Lust for Life (1956)

The life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Norman Corwin (screenplay), Irving Stone (novel)

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, James Donald

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kirk Douglas	...	Vincent Van Gogh
Anthony Quinn	...	Paul Gauguin
James Donald	...	Theo Van Gogh
Pamela Brown	...	Christine
Everett Sloane	...	Dr. Gachet
Niall MacGinnis	...	Roulin
Noel Purcell	...	Anton Mauve
Henry Daniell	...	Theodorus Van Gogh
Madge Kennedy	...	Anna Cornelia Van Gogh
Jill Bennett	...	Willemien
Lionel Jeffries	...	Dr. Peyron
Laurence Naismith	...	Dr. Bosman
Eric Pohlmann	...	Colbert
Jeanette Sterke	...	Kay
Toni Gerry	...	Johanna

Storyline

Vincent Van Gogh is the archetypical tortured artistic genius. His obsession with painting, combined with mental illness, propels him through an unhappy life full of failures and unrewarding relationships. He fails at being a preacher to coal miners. He fails in his relationships with women. He earns some respect among his fellow painters, especially Paul Gauguin, but he does not get along with them. He only manages to sell one painting in his lifetime. The one constant good in his life is his brother Theo, who is unwavering in his moral and financial support.

---

Plot Keywords:

painting | artist | obsession | painter | mental illness | 

---

Taglines:

He had a lust for life. Sometimes he was brutal, sometimes delicate---always he lived with insatiable passion!

---

Genres:

Biography | Drama

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 December 1956 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

La vie passionnée de Vincent van Gogh

Filming Locations:

's-Gravenhage, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (35 mm optical prints) (Westrex Recording System) 4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Even though many sources claim that Anthony Quinn won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for appearing a short 8 minutes in the movie, his performance actually lasts 23 minutes and 40 seconds.

---

Goofs

Camera shadow falls across Ducrucq as Van Gogh finds him dead.

---

Quotes

Paul Gauguin: With all your talk of emotion, all I see when I look at your work is just that you paint too fast!
Vincent Van Gogh: You look too fast!

---

Connections

Referenced in Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969)

---

Soundtracks

"Carrousel"
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by Miklós Rózsa

User Reviews

Melodramatic but effective

Although I started my academic career as an art major, my interest was always in making art of my own rather than studying the works of the past masters. As a result, I wouldn't know a Manet from a Monet, but one painter whose work I can always identify is Vincent Van Gogh, perhaps the most famous example of the "tortured artist" who sought solace from the pain of life through his work. Like so many artists from different mediums, Van Gogh's life, especially the dramatic episode in which he sliced off his ear in an epileptic fit, is more famous than his work, a situation heightened, no doubt, by Don Mclean's melancholy ballad "Vincent," an improbable chart topper in 1972. Prior to being honored by the composer of "American Pie," Van Gogh's biggest brush with popular success came with Vincent Minnelli's film of Irving Stone's best-seller, an often melodramatic but still effective dramatization of the artist's troubled life. Kirk Douglas' intense portrayal of the impoverished and often fanatical Dutchman is helped immeasurably by his physical resemblance to his subject. Bearded, and with his blonde hair dyed red, Douglas could easily be mistaken for the man whose self-portraits hang on the wall of the modest bedroom where much of the film takes place. Occasionally, Douglas' clenched teeth and fist approach to drama comes through to reveal the actor behind the makeup, but his Oscar nominated performance seldom falls victim to the actor's "star" persona. Even Anthony Quinn, an actor who has given the same performance in dozens of movies, is good, but his brief turn as Paul Gaughan is hardly distinguished enough to merit the Oscar for best supporting actor. The rest of the cast is beautifully assembled with James Donald properly sympathetic as Vincent's patient, supportive brother, Theo, and no way can I complain about any film that finds room for the splendid presence of Henry Daniell, seen here as the patriarch of the Van Gogh family. The paintings, a wild riot of colorful intensity, are seen throughout (courtesy of numerous private collectors and public museums, including my hometown's Cleveland Museum of Art), and without them, "Lust for Life" would have a lot less luster.