Joan of Arc (1948)

The abbreviated life of the 15th Century French heroine.

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Maxwell Anderson (play), Maxwell Anderson (screenplay)

Stars:

Ingrid Bergman, José Ferrer, Francis L. Sullivan

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ingrid Bergman	...	Joan of Arc
Francis L. Sullivan	...	Pierre Cauchon (Count-Bishop of Beauvais)
J. Carrol Naish	...	John - Count of Luxembourg (Joan's captor)
Ward Bond	...	La Hire
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Father Massieu - Joan's Bailiff
Gene Lockhart	...	Georges de la Trémouille
John Emery	...	Jean - Duke d'Alencon
Leif Erickson	...	Dunois, Bastard of Orleans
Cecil Kellaway	...	Jean le Maistre (Inquisitor of Rouen)
José Ferrer	...	The Dauphin (Charles VII, later King of France)
Selena Royle	...	Isabelle d'Arc (Joan's mother)
Robert Barrat	...	Jacques d'Arc (Joan's Father)
Jimmy Lydon	...	Pierre d'Arc (Joan's younger brother)
Rand Brooks	...	Jean d'Arc (Joan's older brother)
Roman Bohnen	...	Durand Laxart (Joan's uncle)

Storyline

In the Fifteenth Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. The fourteen years old farm girl Joan of Arc claims to hear voices from Heaven asking her to lead God's Army against Orleans and crowning the weak Dauphin Charles VII as King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army and conquerors Orleans. When her army is ready to attack Paris, the corrupt Charles sells his country to England and dismiss the army. Joan is arrested, sold to the Burgundians England and submitted to a shameful political trial in Rouen castle.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | france | political trial | king of france | hundred years war | 

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Taglines:

A cast of thousands

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

15 April 1949 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Joan of Lorraine

Filming Locations:

Balboa, Newport Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,600,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$12,574,549, 31 December 1948

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Wanger Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min 100 min (cut) 145 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While on the movie set and in full costume, Ingrid Bergman filmed a promotional short for Christmas Seals, which is extant.

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Goofs

At 1:13:31, the hand position of the man on the right changes.

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Quotes

Joan of Arc: [Joan pleads that the siege be continued] We need only to go forward, and the fort is ours!
La Hire: If she wants to attack - we attack.

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Crazy Credits

In the 145-minute version of the film, the cast list, naming not only the actors but who they played, was deliberately presented in the style of the cast list of "Gone With the Wind", in order to evoke the feeling of an epic about to be presented. Victor Fleming, who directed "Joan of Arc", had also directed "Gone With the Wind" (after replacing George Cukor, "GWTW"'s original, uncredited director).

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Alternate Versions

The cut version of the film reduced many of the supporting actors' roles (notably those of Hurd Hatfield and Jeff Corey) to mere walk-ons with all of their dialogue gone. Hatfield, especially, was practically edited out of the shorter version, so that viewers who have seen only the 100 minute cut of the film, and knew that he was in it, were left wondering if he really appeared in the movie at all.All of Robert Barrat's dialogue scenes were also cut, despite the fact that he plays Joan's father, a rather important role. Dialogue belonging to Joan's mother (Selena Royle), however, was retained even in the edited version.

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Connections

Version of The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

User Reviews

I have seen the DVD, full length version--a very flawed film with some redeeming aspects

A very poor film translation of a stage play--rather than being tailored to the movie medium, this is very stagy, overly talky. The dialogue is arty and artificial. Everyone is obviously acting, giving a performance, though Bergman is radiant and her performance is passionate and sincere.

All of the exteriors (outdoor shots) which feature close ups of the lead actors are obviously shot on a sound stage. Some beautiful outdoor footage is used occasionally for establishing shots or transitions between scenes, but Bergman never leaves the soundstage.

On the positive side, the film is beautifully photographed, many individual shots are works of art, masterfully lit and composed. However, the camera moves only when necessary to follow the actors, the shots are static, adding to the staginess of the production. Which reminds me of CB DeMille; you could get a good idea of this film by saying it's like a DeMille film, only with more high art pretensions and less spectacle (no cast of thousands here).

The most outstanding aspect of 'Joan of Arc' is the music, it's prominently featured, good and loud, and it deserves to be--it's gorgeous.

The DVD has no extras at all, though the image and sound are excellent--a very good restoration job. A commentary track would have been very welcome; my guess is this was a challenging production, possibly with a long production period (three cinematographers are listed). It was a commercial failure, at least in part because of public condemnation of Bergman's personal life. I believe director Victor Flemming died soon after production. Lots of meat here for an interesting commentary or two.