F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles' (1974) (TV)

Director:

George Schaefer

Writers:

F. Scott Fitzgerald (short story "Last of the Belles")
James Costigan (written for television)

Release Date:

7 January 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A semi-fictional account of how writer F. Scott Fitzgerald met his wife while he was in the army and stationed in Alabama in 1919. |

Plot Keywords:

Writer | Alabama | Marriage Problems | Male Female Relationship | Husband Wife Relationship

Cast

Richard Chamberlain	...	F. Scott Fitzgerald
Blythe Danner	...	Zelda Fitzgerald
Susan Sarandon	...	Ailie Calhoun
David Huffman	...	Andy McKenna
Ernest Thompson	...	Earl Shoen
Richard Hatch	...	Bill Knowles
James Naughton	...	Cap. John Haines
Albert Stratton	...	John Biggs
Alex Sheafe	...	Philippe
Sasha von Scherler	...	Jeanette
Thomas A. Stewart	...	Horace Canby
Norman Barrs	...	Waiter
Earl Sydnor	...	Oliver
Brooke Adams	...	Kitty Preston
Cynthia Woll	...	Mary Bly Harwood

Also Known As:

The Last of the Belles (Australia)

Runtime:

USA:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Savannah, Georgia, USA

Company:

Titus Productions

Quotes:

[last lines]
Zelda Fitzgerald: Seems like no matter who you start out writin' about, it always turns out to be about us. Poor
[goofo]
Zelda Fitzgerald: . I reckon you think that if you write the story often enough maybe some time, some way, it will have a happy ending.

Nice, but Not Fully Successful, Try

"F. Scott Fitzgerald and "The Last of the Belles'" was a large budget and highly publicized made for television movie apparently designed to capitalize on interest in Fitzgerald because of the then current release of the theatrical movie "The Great Gatsby" starring Robert Redford. "Belles" is a story within a story. Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, have returned form Europe. Through high living, he is deeply in debt, while his wife Zelda has distanced herself becoming obsessed with being a ballerina, even though she is 30 years old and never had a dance lesson, which indeed was true of the real Zelda. Fitzgerald is out of ideas for new stories and spends the empty hours carousing. Finally, the seed of an idea for a story begins to emerge. The film then alternates between Fitzgerald's life and his story of young soldiers from the north at a training camp in the south during World War I and the southern belles they court. Richard Chamberlain is Fitzgerald and Blythe Danner is Zelda, while David Huffman and Susan Sarandon are the couple in the story. A big flaw is Chamberlain's wooden performance. Sarandon is affected but intriguing, while Huffman and particularly Danner give commendable performances. While Sarandon's character becomes involved with so many men, it becomes difficult to follow, nevertheless there is a plaintive quality to both stories. It is that quality which remains once the film is over and makes this worth seeing.