The Great Gatsby (1949)

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Movie
German title The Great Gatsby
Original title The Great Gatsby
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1949
length 91 minutes
Rod
Director Elliott Nugent
script Richard Maibaum ,
Cyril Hume
production Richard Maibaum for
Paramount Pictures
music Robert E. Dolan
camera John F. Seitz
cut Ellsworth Hoagland
occupation

The Great Gatsby is a 1949 American drama film directed by Elliott Nugent . It is the second of a total of five film adaptations of the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald .

action

Twenty years after the death of businessman Jay Gatsby, old friends Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker visit his grave. There they remember Gatsby's life story and how he made a fortune under shady circumstances in the 1920s. Gatsby is building a lavish villa on Long Island Sound , from which he can look out over the Buchanans' equally spacious seat on the other side of the bay. Gatsby is known for his lavish parties, to which he also invites his new neighbor Nick Carraway - a young man from the Midwest who wants to gain a foothold in New York as a stock market trader. Gatsby asks Nick to meet Nick's cousin Daisy Buchanan for him.

It turns out that Gatsby and Daisy had a relationship before Gatsby in the First World War is drawn. Gatsby would like to win her back, but Daisy is now married to Tom Buchanan and already has a daughter. Daisy feels unhappy in their marriage and suspects that Tom is having an affair with Myrtle Wilson - the wife of the local gas station owner. This is one of the reasons Daisy enjoys the Avanchen Gatsbys and spends time with him, her friend Jordan Baker and Nick in New York.

Gatsby accidentally runs over Myrtle while driving Daisy's car. George Wilson, the husband of those killed, initially suspects that Tom willfully run over her in his car. Gatsby takes the blame for the accident, whereupon Wilson shoots him while he is bathing in the villa's pool. Of Gatsby's many alleged friends, only Jordan and Nick attend his funeral.

background

As early as 1926, just one year after the publication of Fitzgerald's book, the first film adaptation of his novel was released: the now-lost silent film The Great Gatsby by Herbert Brenon with Warner Baxter , Lois Wilson , Neil Hamilton and William Powell . The work of Fitzgerald, who died in 1940, was at times quite forgotten, but it was slowly rediscovered in the course of the 1940s. However, at the time of this filming, the book was not yet a literary classic. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Nugent's film is partly very free with Fitzgerald's original. In many places, the strip is characterized by film noir , Gatsby's criminal machinations are given more space than in the book, while many smaller aspects have been neglected or changed. So the love story between Nick and Jordan finds a happy ending in this film, which is not the case in the novel.

According to producer Richard Maibaum, however, his film - as, for example, author Charles Brackett has assured him - made an important contribution to the rediscovery of Fitzgerald's work. The film was a box office hit when it was released, although reviews have been mixed.

Reviews

Bosley Crowther in the New York Times of July 14, 1949 saw The Great Gatsby as a film vehicle for Alan Ladd, who would again offer one of his usual gangster portrayals. Many of the "tragic implications and bitter ironies of Mr. Fitzgerald" have been neglected. Some aspects that made the story so vivid in the novel - for example, the 1920s style - have been left out in the "weak script". Even Variety saw the weakness in the script, would act in which the characters "flat". At the same time, Alan Ladd offers a capable portrayal in the title role.

Leonard Maltin gave the film two and a half stars out of four, stating that it was a “misguided adaptation” of Fitzgerald's book that was too talkative and true to the letter. While Ladd is "pretty good" in the title role, Betty Fields portrayal as Daisy is "strangely moody".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. 'Great Gatsby' Employs Two Generations of Farrows: 'Gatsby' Employs Farrow Family Maibaum, Richard. Los Angeles Times July 15, 1973: 14.
  2. The Great Gatsby (1949) in the New York Times
  3. The Great Gatsby at Variety
  4. The Great Gatsby at Turner Classic Movies