The Private Lives of Adam and Eve

Last updated
The Private Lives of Adam and Eve
Privatelivesadameve.JPG
Directed by Mickey Rooney
Albert Zugsmith
Written by Robert Hill
Based onstory by George Kennett
Produced byRed Doff
executive
Albert Zugsmith
Starring Mickey Rooney
Mamie Van Doren
Fay Spain
Mel Tormé
Martin Milner
Tuesday Weld
Cecil Kellaway
Paul Anka
Cinematography Philip H. Lathrop
Edited byEddie Broussard
Music by Van Alexander
Production
companies
Albert Zugsmith Productions
Fryman Enterprises
Famous Players
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • January 20, 1960 (1960-01-20)(United States)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Private Lives of Adam and Eve is a 1960 Spectacolor comedy film starring Mickey Rooney (who also co-directed), and Mamie Van Doren. It is an American B-movie in which the plot revolves around a modern couple who dream that they are Adam and Eve. Others of their acquaintance assume the roles of various characters from the Book of Genesis during the fantasy sequences.

Contents

Plot

A bus heading toward Reno, Nevada, is being driven by Doc Bayles, whose passengers include a traveling salesman (Hal Sanders) and a runaway teen (Vangie Harper).

Feuding couples begin boarding. A waitress, Evie Simms, wants to go to Reno to divorce her husband Ad, having caught him kissing Lil Lewis, a neighbor. Lil wants a divorce from her own husband, casino boss Nick Lewis, who tries to catch up to the bus in a broken-down car belonging to Pinkie Parker, a beatnik.

A jealous Nick commandeers the bus when Doc briefly gets off and then inadvertently drives Ad off a cliff, nearly killing him. When a raging storm heads everyone's way, they take shelter in a church. Ad and Evie fall asleep and seem to have the same dream, that they are in the original Garden of Eden, facing temptations from the Devil that could affect the future of all mankind.

When they wake up, the storm has passed. The travelers pair off, Ad with Evie, and Lil with Nick, and Vangie with Pinkie, to see where the road takes them next.

Cast

Production

In July 1957, Albert Zugsmith announced he would make a film about Adam and Eve as part of a multi-picture deal he had at MGM. George Peck was reported as working on the script. [1] It was then reported that Richard Matheson would write a script based on a treatment by Robert Smith. [2] Its working title was Flesh and the Devil. [3]

The movie wound up not being made at MGM. It was a co-production between Famous Artists, the company of Albert Zugsmith, and Fryman, the company of Mickey Rooney and Red Doff; Universal distributed. Filming started on 7 July 1959. [4]

Shooting was temporarily suspended when Rooney came down with German measles. [5] Shooting finished in August. [6]

"I pick my titles to get 'em into theatres", said Zugsmith. "Thousands of exhibitors say amen to that." [7]

Paul Anka released the title song as a single. [8]

Release

Universal planned to premiere the film simultaneously in all towns in the United States called "Paradise". However this was abandoned when it was discovered that there were only nine such towns; eight had a population of less than 500 and only two had movie theatres. [9]

The National Legion of Decency gave the film a "Class C" or "condemned" rating, saying it was "blasphemous and sacrilegious" and resorts to "indecencies and pornography" that are "blatant violations of Judeo-Christian standards of modesty and decency." [10]

The film was released nationally on 11 January 1961. [11]

The Los Angeles Times said the cast was "professional" but that the script wasn't "too bright ... an unpleasant combination of scraps of professional piety and masses of suggestive buffoonery." [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mickey Rooney</span> American actor (1920–2014)

Mickey Rooney was an American actor, producer, radio entertainer, and vaudevillian. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. He was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the best-paid actors of that era. At the height of a career marked by declines and comebacks, Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 16 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized the mainstream United States self-image.

The Beat Generation is a 1959 American crime film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Steve Cochran and Mamie Van Doren, with Ray Danton, Fay Spain, Maggie Hayes, Jackie Coogan, Louis Armstrong, James Mitchum, Vampira, and Ray Anthony. It is a sensationalistic interpretation of the beatnik counterculture of the "Beat Generation" The movie was also shown under the title This Rebel Age. The movie is about a "beatnik" who is a serial rapist, who is pursued by a police detective. The director was Charles F. Haas. Richard Matheson and Lewis Meltzer are credited with the screenplay.

<i>Girls Town</i> (1959 film) 1959 American film

Girls Town is a 1959 American drama film directed by Charles F. Haas and starring Mamie Van Doren, Mel Tormé, and Ray Anthony. produced by It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Paul Anka also appears in his first acting role. Van Doren stars as a juvenile delinquent who is sent to a girls' school run by nuns, where she finds herself unable to help her sister. The film capitalizes on the 1950s rebellious-teen exploitation films, with catfights, car races, music from Anka and The Platters, and sexy outfits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Quine</span> American actor (1920–1989)

Richard Quine was an American director, actor, and singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Beth Hughes</span> American actress

Mary Elizabeth Hughes was an American film, television, and stage actress best known for her roles in B movies.

<i>How to Stuff a Wild Bikini</i> 1965 film by William Asher

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 Pathécolor beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams. The film features a brief appearance by Frankie Avalon and includes Buster Keaton in one of his last roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Burke</span> American actor (1908–1984)

Walter Lawrence Burke was an American character actor of stage, film, and television whose career in entertainment spanned over a half century. Although he was a native of New York, Burke's Irish ancestry often led to his being cast in roles as an Irishman or Englishman. His small stature and distinctive voice and face also made him easily recognizable to audiences even when he was performing in minor supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Zugsmith</span> Director, producer and screenwriter (1910–1993)

Albert Zugsmith was an American film producer, film director and screenwriter who specialized in low-budget exploitation films through the 1950s and 1960s.

<i>Riffraff</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by J. Walter Ruben

Riffraff is a 1936 American drama film directed by J. Walter Ruben and starring Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy and Una Merkel. The screenplay was written by Frances Marion, Anita Loos and H. W. Hannaford.

<i>High School Confidential</i> (film) 1958 film by Jack Arnold

High School Confidential is a 1958 American crime drama film directed by Jack Arnold, starring Mamie Van Doren, Russ Tamblyn, Jan Sterling, John Drew Barrymore, Jackie Coogan, Diane Jergens and Michael Landon.

<i>Baby Face Nelson</i> (film) 1957 film by Don Siegel

Baby Face Nelson is a 1957 American film noir crime film based on the real-life 1930s gangster, directed by Don Siegel, co-written by Daniel Mainwaring—who also wrote the screenplay for Siegel's 1956 sci-fi thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers—and starring Mickey Rooney, Carolyn Jones, Cedric Hardwicke, Leo Gordon as Dillinger, Anthony Caruso, Jack Elam, John Hoyt and Elisha Cook Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Alexander</span> American musician

Van Alexander was an American bandleader, arranger, and composer.

<i>The Secret Invasion</i> 1964 film by Roger Corman

The Secret Invasion is a 1964 American war film directed by Roger Corman. It stars Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney, Edd Byrnes, Henry Silva, Mia Massini, and William Campbell. Appearing three years before The Dirty Dozen (1967), the film features a similar World War II mission where convicts are recruited by the Allies for an extremely hazardous operation behind enemy lines.

<i>When the Boys Meet the Girls</i> 1965 film

When the Boys Meet the Girls is a 1965 American musical film directed by Alvin Ganzer and starring Connie Francis and Harve Presnell based on the musical Girl Crazy and a remake of MGM's 1943 film Girl Crazy.

<i>Sex Kittens Go to College</i> 1960 film by Albert Zugsmith

Sex Kittens Go to College is a 1960 American comedy film by Allied Artists Pictures, produced and directed by Albert Zugsmith and starring Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld and Mijanou Bardot. The film was also released in its European print with an additional nine-minute dream sequence showcasing the robot Thinko with four striptease dancers.

<i>The Big Operator</i> (1959 film) 1959 film

The Big Operator is a black and white 1959 American crime/drama film starring Mickey Rooney as a corrupt union boss, with Steve Cochran, Mel Torme and Mamie Van Doren as co-stars. The film is a remake of Joe Smith, American (1942) with labor union thugs replacing Axis spies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidney Miller (actor)</span> American actor, director and songwriter

Sidney L. Miller was an American actor, director and songwriter.

<i>A Dog of Flanders</i> (1959 film) 1960 film

A Dog of Flanders is a 1960 American drama film directed by James B. Clark, with stars David Ladd, Donald Crisp and Theodore Bikel. It is based on the 1872 novel of the same name by Ouida. It was released on March 17, 1960, by 20th Century Fox in CinemaScope and Color by De Luxe.

<i>Platinum High School</i> 1960 film

Platinum High School is a 1960 American crime drama romance film directed by Charles Haas and starring Mickey Rooney, Terry Moore and Dan Duryea. It was based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Irving Shulman.

Stella Garcia is an American actress who appeared in the films The Private Lives of Adam and Eve, Change of Habit, The Last Movie, and Joe Kidd.

References

  1. "Adam and Eve Will Get Film Attention; Cram Option Deal Reported" Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 25 June 1957: 25.
  2. "U.-I. WILL REMAKE 'IMITATION OF LIFE': Plan Film Based on Fannie Hurst Book—Gladys Cooper in Separate Tables Virginia Mayo in Western" Special to The New York Times. The New York Times 11 July 1957: 20.
  3. "PASSING PICTURE SCENE: Robert Ruark's Well at Ras Daga – Two for Miss Gellhorn – Addenda" by A. H. Weiler. The New York Times 1 June 1958: X5.
  4. "Rooney to Rejoin Albert Zugsmith: 'Platinum High School' Vehicle; Trade Paper Raps High Prices" Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 5 June 1959: A9.
  5. "Hit by Measles" Chicago Daily Tribune 12 July 1959: 8.
  6. "MASS VS. CLASS: Sordid Films Mar Art's New Freedom Fast-Buck Boys Hurting Industry" Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 30 Aug 1959: E1.
  7. Entertainment: "Zugsmith Success Story Is Unusual" Los Angeles Times 28 Nov 1959: 12.
  8. "HAM ON RYON: Around Town on the Tellertype" Ryon, Art. Los Angeles Times 4 Mar 1960: B5.
  9. "Paradise Lost" The Washington Post and Times-Herald [Washington, D.C.], 10 Jan 1960: H9.
  10. "U-I FILM 'CONDEMNED': ' Private Lives of Adam and Eve' Hit by Catholic Unit" New York Times 3 Mar 1960: 26.
  11. "'Adam, Eve' Will Arrive" Los Angeles Times 7 Jan 1961: B2.
  12. "Genesis Burlesqued in 'Adam and Eve'" Stinson, Charles. Los Angeles Times 14 Jan 1961: B7.