-Early films:...
– Seaman Jack Hunter - Virginia GreyVirginia GreyVirginia Grey was an American actress.She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of director Ray Grey. One of her early babysitters was movie star Gloria Swanson. Grey debuted at the age of ten in the silent film Uncle Tom's Cabin as Little Eva...
– Estelle Hohengarten - Jo Van FleetJo Van FleetJo Van Fleet was an American theatre and film actress.-Career:Van Fleet established herself as a notable dramatic actress on Broadway over several years, winning a Tony Award in 1954 for her skill in a difficult role, playing an unsympathetic, even abusive character, in Horton Foote's The Trip to...
– Bessie - Sandro Giglio – Father De Leo
- Mimi AgugliaMimi AgugliaMimi Aguglia was an Italian actress. She was born on stage in Catania, Sicily while her mother, Giuseppina Aguglia, was playing Desdemona in William Shakespeare's Othello....
– Assunta - Florence Sundstrom – Flora
Awards and nominations
Awards- Academy Award for Best ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading 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...
– Anna MagnaniAnna MagnaniAnna Magnani was an Italian stage and film actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four other international awards, for her portrayal of a Sicilian widow in The Rose Tattoo.... - Academy Award for Best Art DirectionAcademy Award for Best Art DirectionThe 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...
– Hal PereiraHal PereiraHal Pereira was an American art director and production designer....
, Tambi LarsenTambi LarsenTambi Larsen was a Dane born in Bangalore, India. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 20, where he attended Yale Drama School. He married Barbara Dole in 1941 and became an American citizen in 1943. Tambi struggled to make a living as a set designer for Broadway shows...
, Sam Comer, Arthur KramsArthur KramsArthur Krams was an American set designer. He first made a name for himself working for MGM on films such as Holiday in Mexico, Easter Parade and The Student Prince in the mid 40s. Later, he went on to work with Paramount Pictures. While there, he shared an Oscar for The Rose Tattoo... - Academy Award for Best CinematographyAcademy Award for Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
– James Wong HoweJames Wong HoweJames Wong Howe, A.S.C. was a Chinese American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films...
Nominations
- Academy Award for Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe 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...
– Hal B. WallisHal B. WallisHal B. Wallis was an American film producer.-Career:Harold Brent Wallis was born in Chicago in 1898. His family moved in 1922 to Los Angeles, California, where he found work as part of the publicity department at Warner Bros... - Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance 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...
– 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... - Academy Award for Costume DesignAcademy Award for Costume DesignThe Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
– Edith HeadEdith HeadEdith Head was an American costume designer who won eight Academy Awards, more than any other woman.-Early life and career:... - Academy Award for Film EditingAcademy Award for Film EditingThe Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
– Warren Low - Academy Award for Original Music ScoreAcademy Award for Original Music ScoreThe 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:...
– Alex NorthAlex NorthAlex North was an American composer who wrote the first jazz-based film score and one of the first modernist scores written in Hollywood ....