Twilight for the Gods

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Twilight for the Gods
Twilight for the Gods (1958, Movie Poster).jpg
Original poster (1958) by Reynold Brown
Directed by Joseph Pevney
Written by Ernest K. Gann
Based onTwilight for the Gods by Ernest K. Gann
Produced by Gordon Kay
Starring Rock Hudson
Cyd Charisse
Arthur Kennedy
Cinematography Irving Glassberg
Edited by Tony Martinelli
Music by David Raksin
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • August 6, 1958 (1958-08-06)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.6 million [1]

Twilight for the Gods is a 1958 American Eastmancolor adventure film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Rock Hudson and Cyd Charisse. [2] The story is based on the novel Twilight for the Gods by Ernest K. Gann (though the opening credits read "Written by Ernest K. Gann," implying it is an original screenplay rather than an adaptation). An underlying current in the book is about sailing ships with their long histories being replaced by modern steamers, which is what the title refers to—the end of an era for the square-sailed ships.

Contents

Plot

After being court-martialed and discharged from the Navy, Captain Bell (Rock Hudson) turns to drink. Reduced to skippering a rundown brigantine in the South Seas, he takes on board a disparate group of passengers and crew, including a prostitute, a show-biz entrepreneur, a missionary, a washed up opera singer, a couple of refugees, and a load of copra bound for Mexico. [3] The ship springs a leak during a storm, and the true characters of all on board are revealed as the ship tries to make port in Honolulu before it sinks. [3]

Cast

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Mar is a sailing tour boat based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia and known for its literary and film associations. Mar was built starting in 1957 and launched in 1959 at Frederikssund Boatbulding in Frederikssund, Denmark. She was built for author Ernest K. Gann, author of several works including "Song of the Sirens", "Twilight of the Gods" and "The High and the Mighty". She was then bought by Charles Tobias owner of Pusser's Rum Company and he used her in the filming of the 1976 film The Way of the Wind. The Mar was then purchased by Mar II Sailing Tours Ltd. based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1982 and she has been sailing there ever since, with the exception of some seven-day sailing excursions around the Caribbean in the 1980s. The Mar has not only sailed to the Caribbean, she has sailed extensively around the tropics and also to the Arctic. She has a sturdy design which has also allowed her to complete two circumnavigations of the globe when owned by Charles Tobias.

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References

  1. "Top Grossers of 1958". Variety. 7 January 1959. p. 48. Please note figures are for US and Canada only and are domestic rentals accruing to distributors as opposed to theatre gross
  2. "Twilight for the Gods (1958)". IMDb. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 Gann, Ernest K. (1956). Twilight for the Gods (1st ed.). New York: William Sloane Associates. ISBN   1135307490.