The Immortal Story (1968)

In the Portuguese town of Macao, a wealthy trader named Charles Clay hires two people to recreate a story of a sailor who is paid to impregnate a man's wife.

Director:

Orson Welles

Writers:

Karen Blixen (novel) (as Isak Dinesen), Orson Welles

Stars:

Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Roger Coggio

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jeanne Moreau	...	Virginie Ducrot
Orson Welles	...	Mr. Charles Clay
Roger Coggio	...	Elishama Levinsky
Norman Eshley	...	Paul, the sailor

Storyline

The Portuguese colony of Macao in the 19th century. Mr. Clay is a very rich merchant and the subject of town gossip. He has spent many years in China and is now quite old. He likes his clerk Levinsky to read the company's accounts to him at night for relaxation. Tonight Mr. Clay recounts a true story he heard years before about a rich man who paid a poor sailor 5 guineas to father a child with his beautiful young wife. Levinsky says that's a popular old sailor's legend and not true. Mr. Clay has no heir for his fortune and no wife either. He resolves to make the story true... Levinsky approaches Virginie, another clerk's mistress, and strikes a bargain for 300 guineas. Now to find the sailor...

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Plot Keywords:

sailor | legend | foreign language adaptation | based on novel | story | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

18 September 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Immortal Story

Filming Locations:

Brihuega, Guadalajara, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF), Albina Productions S.a.r.l.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min 62 min (TCM print) 47 min (alternate)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The interior scenes of " The Immortal Story " were filmed at the home of Orson Welles outside Madrid, Spain.

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Goofs

After Levinsky pays Virginie, she removes the shawl from the table but it can be seen still on the table in shots of Levinsky.

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Quotes

Virginie Ducrot: An English captain, the one who told me a story, he took me to Japan. On our first night, there was an earthquake. The earth trembled and shook at the loss of my innocence.

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Alternate Versions

French-language version runs 51 minutes.

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Connections

Referenced in E! Mysteries & Scandals: Orson Welles (1999)

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Soundtracks

Gymnopedie No. 1
(piano pieces)
Written by Erik Satie
Performed by Aldo Ciccolini with permission of Pathé Marconi

User Reviews

A lonely old man wants to bring a story he has heard to life.

I just saw The Immortal story for the first time today thanks to TCM. I was impressed by the otherworldly quality of the film. Reading through the IMDb reviews I was surprised that no one speculated as to why Wells chose this story. To me the answer seems obvious. The film is about a lonely old man who wants to bring a story he has heard to life. He knows that he cannot accomplish the task alone so he turns to a minion in his employ to arrange the set piece and hire the players. Ironically even when he succeeds, it becomes clear that no one will ever hear the recounting of the story.

This is how Wells probably viewed his own life. ​Throughout his film career he struggled unhappily with his dependence on the help of producers and his need to control actors in order to bring his artistic visions to life. Sadly, even on the few occasions when he successfully got films completed, to him it seemed as if he never really had an audience.