The Gift of Love

Last updated

The Gift of Love
The gift of love 320x240.jpg
Directed by Jean Negulesco
Screenplay by Luther Davis
Based onThe Little Horse
(1944 Good Housekeeping story)
by Nelia Gardner White
Produced by Charles Brackett
Starring Lauren Bacall
Robert Stack
Cinematography Milton R. Krasner
Edited by Hugh S. Fowler
Music by Cyril J. Mockridge
Alfred Newman
Production
company
20th Century Fox
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date
  • February 11, 1958 (1958-02-11)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,215,000 [1]

The Gift of Love is a 1958 American CinemaScope drama romance film directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack. [2]

Contents

The film's screenplay was based on the short story "The Little Horse" by Nelia Gardner White, originally published in a 1944 issue of Good Housekeeping, and previously made into the film Sentimental Journey (1946), with John Payne and Maureen O'Hara. [3]

Plot

A brilliant scientist, Bill Beck, ends up happily married to Julie, his doctor's receptionist. Five years after their wedding, the same doctor treats Julie for a heart condition that she decides to keep secret from her husband, who is doing serious work as a physicist developing guided missiles.

Not wishing him to be left alone if she dies, Julie suggests they adopt a child. An orphan called Hitty has been rejected many times, but Julie takes a shine to her. Bill, a pragmatist, does not understand the little girl's fantasy world, and he is angered when Hitty, meaning well, erases a chalkboard, wiping out hours of Bill's hard work.

Bill's superior at work, Grant Allan, urges him to give the girl more patience and time, but the Becks believe it could be best that Hitty be returned to the orphanage. Julie's heart gives out. After her death, Hitty tries to win over her heartbroken foster father, but Bill is inconsolable.

Hitty is returned to the orphanage. She goes missing one night and is caught in a storm. Bill and Grant hurry there to assist in a search, and when they find Hitty and save her, Bill realizes he never wants to be apart from her again.

Cast

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Three Coins in the Fountain</i> (film) 1954 film by Jean Negulesco

Three Coins in the Fountain is a 1954 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jean Negulesco from a screenplay by John Patrick, based on the 1952 novel Coins in the Fountain by John H. Secondari. It stars Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire, Jean Peters, Louis Jourdan, and Maggie McNamara, with Rossano Brazzi, Howard St. John, Kathryn Givney, and Cathleen Nesbitt. The film follows three American women working in Rome who dream of finding romance in the Eternal City. It was originally titled We Believe in Love.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Bacall</span> American actress (1924–2014)

Betty Joan Perske, professionally known as Lauren Bacall, was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2009 in recognition of her contribution to the Golden Age of motion pictures. She was known for her alluring, sultry presence and her distinctive, husky voice. Bacall was one of the last surviving major stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jill St. John</span> American actress (born 1940)

Jill St. John is an American retired actress. She may be best known for playing Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl of the James Bond film franchise, in Diamonds Are Forever. Additional performances in film include Holiday for Lovers, The Lost World, Tender Is the Night, Come Blow Your Horn, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, Who's Minding the Store?, Honeymoon Hotel, The Liquidator, The Oscar, Tony Rome, Sitting Target and The Concrete Jungle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Negulesco</span> Film director and screenwriter

Jean Negulesco was a Romanian-American film director and screenwriter. He first gained notice for his film noirs and later made such notable films as Johnny Belinda (1948), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), Titanic (1953), and Three Coins in the Fountain (1954).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Wald</span> American screenwriter and producer (1911–1962)

Jerome Irving Wald was an American screenwriter and a producer of films and radio programs.

<i>Applause</i> (musical) Musical about All About Eve

Applause is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. The musical is based on the 1950 film All About Eve and the short story on which the movie is based, Mary Orr's "The Wisdom of Eve". The story centers on aging star Margo Channing, who innocently takes a fledgling actress under her wing, unaware that the ruthless Eve is plotting to steal her career and her man.

<i>How to Marry a Millionaire</i> 1953 film by Jean Negulesco

How to Marry a Millionaire is a 1953 American screwball comedy film directed by Jean Negulesco and written and produced by Nunnally Johnson. The screenplay was based on the plays The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930) by Zoe Akins and Loco (1946) by Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert.

<i>Birth</i> (2004 film) 2004 film by Jonathan Glazer

Birth is a 2004 American psychological drama film co-written and directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Cameron Bright, Danny Huston, Arliss Howard, Peter Stormare, Ted Levine, and Anne Heche. The film follows Anna, who becomes convinced that her dead husband Sean is reincarnated as a ten-year-old boy.

<i>Written on the Wind</i> 1956 film by Douglas Sirk

Written on the Wind is a 1956 American Southern Gothic melodrama film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone. It follows the dysfunctional family members of a Texas oil dynasty, including the complicated relationships among its alcoholic heir; his wife, a former secretary for the family company; his childhood best friend; and his ruthless, self-destructive sister.

To Have and Have Not is a 1944 American romantic war adventure film directed by Howard Hawks, loosely based on Ernest Hemingway's 1937 novel of the same name. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan and Lauren Bacall; it also features Dolores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael, Sheldon Leonard, Dan Seymour, and Marcel Dalio. The plot, centered on the romance between a freelancing fisherman in Martinique and a beautiful American drifter, is complicated by the growing French resistance in Vichy France.

<i>Daddy Long Legs</i> (1955 film) 1955 film by Jean Negulesco

Daddy Long Legs (1955) is a Hollywood musical comedy film set in France, New York City, and the fictional college town of Walston, Massachusetts. The film was directed by Jean Negulesco, and stars Fred Astaire, Leslie Caron, Terry Moore, Fred Clark, and Thelma Ritter, with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The screenplay was written by Phoebe Ephron and Henry Ephron, loosely based on the 1912 novel Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster.

<i>Boy on a Dolphin</i> 1957 film by Jean Negulesco

Boy on a Dolphin is a 1957 American romantic adventure film theatrically released by 20th Century-Fox. It is set in Greece and shot in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope. It was directed by Jean Negulesco and produced by Samuel G. Engel from a screenplay by Ivan Moffat and Dwight Taylor, based on the 1955 novel of the same name by David Divine.

<i>Confidential Agent</i> 1945 film by Herman Shumlin

Confidential Agent is a 1945 American spy film starring Charles Boyer and Lauren Bacall which was a Warner Brothers production. The movie was directed by Herman Shumlin and produced by Robert Buckner, with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay was by Robert Buckner, based on the 1939 novel The Confidential Agent by Graham Greene. The music score was by Franz Waxman and the cinematographer was James Wong Howe. The supporting cast included George Coulouris and Peter Lorre.

<i>Top Secret Affair</i> 1957 film by H. C. Potter

Top Secret Affair is a 1957 American romantic comedy film made by Carrollton Inc. and distributed by Warner Bros. that stars Susan Hayward and Kirk Douglas. It was directed by H. C. Potter and produced by Martin Rackin and Milton Sperling from a screenplay by Roland Kibbee and Allan Scott.

<i>Hello-Goodbye</i> (1970 film) 1970 British film

Hello-Goodbye is a 1970 British comedy film starring Michael Crawford, and was the final film directed by Jean Negulesco.

<i>The Best of Everything</i> (film) 1959 film by Jean Negulesco

The Best of Everything is a 1959 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco from a screenplay by Edith Sommer and Mann Rubin, based on the 1958 novel of the same name by Rona Jaffe. It stars Hope Lange, Stephen Boyd, Suzy Parker, Martha Hyer, Diane Baker, Brian Aherne, Robert Evans, Louis Jourdan, and Joan Crawford. The film follows the professional careers and private lives of three women who share a small apartment in New York City and work together at a paperback publishing firm. Alfred Newman wrote the musical score, the last under his longtime contract as 20th Century-Fox's musical director.

<i>Pennies from Heaven</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Norman Z. McLeod, Jo Swerling

Pennies From Heaven is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby, Madge Evans, and Edith Fellows.

<i>Womans World</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by Jean Negulesco

Woman's World is a 1954 American CinemaScope and print by Technicolor drama film about corporate America directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Clifton Webb, June Allyson, Van Heflin, Lauren Bacall, Fred MacMurray, Arlene Dahl and Cornel Wilde. The screenplay concerns three men who compete for the top job at a large company.

<i>Sentimental Journey</i> (film) 1946 film by Walter Lang

Sentimental Journey is a 1946 American drama film directed by Walter Lang and starring John Payne, Maureen O'Hara and William Bendix. It was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was remade in 1958 as The Gift of Love with Lauren Bacall and Robert Stack.

<i>Anokha Rishta</i> 1986 film by I. V. Sasi

Anokha Rishta is a 1986 Indian Hindi film, directed by prominent Malayalam director I.V. Sasi, written by Rahi Masoom Raza, and starring Rajesh Khanna in the lead, supported by Smita Patil, Sabeeha, Tanuja, Shafi Inamdar, Satish Shah and Karan Shah. A remake of the director's own 1984 Malayalam film Kanamarayathu starring Mammootty, the story revolves around three characters played by Rajesh Khanna, Smita Patil and Sabeeha. The original film was written by prominent Malayalam writer P. Padmarajan and was loosely based on Jean Webster's 1919 novel Daddy-Long-Legs. Anokha Rishta was the debut of Sabeeha, the daughter of actress Ameeta. The movie did average business on its release and recovered its costs. 20 years later same theme was seen in Nishabd and Cheeni Kum.

References

  1. Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 251. ISBN   978-0-8108-4244-1.
  2. "The Gift of Love (1958) - Jean Negulesco". AllMovie .
  3. "The Gift of Love". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 15, 2023.