Porgy and Bess (1959)

A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly- if only everyone else would allow them to.

Directors:

Otto Preminger, Rouben Mamoulian (uncredited)

Writers:

Dorothy Heyward (play), DuBose Heyward (libretto)

Stars:

Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr.

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sidney Poitier	...	Porgy
Dorothy Dandridge	...	Bess
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Sportin' Life
Pearl Bailey	...	Maria
Brock Peters	...	Crown
Leslie Scott	...	Jake
Diahann Carroll	...	Clara
Ruth Attaway	...	Serena Robbins
Claude Akins	...	Detective
Clarence Muse	...	Peter
Everdinne Wilson	...	Annie
Joel Fluellen	...	Robbins
Earl Jackson	...	Mingo
Moses LaMarr	...	Nelson
Margaret Hairston	...	Lily

Storyline

In this legendary Gershwin opera set among the black residents of a fishing village in 1912 South Carolina, Bess - a woman with a disreputable history - tries to break free from her brutish lover Crown after he becomes wanted for murder. The only person willing to overlook her past and offer her shelter is the crippled Porgy. Their relationship is threatened by the disapproval of the townspeople, the presence of her old drug supplier Sportin' Life - and the threatened return of Crown.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | f rated | character names as title | murder | south carolina | 

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Taglines:

Introducing a new era in motion pictures!

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Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 1959 (France)

Also Known As:

Porgy y Bess

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn Studios - 7200 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Samuel Goldwyn Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the film's screenplay, screenwriter N. Richard Nash simply converted much of the opera's sung recitative into spoken dialogue, although he did add several lines of his own. He even retained many of the same lines word-for-word. The recitative in "Porgy and Bess" is especially easy to turn into spoken dialogue because, unlike the main musical numbers, it closely follows the pattern of ordinary conversation, and does not rhyme.

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Quotes

[Robbins throws the dice and sees that dice is nine]
Robbins: Read 'em, nine spot! Nine right!
Sportin' Life: He made it!
[Robbins grabs the money and Crown seizes his hands]
Crown: Touch that money and meet your god.
[grabs his wrists]
Robbins: Take your hands off me, you lousy hound!
Crown: Nobody's getting away with Crown's money.
[Crown began to fighting and strangling Robbins]

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Alternate Versions

Although this film has never been officially released on any home media format, numerous bootleg copies, running 115 minutes, are available on VHS and DVD-R. The full-length original version runs 138 minutes, not including overture and entr'acte music.

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Connections

Referenced in What's My Line?: Sammy Davis Jr. (3) (1959)

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Soundtracks

Bess, You Is My Woman Now
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Sung by Sidney Poitier (dubbed by Robert McFerrin) and Dorothy Dandridge (dubbed by Adele Addison)

User Reviews

Not Definitive -- But Important

I first saw the opening of Otto Preminger's "Porgy and Bess" on TV, probably some time in the early 80s, and my younger self found it a bit slow, despite the timeless music. I turned it off

Last night, an extremely rare, cobbled together print screened at the L.A. Cinematheque and it was a bit of a revelation. The performances are strong and memorable. Dorothy Dandridge brings a great deal of vulnerability, strength and subtle (at least by today's standards) eroticism to her part. Sidney Poitier is said to be uncomfortable with the movie, but his performance is terrific, as is Pearl Bailey. Even better are Sammy Davis as the amoral, cat-like Sportin' Life and Brock Peters as the villanious bully Crown.

Still, I'm no fan of Preminger's earlier, leaden -- and far easier to see -- "Carmen Jones." Porgy and Bess" is far superior to that less controversial film -- though that may have to do with the fact that the source material is also far superior.

As seen last night, this is a sturdy but far from perfect work. Not all of the moments quite come alive, and there is some awkwardness in the way the film mixes the overtly stylized Catfish Row set (beautifully done by Oliver Smith) with actual locations. Also, even to my rather untrained ear, some brief portions of the score seem unduly popularized.

Moreover, while this doesn't detract from the achievement of the filmmakers -- Preminger's decision to film almost entirely in wide shots, with no close-ups and occasional medium shots, no doubt rendered it unwatchable on TV "panned and scanned" and may doom it even on widescreen DVDs if it gets the restoration it deserves. On smaller screens, we won't be able to make out the many details that are crucial to the way Preminger staged the film.

Also, the mix heard last night was odd. Many of the vocals, particularly on the opening "Summertime" seemed unduly soft and were overwhelmed by the instrumental music. Perhaps this can be fixed in a restoration.

There is the issue of the film's racial politics. Personally, I see nothing wrong with it, at least in a contemporary context. At the time when so few films depicted strong African-American characters, this may have seemed an unfortunate choice for a big-budget Hollywood film. And, while there may not be much "empowering" here, these are recognizable human beings that are not racial stereotypes. These are operatic characters who make poor choices because that's what tragic characters do. That alone made it a giant stride forward at the time.

In a modern context where strong and heroic African-American characters are less rare (though still not common enough), these characters seem nothing more nor less than human. They truly could be poor and undereducated people of any ethnic background.

Thorny politics aside, the original work is undoubtedly one of the truly great achievements of American music and (secondarily) theater. Poitier, Davis, Dandridge, Peters and, yes Pearl Bailey, were all amazing performers who we'll never see the likes of again. This less than perfect but still solid film clearly deserves to be seen and treasured.