Set in 1920s New York, the story follows amorous opera star Augustino "Gus" Caraffa (Ezio Pinza) who encounters Isabelle Perry (Janet Leigh), a naive music student from Mississippi and one of his most devoted admirers. When a newspaper photographer captures them in a compromising kiss, a marriage of convenience is proposed to avoid scandal. Isabelle, secretly in love with Gus, agrees to the arrangement—hoping that he will eventually return her feelings.[2][3]
Opera and Broadway star Pinza had previously appeared in the film Mr. Imperium which was shot before Strictly Dishonorable, but Strictly Dishonorable was released first, so that film marked his dramatic acting debut. Pinza went on to make only one more film, Tonight We Sing (1953) for Twentieth Century-Fox, with Roberta Peters and Isaac Stern.[4][5][6]
Greta Garbo, John Gilbert and Lewis Stone among others, appear in archival footage from the MGM silent film A Woman of Affairs (1928). Stone played the part of "Judge Dempsey" in the 1931 version of Strictly Dishonorable.[7]
"Dempsey" was the maiden name of Preston Sturges' mother.
The prolific comic character actress Kathleen Freeman appears uncredited as a movie theatre organist.
Scott R. Beal, who appears uncredited in the bit part of a vendor, was primarily an assistant director. He received an Academy Award as "Best Assistant Director" in 1934 and was nominated again in 1935.[8]
Il ritorno di Césare is a fictitious opera created by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco for the film, and staged by Vladimir Rosing.[4]
Production
Preston Sturges approached Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with the idea of doing a remake of Strictly Dishonorable with Ezio Pinza, and received $60,000 for the rights, but was disappointed when he was not hired to write the screenplay.[4]
Strictly Dishonorable was in production from mid-January to mid-March 1951[10] and was released on July 3 of that year.[11]
Reception
According to MGM records the film earned $660,000 in the US and Canada and $221,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $664,000.[1]
Adaptations
Lux Radio Theatre broadcast a radio adaptation of the film on December 8, 1952, with Janet Leigh reprising her role and Fernando Lamas replacing Pinza.[4][12]
Notes
1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
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