Saratoga Trunk (1945)

An opportunistic Texas gambler and the exiled Creole daughter of an aristocratic family join forces to achieve justice from the society that has ostracized them.

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

Casey Robinson (screenplay), Edna Ferber (novel)

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Flora Robson

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Cooper	...	Colonel Clint Maroon
Ingrid Bergman	...	Clio Dulaine
Flora Robson	...	Angelique Buiton
Jerry Austin	...	Cupidon
John Warburton	...	Bartholomew Van Steed
Florence Bates	...	Sophie Bellop
Curt Bois	...	Augustin Haussy
John Abbott	...	Roscoe Bean
Ethel Griffies	...	Clarissa Van Steed
Marla Shelton	...	Mrs. Porcelain
Helen Freeman	...	Mrs. Nicholas Dulaine
Sophie Huxley	...	Charlotte Dulaine
Fred Essler	...	Monsieur Begue
Louis Payne	...	Raymond Soule
Sarah Edwards	...	Miss Diggs

Storyline

On the death of her mother, the vivacious Clio Dulaine returns from Paris to her childhood home in New Orleans to seek revenge for the humiliation her mother suffered there from her father's wife's family. She also plans to marry a rich man to attain the status and respectability her mother never had, but falls for Texas gambler Clint Maroon instead. When he leaves New Orleans for the horse racing season at Saratoga Springs, she follows him there to seek her fortune - or someone else's.

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Plot Keywords:

gambler | creole | revenge | brawl | train wreck | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

Saratoga

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,750,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Warners had hoped to possibly borrow Lena Horne from MGM for the role of Clio, but the studio refused to loan her out.

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Goofs

Scenes set in French Quarter section of New Orleans feature winding streets (a standard studio back lot trick that saves building an entire block of buildings). In reality, all streets in real French Quarter are at right angles to each other.

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Quotes

Clio Dulaine: If you mean to harm me, she'll be likely to kill you. She'll make a little figure like you out of soap and she'd stick little pinns into it, and you'd sicken and die.
Sophie Bellop: Not me. I've had pins stuck in me all my life and knives and everything up to pickaxes.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Wonderland (1947)

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Soundtracks

"Dansez Codaine"
(uncredited)
Traditional Creole folk tune

User Reviews

So much Ingrid, so beautiful

I'll leave it to one of the ladies to give us judgment on Gary Cooper's charm.

For me, this is Ingrid Bergman at her absolute best. Shot just after Casablanca, the screenplay and Sam Wood's common sense choose to focus on Ingrid in every scene but the brief, although well done, train wreck and brawl.

She is radiant, sly, coquettish, warm, reactive, piercing, soft, hard. Most of all, she is desirable. A woman for all time, for all women.

And she is strong. Melting for a brief second, gathering her resolve and forging ahead with her plans and schemes.

The Edna Ferber novel has enough truth to provide a reasonable story line for Ingrid to carry along single handedly. Cooper and Jerry Austin as Cupidon are excellent. Florence Bates gets too little time, too late as a matron with claws.

And French, yes, bless them, they allowed Ingrid to speak French, which she did so beautifully.

The current 6.2 Yahoo rating is laughable. "Saratoga Trunk" may not be a "Casablanca" or "Notorious" but it is far better than this lowly rating. See for yourself.