The Rainmaker (1956)

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Movie
German title The rainmaker
Original title The Rainmaker
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1956
length 116 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Joseph Anthony
script N. Richard Nash
production Hal B. Wallis / Paramount
music Alex North
camera Charles Lang
cut Warren Low
occupation
synchronization

Der Regenmacher (Original title: The Rainmaker ) is an American film by Joseph Anthony from 1956 based on the play of the same name by N. Richard Nash . The leading roles are cast with Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn .

action

Lizzie Curry, an aging maid , lives with her father and two brothers on a remote farm in Kansas and runs their house. After returning from visiting relatives, she reveals to her family that she will by no means marry the man with whom they had intended to couple her. While the father encourages his daughter that the right person will still be found, her older brother Noah has only reproaches for Lizzie because he considers her precocious and know-it-all, which she can hardly afford to look at; instead, she should make something of herself, learn to flirt and otherwise keep her opinion to herself. Lizzie is deeply hurt, but Noah believes that she will never find a man for life.

There has been a drought over the Midwest for months . Billy Starbuck, a soldier of fortune bursting with masculinity, arrives at the curry farm and promises them rain for $ 100. Lizzie and Noah want to decline his offer, but HC Curry, the head of the family, wants to hear what he's up to first. His kids warn him, but old Curry likes Starbucks' witty charm and mischievous shrewdness. To the cheers of Jim, the youngest of the family, Curry gives in and gets involved in the deal. To make matters worse, File appears, the sheriff, whose great love left him a few years ago for another man. When asked, he explains that he had not asked her to stay with him. He stays for dinner and witnesses a strange experiment with which Lizzie tries to charm him. She is not herself, wants to appear volatile and in love. File is disturbed by her behavior and leaves again.

Meanwhile, Starbuck begins - with all sorts of hocus-pocus - to "make" rain. With a sharp eye, he recognizes Lizzie's needs and tries to convince her that dreams can come true if you only firmly believe in them. He also encourages Jim to ignore his brother's objections and to marry the young girl he loves. Lizzie, deeply moved by Starbucks words, tries to find out more about him. In the course of the night he finally succeeds in convincing her that she - like every woman - is beautiful if she only wanted to, and that he loves her.

Lizzie is no longer brittle, she now looks younger and more beautiful. When the sheriff arrives the next morning to arrest Starbuck for fraud, old Curry begs him for mercy for Starbuck, as he has made Lizzie feel like a desirable woman. File lets himself be talked about and advises Starbuck to leave as quickly as possible. Starbuck asks Lizzie to come with him to live her dreams. File takes heart and asks her not to drive, but to stay - with him. Lizzie can hardly believe it: two men are vying for her - and she now has to decide ...

background

For The Rainmaker , N. Richard Nash wrote the script based on his Broadway play , which premiered in 1954. Geraldine Page played the role of Lizzie Curry in this. It was Katharine Hepburn's only film for Paramount . Her opponent was Burt Lancaster in the title role. In the third film in his women's trilogy for Hal B. Wallis - preceded by Return, Little Sheba and The Tattooed Rose  - Burt Lancaster was once again given top announcement. Ironically, the leading actress in every film was nominated for an Academy Award - but he wasn't. The Rainmaker came in December 1956 in the US distributor . The piece later came back to Broadway as a musical 110 Grade in the Shade .

For producer Hal B. Wallis, Katharine Hepburn was the only option to portray Lizzie Curry: “When I saw N. Richards Nash's play for the first time, I knew straight away that this was a film role for Katharine. Sure, it was similar to the role in Dream of My Life , but the difference is that it was a romance movie and our project was a comedy. After all, I was so fixated on Katharine that I would never have produced the film with another actress. "

Joseph Anthony, the director, had also directed the Broadway play and was able to compare the two leading actresses: “Again and again I urged “ Gerry ” (meaning Geraldine Page) to play openly longingly. But she preferred to roll her eyes and imitate ZaSu Pitts . Kath, on the other hand, did exactly what was expected of her. She was really professional. "

Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster got along less well on the set. While she mastered her lines from the start, he was used to learning just before shooting. That's why he was late on the first day of shooting; in addition, the crew had to wait until he had finished changing, putting on his make-up and doing his hair. The Hepburn, always straightforward, confronted the assembled crew: “Mr. Lancaster, we were all here by 9:30 am except you! If you intend to do that for the rest of the shooting time, it would be very nice of you to let us know so that we don't have to appear until 10.25 a.m. Otherwise, I expect you, like everyone else, to be on time! ”-“ After that, Burt always came on time, ”recalled Hal B. Wallis,“ from that day on, the cooperation between her and Burt worked a little better. ”

Lancaster praised retrospectively: "Kate has always been very attentive and courteous, even if I have to admit that I was a little frightened of her efficiency and her ability."

synchronization

The German dubbed version was released in West German cinemas on April 19, 1957; the synchronization was created in 1957 at Berliner Synchron AG under the direction of Volker Becker , who also produced the dialogue book.

role actor Voice actor
Starbuck Burt Lancaster Horst Niendorf
Lizzie Curry Katharine Hepburn Ingeborg Grunewald
File Wendell Corey Ernst Wilhelm Borchert
Noah Curry Lloyd Bridges Heinz Giese
Jim Curry Earl Holliman Wolfgang Gruner
Sheriff Howard Thomas Wallace Ford Alfred Haase

In the GDR , the film was shown for the first time on the 2nd program of GDR television on April 9, 1977; in the Federal Republic of Germany the strip was shown on December 30, 1977 in the ARD program . So far, the film has only been released in the original English version on video and DVD.

Reviews

Time Magazine : “Actress Hepburn doesn't always hint at the stages in Lizzie's life as she progresses from the emotional larval stage to vividly imagined maturity, but she captivates the attention of the audience scene after scene as she goes wild like an iridescent moth one or the other love light flutters around. "

Lexicon of international film : “Above-average film adaptation of the successful play by Richard Nash. [...] The sympathetic film does justice to the cozy, poetic side of the drama as well as the psychologically sensitive character comedy. High-quality entertainment. "

Awards

While the audience was fairly unmoved about the film, the film received critical acclaim and the film industry. As a token of their appreciation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated the film for two Oscars : Katharine Hepburn received her seventh Oscar nomination; composer Alex North received his fifth nomination in this category for film music . The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated the production for Best Picture, Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn for Best Actor and awarded Earl Holliman for his portrayal as Lizzie's slightly moronic brother Jim with a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

Soundtrack

  • Alex North : The Rainmaker. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Original Film Music . 1 CD. Tsunami 2000, sound carrier no. 0120 / UPN 4-001550-701207

literature

  • N. Richard Nash : The Rainmaker. (Original title: The Rainmaker. ) German by Willy Heinrich Thiem. [Not for sale stage manuscript.] Ahn & Simrock, Berlin and Wiesbaden 1954.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andrea Thain: Katharine Hepburn: A biography. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1990, p. 229f.
  2. ^ A b Andrea Thain: Katharine Hepburn: A biography. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1990, p. 230
  3. ↑ Andrea Thain: Katharine Hepburn: A biography. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1990, p. 230f.
  4. ↑ Thomas Bräutigam: Lexicon of film and television synchronization. More than 2000 films and series with their German voice actors etc. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-289-X , p. 302
  5. ↑ Der Regenmacher (1956) in Arne Kaul's synchronous database ( Memento of the original from November 24, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Retrieved September 29, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.synchrondatenbank.de
  6. ^ The Rainmaker in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used