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 Jean Massieu - Joan's Bailiff / Narrator
Gene Lockhart	...	Duke Georges de La Trémouille - The King's Chief Counsellor
John Emery	...	Jean, Duke d'Alencon - Cousin of Charles VII
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: At Domremy
Robert Barrat	...	Jacques d'Arc - Joan's Father: At Domremy
Jimmy Lydon	...	Pierre d'Arc - Joan's Younger Brother: At Domremy (as James Lydon)
Rand Brooks	...	Jean d'Arc - Joan's Older Brother: At Domremy
Roman Bohnen	...	Durand Laxart - Joan's Uncle: At Domremy

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 | character name as title | joan of arc character | reference to joan of arc | reference to the passion of joan of arc | 

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Taglines:

Greatest of all spectacles!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | 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)

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

Though he was born in Puerto Rico and of Spanish ancestry, José Ferrer plays a French character in this film. He would go on to play many more: Athos in The Fifth Musketeer (1979), Alfred Dreyfus in I Accuse! (1958), and, most famously, the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950).

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Goofs

Shots at 2:22:05 and 2:22:18 are mirrored.

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Quotes

Joan of Arc: My gentle Dauphin, it is you I seek, for I have come a long way to find you and no other can take your place. God has spoken to me through His messengers, and it is His will that I come to aid you and that you be King of France.

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Crazy Credits

In the 100-minute edited version, only the first ten actors listed in the cast are given credit. Even actors who have very noticeable, if small roles, such as George Coulouris, Alan Napier, Jeff Corey, William Conrad, and George Zucco go unmentioned in the short version, as do Selena Royle and Robert Barrat, who play Joan's parents. In the complete 145-minute film, all of the actors mentioned above are listed, as are the characters they play, in addition to many other actors in the film who play small but significant roles. Only those with bit parts go unmentioned.

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Alternate Versions

In some prints of the edited version, the voices of the saints that Joan hears giving her commands are heard by the audience. In the original 145-minute version, as well as the DVD version, the saints are not heard at all. All that is heard is a soprano voice singing a wordless chant when Joan first goes into battle, and when she hears her voices for the last time.

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Connections

Featured in Ingrid Bergman Remembered (1996)

User Reviews

When will we see the full version?

In Europa,I've often heard people complaining .Why has the movie been boiled down to a digest of barely 100 min? In France,Joan's native country,it's a scandal!It was broadcast on the history channel yesterday and again in the "short" editing.It seems that many scenes were replaced by a voice over which is infuriating ,cause Fleming's version of "Joan Of Arc" ,although inferior to Preminger's and Dreyer's works, is quite interesting.

Although too old for the part,Ingrid Bergman had enough charisma to make you forget that Joan was 17 when her epic began.Fleming's style is far away from Dreyer's bare aestheticism or Luc Besson's video game battles.Holy picture best describes his way of filming Joan,which makes sense ,cause it begins with the heroine's canonization (only in 1920!).

Good things:La Tremouille's bad influence on the king;Joan who did not realize in 1430 that fighting had been replaced by negotiations;the abjuration: in Rouen,you can see a commemorative plaque which reads "Here ,in 1431, Joan of Arc suffered the infamous ordeal of abjuration" .On the "Place du Vieux Marché" ,where she was burnt alive,another plaque reads "To you,Joan,who knew that a hero's grave was the heart of the living." (André Malraux)