The Rose Tattoo (1955)

Director:

Daniel Mann

Writers:

Tennessee Williams (screenplay)
Hal Kanter (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

1956 (Brazil)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Her blood boiled with desire...raged with jealous fury!

Plot:

An Italian-American neighborhood in Louisiana is disturbed when truck driver Rosario Delle Rose is killed by police while smuggling...

Plot Keywords:

Truck Driver | Smuggling | Widow | Italian American | Louisiana

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Anna Magnani	...	Serafina Delle Rose
Burt Lancaster	...	Alvaro Mangiacavallo
Marisa Pavan	...	Rosa Delle Rose
Ben Cooper	...	Seaman Jack Hunter
Virginia Grey	...	Estelle Hohengarten
Jo Van Fleet	...	Bessie
Sandro Giglio	...	Father De Leo
Mimi Aguglia	...	Assunta
Florence Sundstrom	...	Flora
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Albert Adkins	...	Mario (uncredited)
Don Bachardy	...	Passenger in Back Seat of Car (uncredited)
Larry Chance	...	Rosario Delle Rose (uncredited)
Lewis Charles	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Roger Gunderson	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Jean Hart	...	Violetta (uncredited)
George Humbert	...	Pop Mangiacavallo (uncredited)
Dorrit Kelton	...	Schoolteacher (uncredited)
May Lee	...	Mamma Shigura - Tattoo Artist (uncredited)
Augusta Merighi	...	Giuseppina (uncredited)
Natalie Murray	...	Townswoman (uncredited)
Virgil Osborne	...	Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Margherita Pasquero	...	Grandma Mangiacavallo (uncredited)
Rosa Rey	...	Mariella (uncredited)
Rossana San Marco	...	Peppina (uncredited)
Georgia Simmons	...	The Strega (uncredited)
Zolya Talma	...	Miss Mangiacavallo (uncredited)
Fred Taylor	...	Grocery Cashier (uncredited)
Roland Vildo	...	Salvatore (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	...	Man at Mardi Gras Club (uncredited)
Tennessee Williams	...	Man at Mardi Gras Club (uncredited)

Directed by
Daniel Mann

Writing credits
Tennessee Williams		(screenplay)
Hal Kanter		(adaptation)
Tennessee Williams		(play "The Rose Tattoo")

Produced by
Hal B. Wallis	....	producer

Original Music by
Alex North

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe		(director of photography)

Art Direction by
Tambi Larsen
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Arthur Krams

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard McWhorter	....	assistant director

Art Department
Gene Lauritzen	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gene Garvin	....	sound recordist
Harold Lewis	....	sound recordist
Carl Mahakian	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Bill Wistrom	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects

Editorial Department
Warren Low	....	editorial supervisor

Music Department
Alex North	....	musical director
John Paris	....	in German version
Just Scheu	....	Lyrics in the german version
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Cheryl Crawford	....	stage producer: New York

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1956) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (w) | USA:Approved (PCA #17395)

Filming Locations:

Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "The Rose Tattoo" by Tennessee Williams opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York on February 3, 1951, ran for 308 performances and won the 1951 Tony Award for the Best Play.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chris & Don. A Love Story (2007)

Soundtrack:

The Sheik of Araby

Serafina!

Tennessee Williams was a good friend of Anna Magnani, the great Italian screen star. It was with her in mind he wrote "The Rose Tattoo", but she never played it in the theater because she didn't feel too comfortable, at the time, in doing the play in English.

Anna Magnani was born to play Serafina; she smolders the screen every time we see her. She is the sole reason for watching the film. Daniel Mann miscalculated in the adaptation, by Hal Kanter, of the play he had directed on Broadway, and it shows. The basic failure is that he made the character of Alvaro Mangiacavallo into a buffoon. Burt Lancaster seems to have been directed to go for laughs rather than being the sensual man he is in the play. He must awaken Serafina from the self imposed mourning she is experiencing at the time they meet.

"The Rose Tattoo" has a Greek tragedy feeling. Watch Serafina at the beginning of the film shopping at the grocery store among the neighborhood women. Later, the same thing happens. At the most dramatic moments, the chorus comes to surround Serafina; it's a ploy to make her react to them and vent her anger at the ignorant women who are her neighbors and clients, but not her real friends.

Serafina is a dignified woman who is still living back in Sicily, even though she is now in New Orleans. Her daughter rebels against her mother, who can't understand the American ways. When her husband Rosario dies, her whole world falls apart. Rosario has been the only man in her life and she wants to stay at home and not face reality, until the appearance of Alvaro, who manages to win her over with his simple ways.

Anna Magnani gives a performance that is larger than life.