Never Let Me Go (1953)

An American reporter stationed in post-war Moscow marries a ballet dancer, but their relationship is threatened by the country's political volatility.

Director:

Delmer Daves

Writers:

Paul Winterton (novel) (as Roger Bax), Ronald Millar (screenplay)

Stars:

Clark Gable, Gene Tierney, Bernard Miles

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clark Gable	...	Philip Sutherland
Gene Tierney	...	Marya Lamarkina
Bernard Miles	...	Joe Brooks
Richard Haydn	...	Christopher Wellington St. John Denny
Belita	...	Valentina Alexandrovna
Kenneth More	...	Steve Quillan
Karel Stepanek	...	Commissar
Theodore Bikel	...	Lieutenant
Anna Valentina	...	Svetlana Mikhailovna
Frederick Valk	...	Kuragin
Peter Illing	...	N.K.V.D. Man
Robert Henderson	...	U.S. Ambassador
Stanley Maxted	...	John Barnes
Meinhart Maur	...	Lemkov
Alexis Chesnakov	...	General Zhdanov

Storyline

Philip Sutherland is an American news writer stationed in Moscow since the war; while there he falls for a Russian ballet dancer, Marya Lamarkins, who, he finds out, learned English because she fell in love with him. They marry, only to find that the Soviet nation which gladly collaborated with the Allies against Hitler has become a paranoid police state in peacetime. Sutherland is forced to leave without Marya, but he's determined to get her back, whether it be through proper channels, or through dangerously improper ones.

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Plot Keywords:

foreign correspondent | ballerina | ussr | 1950s | sea rescue | 

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Taglines:

He's terrific in HIS new action-adventure romance !

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Kenneth More's last supporting role before his success in Genevieve.

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Goofs

During the scene in the ballet theater, two Soviet Army officers bearing flashlights search through the audience looking for a doctor. They shine their light on Sutherland and apparently identify him by his epaulets as a medical corps doctor, but in fact, the epaulets indicate nothing but his rank as a colonel. A medical emergency in such a situation would have been addressed in the usual manner - by a public notice over a loud speaker.

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Quotes

Kuragin: [to Philip Sutherland, who's trying to get his wife Marya a visa] I realize it's hard for an American- even for one who has spent 4 years in Russia like you have- to understand our point of view, yet it's simple, it's logical, it's realistic. Suppose we permit our women to leave Russia, to intermarry with the West- America. They're good Communists, therefore, they'll become bad Americans. *Or*, they'll become good Americans, therefore
[laughs]
Kuragin: they are bad Communists. Either way, no one is ...

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Mouth (2008)

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Soundtracks

Swan Lake
(uncredited)
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

User Reviews

very different and an interesting curio

To me, the films Clark Gable made in the 1950s are a notch below his prior films. That's because too often Clark played "Clark Gable" (sort of like many of John Wayne's later films) and he didn't veer far from the expected. However, NEVER LET ME GO, dares to be different. While not a great plot, it is interesting and worth seeing. Gable falls for dancer, Gene Tierney, and marries her. However, she is Russian and the government basically holds her hostage and ships Gable out of the country and refuses to renew his VISA. So, Gable organizes a mission where he sneaks into the country to smuggle his wife out from under the commies' noses. While difficult to believe, it is a great curio of the era and illustrates life in the Stalinist era (which ended the same year the film debuted).

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 1953 (USA)

Also Known As:

Never Let Me Go

Filming Locations:

MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1