Joan of Arc (1948)

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Maxwell Anderson (play)
Maxwell Anderson (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 September 1949 (Australia)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Greatest of all spectacles!

Plot:

In the Fifteenth Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England...

Plot Keywords:

France | Joan Of Arc | Trial | Religion | Heroine

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Ingrid Bergman	...	Joan of Arc
Francis L. Sullivan	...	Pierre Cauchon (Count-Bishop of Beauvais)
J. Carrol Naish	...	John, Count of Luxembourg (Joan's captor)
Ward Bond	...	La Hire
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Father Massieu (Joan's bailiff)
Gene Lockhart	...	Georges de la Trémouille
John Emery	...	Jean - Duke d'Alencon
Leif Erickson	...	Dunois, Bastard of Orleans
Cecil Kellaway	...	Jean le Maistre (Inquisitor of Rouen)
José Ferrer	...	The Dauphin, Charles VII, later King of France
Selena Royle	...	Isabelle d'Arc (Joan's mother)
Robert Barrat	...	Jacques d'Arc (Joan's Father)
Jimmy Lydon	...	Pierre d'Arc (Joan's younger brother)
Rand Brooks	...	Jean d'Arc (Joan's older brother)
Roman Bohnen	...	Durand Laxart (Joan's uncle)

Also Known As:

Joan of Lorraine (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

145 min | USA:100 min (cut version) | 145 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG (edited version) | UK:U (original rating, cut version) | Finland:K-10

Filming Locations:

Balboa, Newport Beach, California, USA

Company:

Sierra Pictures (II)

Trivia:

According to a recently published biography of director Victor Fleming, he and playwright Maxwell Anderson were both deeply dissatisfied with the finished film. For some reason, Fleming actually felt embarrassed by it, and Anderson was especially disappointed that the film did not retain the play-within-a-play structure of "Joan of Lorraine", the stage drama on which "Joan of Arc" was based.

Quotes:

Judge: What do your voices tell you?
Joan of Arc: They tell me to answer you boldly.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in You jian chun tian (1981)

At 100 minutes this is a waste

Good editing always improves the rough vision of the accumulated daily takes. Chopping the heart out of a completed film, however, should simply be a hanging offense.

The original 1948 Joan of Arc at 145 minutes is magnificent. The 100-minute version that's been foisted off on the USA buying public is below mediocre. Key scenes were deleted wholesale with no regard to continuity or development.

The only enjoyment from the severely and amateurishly edited version is to see Ingrid Bergman do what she does best. But only if you have seen the original version can this chopped and cropped semi-copy have any marginal value.

Check the specifications on any version you are tempted to buy. If the running time is 100 minutes, don't bother. Some European versions are longer at 125 and 133 minutes. Hopefully, someone will offer this masterpiece in a full 145 minute DVD version