Casanova's Big Night

Last updated
Casanova's Big Night
Casanovas Big Night 1954 poster.jpg
1954 US Theatrical Poster
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
Written by Aubrey Wisberg
Screenplay by Edmund Hartmann
Hal Kanter
Produced by Paul Jones
Starring Bob Hope
Joan Fontaine
Basil Rathbone
John Carradine
Lon Chaney Jr.
Raymond Burr
Cinematography Lionel Lindon
Edited byEllsworth Hoagland
Music by Lyn Murray
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • April 7, 1954 (1954-04-07)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English
Box office$1.6 million [1]

Casanova's Big Night is a 1954 American comedy film starring Bob Hope and Joan Fontaine, which is a spoof of swashbuckling historical adventure films. It was directed by Norman Z. McLeod.

Contents

Hope plays a tailor who impersonates Giacomo Casanova, the great lover. The film also stars Audrey Dalton, Basil Rathbone, Hugh Marlowe, John Carradine, Hope Emerson, Lon Chaney Jr., Raymond Burr, Natalie Schafer, and Vincent Price (in a cameo appearance as the real Casanova).

Plot

Pippo, a tailor, impersonates Casanova to woo the girls, particularly the widow Bruni. Casanova has left town, pursued by creditors who persuade Pippo to impersonate Casanova at the behest of a Genoan family that will pay "Casanova" to test the fidelity of the son's betrothed.

Pippo, the widow Bruni and Casanova's valet Lucio travel to Venice. The Doge of Venice, "a snake with whiskers," to use Pippo's description, intends to use the intended seduction as an excuse to wage war against Genoa. After many humorous adventures, exploiting Pippo's traits of vanity, arrogance and cowardice, the heroine so impresses Pippo with her dignity that he refuses to cooperate in the plot to ruin her character. He is arrested by the Doge and sentenced to death by beheading. A desperate Pippo turns the audience for help, but is shocked when they prefer that he lose his head.

Cast

Primo Carnera and Audrey Dalton in the film Carnera and Dalton in Casanova's Big Night 1953.jpg
Primo Carnera and Audrey Dalton in the film

Production

Paramount built a 400 feet-long full-scale imitation of the Grand Canal in Venice together with bridge and 16 buildings for the film. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bela Lugosi</span> Hungarian-American actor (1882–1956)

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, known professionally as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian–American actor, best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror film classic Dracula, Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (1939) and his roles in many other horror films from 1931 through 1956.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venice</span> City in Veneto, Italy

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 126 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 472 bridges. The islands are in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay lying between the mouths of the Po and the Piave rivers. In 2020, around 258,685 people resided in greater Venice or the Comune di Venezia, of whom around 51,000 live in the historical island city of Venice and the rest on the mainland (terraferma). Together with the cities of Padua and Treviso, Venice is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), which is considered a statistical metropolitan area, with a total population of 2.6 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Rathbone</span> English actor (1892–1967)

Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC was an Anglo-South African actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lon Chaney Jr.</span> American actor (1906–1974)

Creighton Tull Chaney, known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film The Wolf Man (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard in Son of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), the Mummy in three pictures, and various other roles in many Universal horror films, including six films in their 1940s Inner Sanctum series, making him a horror icon. He also portrayed Lennie Small in Of Mice and Men (1939) and supporting parts in dozens of mainstream movies, including High Noon (1952), The Defiant Ones (1958), and numerous Westerns, musicals, comedies and dramas.

The year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.

The year 1943 in film featured various significant events for the film industry.

The year of 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.

The year 1941 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Citizen Kane.

The year 1939 in film is widely considered the greatest year in film history. The ten films nominated for Best Picture at the 12th Academy Awards —Dark Victory, Gone with the Wind, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, and Wuthering Heights—range in genre and are considered classics.

The year 1914 in film involved some significant events, including the debut of Cecil B. DeMille as a director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giacomo Casanova</span> Venetian adventurer and writer (1725–1798)

Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie, is regarded as one of the most authentic and provocative sources of information about the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalie Schafer</span> American actress (1900–1991)

Natalie Schafer was an American actress, best known today for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964–1967).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Hale Sr.</span> American actor (1892–1950)

Alan Hale Sr. was an American actor and director. He is best remembered for his many character roles, in particular as a frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn, as well as films supporting Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery, Douglas Fairbanks, James Cagney, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, and Ronald Reagan. Hale was usually billed as Alan Hale and his career in film lasted 40 years. His son, Alan Hale Jr., also became an actor and remains most famous for playing "the Skipper" on the television series Gilligan's Island.

<i>General Electric Theater</i> Anthology radio and television drama series

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frieda Inescort</span> Scottish actress

Frieda Inescort was a Scottish actress best known for creating the role of Sorel Bliss in Noël Coward's play Hay Fever on Broadway. She also played the shingled lady in John Galsworthy's 1927 Broadway production Escape and Caroline Bingley in the 1940 film of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Marlowe</span> American actor (1911–1982)

Hugh Marlowe was an American film, television, stage, and radio actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Hope filmography</span>

This is a selection of films and television appearances by British-American comedian and actor Bob Hope (1903-2003). Hope, a former boxer, began his acting career in 1925 in various vaudeville acts and stage performances

Reginald LeBorg was an Austrian-American film director. He directed 68 films between 1936 and 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loretta Goggi</span> Italian actress and singer

Loretta Goggi is an Italian singer, actress, and television presenter. Goggi's records have sometimes entered the Italian pop charts. She was the first runner-up at the 1981 Sanremo Festival with the song "Maledetta primavera", her most famous pop hit.

The 2019 Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards, honoring the best make-up and hairstyling in film and television for 2018, the winners were announced on February 16, 2019 while the nominees were announced on January 10, 2019.

References

  1. "1954 Box Office Champs". Variety Weekly. January 5, 1955. p. 59. - figures are rentals in the US and Canada
  2. "Inside Stuff - Pictures". Variety . August 26, 1953. p. 17. Retrieved March 14, 2024 via Internet Archive.