The Bride Wore Red (1937)

Director:

Dorothy Arzner

Writers:

Ferenc Molnár (play)
Tess Slesinger (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 October 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Count Armalia believes that the luck of birth is all that separates the rich from the poor. To test his theory...

Plot Keywords:

Postman | Clothes | Singer | Class Distinction | Deception

Cast

Joan Crawford	...	Anni Pavlovitch
Franchot Tone	...	Giulio
Robert Young	...	Rudi Pal
Billie Burke	...	Contessa di Meina
Reginald Owen	...	Admiral Monti
Lynne Carver	...	Maddelena Monti
George Zucco	...	Count Armalia
Mary Philips	...	Maria (as Mary Phillips)
Paul Porcasi	...	Signor Nobili
Dickie Moore	...	Pietro
Frank Puglia	...	Alberto
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nino Bellini	...	Cosmos Club Waiter (uncredited)
Agostino Borgato	...	Cordellera Bar Waiter (uncredited)
Adriana Caselotti	...	First Peasant Girl (uncredited)
Robert Cauterio	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Irene Coleman	...	Cosmos Club Hat Check Girl (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Cosmos Club Croupier (uncredited)
Franco Corsaro	...	Hotel Chauffeur (uncredited)
Rita Gould	...	Saleslady (uncredited)
Geneva Hall	...	Tango Dancer (uncredited)
Charles Judels	...	Cordellera Bar Proprietor (uncredited)
Jean Lewis	...	Second Peasant Girl (uncredited)
Fred Malatesta	...	Rudi's Waiter (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	Hotel Headwaiter (uncredited)
Francisco Marán	...	Cosmos Club Doorman (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Cosmos Club Patron (uncredited)
John Oliver	...	Page Boy (uncredited)
Ann Rutherford	...	Third Peasant Girl (uncredited)
Rafael Storm	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Mike Tellegen	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	Sailor at Cordellera Bar (uncredited)

Directed by
Dorothy Arzner

Writing credits
Ferenc Molnár		(play "The Girl From Trieste") (as Ferenc Molnar)
Waldo Salt		(adaptation) uncredited and
Catherine Turney		(adaptation) uncredited
Tess Slesinger		(screenplay) and
Bradbury Foote		(screenplay)

Produced by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz	....	producer

Original Music by
Franz Waxman

Cinematography by
George J. Folsey		(as George Folsey)

Film Editing by
Adrienne Fazan

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edward Woehler	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Daniel B. Cathcart	....	associate art director
Edwin B. Willis	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Camera and Electrical Department
Harkness Smith	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Val Raset	....	dances stager
Kasha Haroldi	....	stand-in: Joan Crawford (uncredited)
Wallace Worsley Jr.	....	script clerk (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1937) (USA) (theatrical) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1937) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1938) (Netherlands) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

103 min | Germany:99 min (TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #3582) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) (1938)

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Three cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): Anna Demetrio (Signora Milani), George W. Jimenez (Signor Calla) and Abe Dinovitch (Yodeller). Child actor Bill Burrud is listed as a cast member in some contemporary newspapers, but he was not seen either.

Quotes:

Anni Pavlovitch:I want you to marry her, and I want my love to haunt you...to make you lie awake at night, to burn your heart, to make you sick with pain! I want you to think of me and to ache for me. I want never to see you again!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Who Wants Love?

A Dull Curiosity.

Despite the provocative title and the first few scenes, which suggest this might be an interesting variation on Shaw's "Pygmalion," we're actually back in Joan Crawford's MGM universe, where one suitor isn't enough if you can have two, and where Adrian can be counted on to provide a drop dead gown at regular intervals.

This airless, relentlessly phony picture did Crawford no favors. For a major star she is remarkably inexpressive. Her face, so strong, angular and meticulously made up, is striking enough to get all our attention, but this curiosity is never repaid. We search Joan's face looking for fleeting expressions, varying moods, complex emotions but we get only a single mask of anxiety. Crawford in this period seems incapable of shaping a performance or giving a character flesh, blood and heart -- she just sleepwalks from scene to scene looking as perfect and lifeless as a mannequin (coincidentally the title of her next film).

If glamor without rhyme, reason or variation is your idea of entertainment, you are welcome to it, but I thought THE BRIDE WORE RED was both strange and boring. By the way, the eponymous dress is kind of tacky but undeniably spectacular, and it sure looks red, even in black and white.