Joan of Arc (1948 film)

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Joan of Arc

Directed by	Victor Fleming
Produced by	Walter Wanger
Written by	Maxwell Anderson, Andrew Solt
Starring	Ingrid Bergman, Francis L. Sullivan, J. Carrol Naish
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)	November 11, 1948 (USA)
Running time	145 min / (100 min) (PG-rated version)
Language	English
IMDb profile

Joan of Arc is a 1948 Technicolor film starring Ingrid Bergman as the French religious icon and war hero. It was produced by Walter Wanger. It is based on Maxwell Anderson's successful Broadway play Joan of Lorraine (which also starred Bergman), and was adapted for the screen by Anderson himself, in collaboration with Andrew Solt. Bergman had been lobbying to play Joan for many years, and this film was considered a dream project for her. It received mixed reviews and lower than expected box office, though it clearly was not a "financial disaster", as is often claimed.

The movie is considered by some to mark the start of a low period in the actress's career that would last until she made Anastasia in 1956. In April 1949, five months after the release of the film, and before it had gone out on general release, came the revelation of Bergman's extramarital relationship with Italian director Roberto Rossellini, a revelation which brought her American screen career to a temporary halt.

Bergman and co-star José Ferrer (making his first film appearance) received Academy Award nominations for their performances. The film was director Victor Fleming's last project — he died only two months after its release.

One of the criticisms of the film is that Bergman, who was 33 at the time she made the movie, was nearly twice the real Joan of Arc's age; the Swedish actress would later play her (at age 39) in a 1954 Italian film, Giovanna d'Arco al rogo (Joan at the Stake).

The film was made in 1947-1948 by an independent company, Sierra Pictures, created just for this production. Filming was done primarily at Hal Roach Studios, with location scenes shot in the Los Angeles area. It was first released in November 1948 by RKO. It cost $4.5 at completion, but as of December 1951, the film had grossed six million dollars, three million less than was needed to cover production and distribution costs. It was edited from 145 minutes to 100 minutes for its general release in September 1950. This version was distributed, not by RKO, but by a company called Balboa Film Distributors, the same company which released Alfred Hitchcock's Under Capricorn, also starring Ingrid Bergman. The complete 145 minute version of Joan of Arc, unseen in the U.S. since about 1949, was restored in 1998 after an uncut print in mint condition was found in Europe, and was hailed as being much superior to the edited version. This restored version was released on DVD in 2004.

The complete, unedited version of the film has not been shown on television as of 2006. The edited version, first shown in theatres in 1950, received its first television showing on CBS on the evening of April 12, 1968.

1 Plot (spoilers included)
2 Differences between complete and edited versions
3 Awards and nominations
4 External links

[edit] Plot (spoilers included)

Unlike the play Joan of Lorraine, which is a play-within-a-play about an acting company presenting the story of Joan, the film is a straightforward recounting of Joan's life. It begins with an obviously painted shot of the inside of a basilica with a shaft of (heavenly?) light shining down from the ceiling, and a solemn off-screen voice pronouncing the canonization of the Maid of Orleans. Then we hear the voice of an uncredited narrator explaining Joan's family situation and describing her devoutness. The actual story of Joan then begins, from the time she realizes that she is apparently divinely sent on her mission, to her execution by burning at the hands of the English and the Burgundians.

[edit] Differences between complete and edited versions

There are several differences between the full-length version of the film and the edited general release version.

One that is immediately noticeable is that there is actually a snippet from Joan's trial during the opening narration in the edited version, whereas in the full-length version, the events of Joan's life are shown in chronological order.

The edited version omits crucial scenes that are important to a psychological understanding of the narrative, such as the mention of a dream that Joan's father has which foretells of Joan's campaign against the English. When Joan hears of the dream, she is reassured that she has been divinely ordered to drive the English out of France.

Most of the first ten minutes of the film, a section showing Joan praying in a run-down chapel, followed by a family dinner and conversation which leads to the mention of the dream, are not in the edited version.

Severe breaks in continuity in the edited version are joined by the narrator explaining what has happened between scenes. (In the complete 145-minute version, the narrator is heard only at the beginning of the film.)

Entire characters, such as Joan's father (played by Robert Barrat) and Father Pasquerel (played by Hurd Hatfield) are partially or totally omitted from the edited version.

Even the opening credits are different — in the edited version, the story begins right after we see Victor Fleming's director's credit, while in the full-length version, after the credit "Directed by Victor Fleming", we see the title card "The Players", after which all the major lead and supporting actors — more than thirty of them — are listed in order of appearance and in groups (e.g., "At Domrémy", "At Chinon", etc.), much as in Fleming's other lengthy film epic Gone with the Wind.

The edited version might be considered more cinematic through its use of maps and voice-over narration to explain the political situation in France. (In the full-length version, Joan's family discusses the political situation during dinner.) The full-length version, although not presented as a play-within-a-play, as the stage version was, nevertheless resembles a stage-to-film adaptation, makes great use of Maxwell Anderson's original dialogue, and may seem, to some, stagy in its method of presentation, despite having a realistic depiction of the Siege of Orléans.

[edit] Awards and nominations

Best Actress (nomination) - Ingrid Bergman
Best Supporting Actor (nomination) - José Ferrer
Best Costume Design (color) (won) - Barbara Karinska, Dorothy Jeakins
Best Cinematography (color) (won) - Joseph Valentine, William Skall, Winton Hoch
Best Film Editing (nomination) - Frank Sullivan
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (color) (nomination) - Richard Day, Edwin Casey Roberts, Joseph Kish
Best Score, Dramatic or Comedy Picture (nomination) - Hugo Friedhofer
Honorary Award - Walter Wanger "for distinguished service to the industry in adding to its moral stature in the world community by his production of the picture Joan of Arc." (Wanger refused the award in protest of the film's absence in the Best Picture category.)