Heller in Pink Tights (1960)

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay) and
Walter Bernstein (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1 March 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

One foot on the stage... And one step ahead of the law!

Plot:

Story of theatrical troupe that travels through the Old West.

Plot Keywords:

Theater | Theater Troupe | Nineteenth Century | Gunslinger | Theater Owner

Cast

Sophia Loren	...	Angela Rossini
Anthony Quinn	...	Thomas 'Tom' Healy
Margaret O'Brien	...	Della Southby
Steve Forrest	...	Clint Mabry
Eileen Heckart	...	Mrs. Lorna Hathaway
Ramon Novarro	...	De Leon
Edmund Lowe	...	Manfred 'Doc' Montague
George Mathews	...	Sam Pierce
Edward Binns	...	Sheriff Ed McClain
Warren Wade	...	Hodges
Frank Silvera	...	Santis
Boyd Holister	...	McAllister (as Robert Palmer)
Leo V. Matranga	...	Gunslinger #2
Cal Bolder	...	Goober
Taggart Casey	...	Gunslinger #1
Howard McNear	...	Photographer of Dead Gunmen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Adler	...	Stagecoach Driver (uncredited)
David Armstrong	...	Achilles (uncredited)
Harry Cheshire	...	Poker Player (uncredited)
Ken Clark	...	Soldier Warning the Travelers (uncredited)
Iron Eyes Cody	...	Indian (uncredited)
Frank Cordell	...	Theodore (uncredited)
Cathy Cox	...	Juno (uncredited)
Lorraine Crawford	...	Madam (uncredited)
Robert Darin	...	Servant (uncredited)
Bryn Davis	...	Venus (uncredited)
Eddie Little Sky	...	Indian (uncredited)
Cactus Mack	...	William (uncredited)
Bernard Nedell	...	Double for Edmund Lowe (uncredited)
Amanda Randolph	...	Edna - Mrs. Haddock's Maid (uncredited)
Rodd Redwing	...	Indian (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Poker Dealer (uncredited)
Dick Simmons	...	Man at Desk (uncredited)
Alfred Tonkel	...	Calchas (uncredited)
Geraldine Wall	...	Mrs. Haddock - Madam (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	Man Buying Picture of Angela (uncredited)
Chief Yowlachie	...	Indian (uncredited)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing credits
Dudley Nichols		(screenplay) and
Walter Bernstein		(screenplay)
Louis L'Amour		(novel "Heller with a Gun")

Produced by
Lewis E. Ciannelli	....	associate producer
Marcello Girosi	....	producer
Carlo Ponti	....	producer

Original Music by
Daniele Amfitheatrof

Cinematography by
Harold Lipstein		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Howard A. Smith		(as Howard Smith)

Casting by
Edward R. Morse		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Gene Allen		(as Eugene Allen)
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Grace Gregory

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Nellie Manley	....	hair stylist supervisor
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor
Karl Silvera	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Lenore Weaver	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Monty Westmore	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Frank Caffey	....	production manager (uncredited)
Curtis Mick	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles C. Coleman	....	assistant director (as C.C. Coleman Jr.)
Arthur Rosson	....	second unit director
Frank Kies	....	assistant director (uncredited)
James A. Rosenberger	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Charles McLaughlin	....	props (uncredited)
Tom Plews	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Winston H. Leverett	....	sound recordist (as Winston Leverett)
John Wilkinson	....	sound recordist
R.D. Cook	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Ralph Hickey	....	sound editor (uncredited)
John K. Nelson	....	boom operator (uncredited)
John Nostri	....	mike grip (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects
Jan Domela	....	matte artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Bob Burrows	....	stunts (uncredited)
Polly Burson	....	stunt double: Sophia Loren (uncredited)
Frank Cordell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bernard Nedell	....	stunt double: Edmund Lowe (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Irmin Roberts	....	photographer: second unit
James Grant	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Al Lane	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Loren Nutten	....	best boy (uncredited)
Herb Welts	....	company grip (uncredited)
Stanley Williams	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Alice Moriarty	....	casting secretary (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Joan Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)
Ruth Stella	....	costumes: ladies (uncredited)
Henry West	....	costumes: men (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Hoyningen Huene	....	color coordinator (as Hoyningen-Huene)

Music Department
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	conductor
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Van Cleave	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Hoyningen Huene	....	technical advisor (as Hoyningen-Huene)
Richard Mueller	....	technicolor color consultant
Val Raset	....	dance stager
Warren Wade	....	technical advisor on theatre scenes
Dave Davies	....	publicist (uncredited)
Jacinto Flores	....	interpreter: Papago (uncredited)
Rosemary Mathews	....	assistant to producers (uncredited)
Bob Miles	....	livestock foreman (uncredited)
Al Peterson	....	craft service (uncredited)
Dorothy Yutzi	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1960) (USA) (theatrical)
• Les Films Paramount (1960) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Italiana (1960) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1960) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1966) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Paramount-Films (1961) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Entertainment (2009) (Greece) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment Finland (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Paramount Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1975) (1980) (1999) (2004) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | West Germany:16 | Spain:7 | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #19308)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Final cut disavowed by George Cukor.

Quotes:

De Leon:You'll never be a businessman, Goober. You part with money much too easily. To owe is one thing, to pay is quite another.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Legends of the West (1992)

Colorful,

The film is the story of an acting troupe (Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, Eileen Heckart, Margaret O'Brien) who run into various monetary and Indian problems as they travel across the Western United States.

George Cukor, who directed this film, supposedly never liked how the usual western looked. They lacked color, according to him, and in "Heller in Pink Tights," Cukor set out to remedy that. The film is full of vivacious color. From Eileen Heckart's orange hair to Sophia Loren's platinum blonde wig and the various pieces of clothing that they wear. Visually the film is quite arresting. It mixes such loud, bright colors with the colors of such a rigid and tough landscape.

While the use of color is certainly interesting, the film never gets quite as far. The story is entertaining, but in a silly way. The chemistry between Loren and her two love interests (Quinn and Steve Forrest) is non-existent. She also looks totally uncomfortable with the blonde wig she is saddled with. Eileen Heckart is fun as the loudmouth actress/stage mother to O'Brien's character, and Anthony Quinn is his usual "dramatic" self.

"Heller in Pink Tights" certainly is a different kind of Western. I just only wish the film's story would have been as interesting as its use of color.