The Sandpiper (1965)

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Martin Ransohoff (story)
Irene Kamp (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 June 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

AN ADULT LOVE STORY

Plot:

Free-spirited, young, unwed mother seduces a Episcopalian priest. Lots of pretty beach/ocean scenery.

Plot Keywords:

School | Big Sur | Unwed Mother | California | Love

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Laura Reynolds
Richard Burton	...	Dr. Edward Hewitt
Eva Marie Saint	...	Claire Hewitt
Charles Bronson	...	Cos Erickson
Robert Webber	...	Ward Hendricks
James Edwards	...	Larry Brant
Torin Thatcher	...	Judge Thompson
Tom Drake	...	Walter Robinson
Douglas Henderson	...	Paul Sutcliff (as Doug Henderson)
Morgan Mason	...	Danny Reynolds
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Abbey	...	(uncredited)
Jan Arvan	...	Trustee (uncredited)
Mary Benoit	...	Trustee's Wife (uncredited)
Shirley Bonne	...	Celebrant #9 (uncredited)
Dusty Cadis	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Joan Connors	...	Celebrant #7 (uncredited)
Tom Crane	...	Walter Robinson (uncredited)
Tom Curtis	...	Trustee (uncredited)
Jeff Davis	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Colin Drake	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Fred Fisher	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Mel Gallagher	...	Celebrant #4 (uncredited)
Kelton Garwood	...	Celebrant #2 (uncredited)
Paul Genge	...	Architect (uncredited)
Max Gulak	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Ginger Hall	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Harper	...	(uncredited)
John Hart	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Rex Holman	...	Celebrant #1 (uncredited)
April Hyde	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Peter Jackson	...	(uncredited)
Peggy Adams Laird	...	Celebrant #8 (uncredited)
Pamela Mason	...	Ellie (uncredited)
Jimmy Murphy	...	Celebrant #3 (uncredited)
Nico	...	Dancer at the Party (uncredited)
Jo O'Toole	...	(uncredited)
Peter O'Toole	...	(voice) (uncredited)
Jean Peaslee	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Douglas Read	...	(uncredited)
Diane Sayer	...	Celebrant #6 (uncredited)
June Shelley	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Shelly Sidney	...	(uncredited)
Eric Sinclair	...	Beatnik (uncredited)
Barbara Sommers	...	Dancer at the Party (uncredited)
Roscoe Stallworth	...	(uncredited)
Anthony Stuart	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Carl Studer	...	Harold (uncredited)
Olga Valéry	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Sophie Veneck	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Ron Whelan	...	Celebrant #5 (uncredited)
Tom White	...	Beatnik (uncredited)

Directed by
Vincente Minnelli

Writing credits
Martin Ransohoff		(story)
Irene Kamp		(adaptation) &
Louis Kamp		(adaptation)
Dalton Trumbo		and
Michael Wilson

Produced by
John Calley	....	associate producer
Martin Ransohoff	....	producer

Original Music by
Johnny Mandel

Cinematography by
Milton R. Krasner		(director of photography) (as Milton Krasner)

Film Editing by
David Bretherton

Art Direction by
George W. Davis
Urie McCleary

Set Decoration by
F. Keogh Gleason		(as Keogh Gleason)
Henry Grace

Costume Design by
Irene Sharaff

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

Production Management
Ben Kadish	....	supervising production executive
Lindsley Parsons Jr.	....	assistant production manager: MGM (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William McGarry	....	assistant director
Lynn Guthrie	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Elizabeth Duquette	....	painter: Laura's paintings
Edmund Kara	....	sculptor: redwood sculpture

Sound Department
Franklin Milton	....	recording supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Borden	....	wildlife photography
Bernie Abramson	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Robert Armbruster	....	conductor
Billy Byers	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Jack Sheldon	....	musician: trumpet (uncredited)

Other crew
Herb Rosenthal	....	title art
Eduardo Tirella	....	coordinator of "Big Sur" scene
Kaffe Fassett	....	choreographer: dancing sequence (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)
• Filmways Pictures (co-production)
• Venice Productions (co-production)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1969) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2011) (Canada) (DVD) (4 film set)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2011) (USA) (DVD) (4 film set)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

117 min | Argentina:118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:18 | Iceland:L | USA:TV-14 | West Germany:16 (f) | Australia:PG | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | UK:A (original rating) | USA:Approved (cut)

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

According to Sammy Davis Jr. in his film memoir "Hollywood In A Suitcase" he was originally offered the role of Cos Erickson and even signed the contract, but had to withdraw owing to an early opening for his "Golden Boy" stage show.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Claire Hewitt, talking to her husband about Danny, says, "He was reciting the Prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Old English." The language Chaucer wrote in, and that the boy recites in, is Middle English, not Old English.

Quotes:

Dr. Edward Hewitt:What would you do, in my shoes?
Claire Hewitt:Wear them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: Episode #22.96" (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Shadow of Your Smile

This is vintage 60's Hollywood fluff, but it's great fluff.

Ok, I admit it. I have a guilty affection for this film. It's silly and shallow, but it's got a great performance by Richard Burton, and a pretty good one by Elizabeth Taylor. It's also gorgeously filmed in Big Sur country, and has an evocative soundtrack. "The Sandpiper" was filmed at the height of the Burton/Taylor mania. Richard plays a minister who runs an exclusive boys academy, and Liz plays the free-thinking artist mother who's son (Morgan Mason, James Mason's son) does some deer hunting out of season. The boy is sentenced to Burton's school to be saved from his mother's beatnik influence, and as the boy settles into life at the boarding school, Liz falls in love with the married minister Burton. They have a torrid affair, afternoons along the surf, etc., until a jealous colleague of Burton's blows the whistle on the pair. Corny, but I still love the movie.