Desire Me

Last updated

Desire Me
Desire Meposter.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Screenplay by
Based on Karl and Anna  [ de ]
by Leonhard Frank
Produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr.
Starring
Cinematography Joseph Ruttenberg
Edited by Joseph Dervin
Music by Herbert Stothart (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed by Loew's Inc.
Release date
  • October 31, 1947 (1947-10-31)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language English
Budget$4,149,000 [1] [2]
Box office$2,576,000 [1]

Desire Me is a 1947 American romantic drama film starring Robert Mitchum and Greer Garson. It had a troubled production that included numerous directors and rewrites, and was released without a credited director. [3]

Contents

Plot

In Paris, Marise Aubert is discussing her medical condition with Dr. Leclair, who explains that there is nothing physically wrong with her and that her pain is the result of her internal struggles.

In a flashback to two weeks earlier, soldier Jean Renaud arrives suddenly at Marise's cottage. He explains that he was in a Nazi reprisal camp with Marise's husband Paul, who told him everything about her. He tells her that he saw Paul shot dead. She tells him to leave but relents because of a storm and allows him to stay.

Marise is shocked that Jean knows practically everything about her because of what Paul had told him in the camp. Jean has fallen in love with her from these stories, but when he makes romantic advances, Marise orders him to leave. She changes her mind because she is lonely and Jean is from Paul's life. They spend some happy times together.

A letter from Paul arrives, but Jean intercepts it before Marise can see it. The letter explains that Paul is not dead and that he is about to be released from a hospital so he can return to her. Jean nearly leaves after he realizes that Paul is alive, but he stays. Marise agrees to sell Paul's business and leave with Jean, but Paul returns before they leave. Marise learns of Paul's return and rushes home. Jean learns of Paul's return and retrieves an old gun that he found in Paul's office and heads to the cottage to confront Paul.

Marise is ecstatic to have him back, but confesses her relationship with Jean. Paul confronts his friend over the betrayal and Jean brandishes a gun. They struggle, and Jean is killed in a fall from a cliff.

In the present, the doctor tells Marise to return home. She returns to the cottage where Paul awaits her and they reunite happily.

Cast

Production

Garson injured her back while filming Desire Me in Monterey on April 26, 1946, when a wave knocked her and co-star Richard Hart from the rocks where they were rehearsing. A local fisherman and extra in the film rescued Garson from the surf and potential undertow. She was bruised and in shock and required by doctors to rest for several days. The injury to her back would require several surgeries over the coming years. [4]

Reception

The film earned $1,451,000 in the US & Canada, and earned $1,125,000 elsewhere, but, because of its high production cost, producers suffered a net loss of $2,440,000. [1] [2] [5]

The Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin cast a vote for Desire Me on his top-ten ballot for the Sight and Sound Greatest Films of All Time 2022 directors' poll. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greer Garson</span> British-American actress (1904–1996)

Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson was a British-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the homefront; listed by the Motion Picture Herald as one of America's top-10 box office draws from 1942 to 1946.

<i>Out of the Past</i> 1947 film directed by Jacques Tourneur

Out of the Past is a 1947 American film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring from his 1946 novel Build My Gallows High, with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M. Cain.

<i>Random Harvest</i> (film) 1942 American film by Mervyn LeRoy

Random Harvest is a 1942 American romantic drama film based on the 1941 James Hilton novel of the same title, directed by Mervyn LeRoy. Claudine West, George Froeschel, and Arthur Wimperis adapted the novel for the screen, and received an Academy Award nomination. The novel keeps the true identity of Paula/Margaret a secret until the very end, something that would have been impossible in a film, where characters’ faces must be seen. This meant that the movie had to take a very different approach to the story. The film stars Ronald Colman as a shellshocked, amnesiac World War I veteran, and Greer Garson as his love interest.

Madame Curie is a 1943 American biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sidney Franklin from a screenplay by Paul Osborn, Paul H. Rameau, and Aldous Huxley (uncredited), adapted from the biography by Ève Curie. It stars Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, with supporting performances by Robert Walker, Henry Travers, and Albert Bassermann.

<i>Mrs. Parkington</i> 1944 film by Tay Garnett

Mrs. Parkington is a 1944 drama film. It tells the story of a woman's life, told via flashbacks, from boarding house maid to society matron. The movie was adapted by Polly James and Robert Thoeren from the novel by Louis Bromfield. It was directed by Tay Garnett and starred Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon appearing together as husband and wife for the fourth time.

<i>The Big Steal</i> 1949 film by Don Siegel

The Big Steal is a 1949 American black-and-white film noir reteaming Out of the Past stars Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer. The film was directed by Don Siegel, based on the short story "The Road to Carmichael's" by Richard Wormser.

<i>Pride and Prejudice</i> (1940 film) 1940 film by Robert Zigler Leonard

Pride and Prejudice is a 1940 American film adaptation of Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, the screenplay was written by Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin, adapted specifically from the stage adaptation by Helen Jerome, in addition to Jane Austen's novel. The story is about five sisters from an English family of landed gentry who must deal with issues of marriage, morality and misconceptions. The film was released on July 26, 1940 in the United States by MGM and was critically well received. The New York Times film critic praised the film as "the most deliciously pert comedy of old manners, the most crisp and crackling satire in costume that we in this corner can remember ever having seen on the screen."

Craig Dean is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Guy Burnet. The character was introduced as a youngest brother of established character Steph Dean. He made his first appearance on 24 October 2002. Burnet has won and been nominated for several awards for this role. Burnet departed the role in September 2007 and returned to the show on 3 September 2008 in a storyline which saw Craig secure a "sunset ending" with John Paul McQueen. He made another appearance after his departure in spin-off show Hollyoaks Later in November 2008. The character is regarded as one of Hollyoaks most iconic characters.

<i>The Grass Is Greener</i> 1960 film by Stanley Donen

The Grass Is Greener is a 1960 British romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, and Jean Simmons. It was directed by Stanley Donen, with a screenplay adapted by Hugh Williams and Margaret Vyner from the play of the same name they had written and found success with in London's West End.

<i>Undercurrent</i> (1946 film) 1946 film directed by Vincente Minnelli

Undercurrent is a 1946 American film noir drama directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, and Robert Mitchum. The screenplay was written by Edward Chodorov, based on the story "You Were There'" by Thelma Strabel, and allegedly contained uncredited contributions from Marguerite Roberts.

<i>Adventure</i> (1946 film) 1946 American romantic drama film

Adventure is a 1946 American romantic drama film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Clark Gable and Greer Garson. Based on the 1937 novel The Anointed by Clyde Brion Davis, the film is about a sailor who falls in love with a librarian. Adventure was Gable's first postwar film and the tagline repeated in the movie's famous trailer was "Gable's back and Garson's got him!" Gable had suggested "He put the arson in Garson," while Garson proposed "She put the able in Gable."

<i>Dramatic School</i> (film) 1938 film directed by Robert B. Sinclair

Dramatic School is a 1938 American romantic drama film directed by Robert B. Sinclair and starring Luise Rainer, Paulette Goddard, Alan Marshal, Lana Turner, and Gale Sondergaard. Based on the play School of Drama by Hans Székely and Zoltan Egyed, the screenplay was written by Ernest Vajda and Mary C. McCall. The film was produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>Brand upon the Brain!</i> 2006 Canadian film

Brand upon the Brain! (2006) is an avant-garde silent film directed by Guy Maddin and shot in Seattle with local actors. Maddin directed the film from a script co-written with George Toles, shooting over nine days and editing over three months, on an estimated budget of $40,000.

<i>The Miniver Story</i> 1950 film

The Miniver Story is a 1950 American drama film that is the sequel to the 1942 film Mrs. Miniver. Like its predecessor, the picture, made by MGM, stars Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon, but it was filmed on-location in England. The film was directed by H.C. Potter and produced by Sidney Franklin, from a screenplay by George Froeschel and Ronald Millar based on characters created by Jan Struther. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and Herbert Stothart, with additional uncredited music by Daniele Amfitheatrof, and the cinematography by Joseph Ruttenberg.

<i>Remember?</i> (1939 film) 1939 film by Norman Z. McLeod

Remember? is an American romantic comedy released on December 19, 1939, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Robert Taylor, Greer Garson and Lew Ayres. It was rushed into production by MGM studio chief Louis B. Mayer to capitalize on the attention and publicity generated by Greer Garson in her first film appearance, Goodbye Mr. Chips, released seven months earlier.

<i>Julia Misbehaves</i> 1948 film

Julia Misbehaves is a 1948 American romantic comedy film starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon as a married couple who are separated by the man's snobbish family. They meet again many years later, when the daughter whom the man has raised, played by Elizabeth Taylor, invites her mother to her wedding. The film also features Peter Lawford and Cesar Romero.

<i>The Last of Mrs. Cheyney</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Dorothy Arzner, Richard Boleslawski, George Fitzmaurice

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is a 1937 American comedy drama film adapted from the 1925 Frederick Lonsdale play The Last of Mrs. Cheyney. The film tells the story of a chic jewel thief in England, who falls in love with one of her marks.

<i>My Winnipeg</i> Canadian film

My Winnipeg is a 2007 Canadian film directed and written by Guy Maddin with dialogue by George Toles. Described by Maddin as a "docu-fantasia", that melds "personal history, civic tragedy, and mystical hypothesizing", the film is a surrealist mockumentary about Winnipeg, Maddin's home town. A New York Times article described the film's unconventional take on the documentary style by noting that it "skates along an icy edge between dreams and lucidity, fact and fiction, cinema and psychotherapy".

<i>The Law and the Lady</i> (1951 film) 1951 film by Edwin H. Knopf

The Law and the Lady is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Edwin H. Knopf and starring Greer Garson, Michael Wilding and Fernando Lamas. It is not related to the Wilkie Collins novel The Law and the Lady. Very loosely based on the 1925 play The Last of Mrs. Cheyney by Frederick Lonsdale, the action is transferred to the turn of the century, the names are all changed, and the first half of the film shows the history of the two thieves. Previous film versions of the story, made in 1929, starring Norma Shearer, and 1937, starring Joan Crawford, retained the play's contemporary setting, included a crew of confederates, and opened with Mrs. Cheyney as an established figure in society. This film also ends differently from the play, with the partners in crime ending as romantic partners but going back to England to face the music for their very first swindle. In the play and in the two other films, Charles leaves and Mrs. Cheyney accepts Lord Dilling, who kisses her and declares: “That's the Last of Mrs. Cheyney!”

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mannix, Eddie (1983). The E. J. Mannix Ledger. Howard Strickling papers. Beverly Hills, California: Margaret Herrick Library. OCLC   801258228.
  2. 1 2 Eyman, Scott (2005). Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer. London: Robson Books. p. 398. ISBN   978-1-86105-892-8.
  3. "Desire Me". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Los Angeles: American Film Institute. n.d. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  4. Troyan, Michael (1999). A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 198–200. ISBN   978-0-8131-2094-2.
  5. "Top Grossers of 1947". Variety . Vol. 169, no. 5. New York: Variety, Inc. January 7, 1948. p. 63. Retrieved April 7, 2024 via the Internet Archive.
  6. Maddin, Guy (Winter 2022–23). "Guy Maddin". Sight and Sound . Vol. 33, no. 1. London: British Film Institute. p. 102. ISSN   0037-4806. Archived from the original on December 5, 2023. Retrieved April 9, 2024 via BFI.org.uk.