The Prodigal (1955)

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

Joseph Breen (adaptation) and
Samuel James Larsen (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

6 May 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A wealthy young Hebrew traveling in Damascus renounces his faith after is seduced by an alluring pagan priestess and cheated of his fortune by the High Priest as well.

Plot Keywords:

Pagan | Faith | Priestess | Hebrew | Inheritance

Cast

Lana Turner	...	Samarra
Edmund Purdom	...	Micah
Louis Calhern	...	Nahreeb
Audrey Dalton	...	Ruth
James Mitchell	...	Asham
Neville Brand	...	Rhakim
Walter Hampden	...	Eli
Taina Elg	...	Elissa
Francis L. Sullivan	...	Bosra
Joseph Wiseman	...	Carmish
John Dehner	...	Joram
Sandy Descher	...	Yasmin (as Sandra Descher)
Cecil Kellaway	...	Governor
Philip Tonge	...	Barber-Surgeon
David Leonard	...	Blind Man
Henry Daniell	...	Ramadi
Paul Cavanagh	...	Tobiah
Dayton Lummis	...	Caleb
Tracey Roberts	...	Tahra
Jarma Lewis	...	Uba
Jay Novello	...	Merchant
Dorothy Adams	...	Carpenter's Wife
Peter DeBear	...	Carpenter's Son
Phyllis Graffeo	...	Miriam
Patricia Iannone	...	Deborah
Eugene Mazzola	...	David
George Sawaya	...	Kavak
Richard Devon	...	Risafe
Ann Cameron	...	Lahla
Gloria Dea	...	Faradine
John Rosser	...	Lirhan
Charles Wagenheim	...	Zubeir
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jessie Arnold	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
David Bond	...	Crier (uncredited)
Argentina Brunetti	...	Woman (uncredited)
Paul Bryar	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Zev Bufman	...	Worshipper (uncredited)
Larry Chance	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
John Cliff	...	Guard (uncredited)
Booth Colman	...	Barber (uncredited)
Willa Pearl Curtis	...	Nubian Woman (uncredited)
Joanna Dale	...	Bunny (uncredited)
John Damler	...	Jailer (uncredited)
Linda Danson	...	Owl (uncredited)
Mary Dean	...	Background Singer (uncredited)
Patricia Denise	...	Chicken (uncredited)
Jo Gilbert	...	Mother (uncredited)
Diane Gump	...	Fox (uncredited)
Allison Hayes	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Chester Hayes	...	Opponent (uncredited)
John Hudkins	...	Salkhad (uncredited)
Patricia Jackson	...	Lion (uncredited)
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Murderer (uncredited)
George Keymas	...	Scribe (uncredited)
Rex Lease	...	Purveyor (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	Guard (uncredited)
Melba Liston	...	Female Servant (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	...	Harun (uncredited)
Herbert Lytton	...	Lame Man (uncredited)
Peter Mamakos	...	Guard (uncredited)
Lucille Maracini	...	Ram (uncredited)
Joseph Mell	...	Tailor (uncredited)
Tina Menard	...	Servant (uncredited)
Patrick Miller	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Frank Mitchell	...	Forerunner (uncredited)
Dorothy Neumann	...	Mother (uncredited)
Loulie Jean Norman	...	Background Singer (uncredited)
Milicent Patrick	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Rose Plumer	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Jean Ransome	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
William Reeves	...	Background Singer (uncredited)
Gordon Richards	...	Nahreeb's Scribe (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Chieftain (uncredited)
George Robotham	...	Human Sacrifice (uncredited)
George Selk	...	Citizen (uncredited)
Almira Sessions	...	Woman Buying Grain (uncredited)
Tom Steele	...	Slave (uncredited)
Robert R. Stephenson	...	Beggar (uncredited)
Gloria Stone	...	Mouse (uncredited)
Louis Tomei	...	Abu (uncredited)
Joe Waring	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Lila Zali	...	Monkey (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Thorpe

Writing credits
Joseph Breen		(adaptation from the Bible story) (as Joe Breen Jr.) and
Samuel James Larsen		(adaptation from the Bible story)
Maurice Zimm

Produced by
Charles Schnee	....	producer

Original Music by
Bronislau Kaper

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg

Film Editing by
Harold F. Kress

Art Direction by
Randall Duell
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Henry Grace
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Herschel McCoy

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup designer

Production Management
William Dorfman	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arvid Griffen	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Wesley C. Miller	....	recording supervisor
Conrad Kahn	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
A. Arnold Gillespie	....	special effects
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Stunts
Joe Canutt	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chester Hayes	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hicks	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Hudkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gil Perkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Louis Tomei	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Alvord Eiseman	....	color consultant

Music Department
Robert Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Alex Romero	....	choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1956) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1955) (France) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

112 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Jazz performer and arranger Melba Liston has an uncredited role as a servant woman.

Quotes:

Nahreeb:Damacus has dealt generously with you. Even your slave has a slave.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Lana Turner... a Daughter's Memoir (2001) (TV)

Big and banal

Even when they weren't very good, those widescreen Biblical epics of the 1950's were usually "fun" in a campy sort of way. This leviathan from MGM piles on the lavish sets and costumes but manages to evoke little more than polite boredom mixed with the occasional snicker. There's no historical atmosphere here -- everything is "soundstage" -- and there's no chemistry between its leading man and leading lady. Some worthy players do pop up in the supporting cast -- Louis Calhern, Cecil Kellaway, Joseph Wiseman, etc. -- but they're usually stuck in silly headdresses which look like overturned wastebaskets. James Mitchell probably delivers the liveliest performance in the movie and he plays a mute! Poor Edmund Purdom. He starred in 20th's biggest production of 1954, "The Egyptian" -- after Marlon Brando turned down the part -- and then starred in this, MGM's biggest production of 1955, and yet this almost unprecedented, one-two whammy of multimillion dollar spectacles failed to ignite his acting career. This is puzzling inasmuch as he was a good-looking fellow with a fine voice and real acting talent but perhaps the cold, cynical nature of his two major roles kept audiences from warming to him. He soon wound up in Italian B-movies. The flogging he suffers while chained in a dungeon in "The Prodigal" did, however, win him a bit of unexpected honor. It ranks 66th in the book, "Lash! The Hundred Great Scenes of Men Being Whipped in the Movies."