Raintree County (1957)

Director:

Edward Dmytryk

Writers:

Ross Lockridge Jr. (novel)
Millard Kaufman (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 December 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

In The Great Tradition Of Civil War Romance

Plot:

A graduating poet/teacher falls in love with a Southern woman, and then the Civil War and her past create problems.

Plot Keywords:

Southern Belle | American Civil War | Love | Melodrama | Based On Novel

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Montgomery Clift	...	John Wickliff Shawnessy
Elizabeth Taylor	...	Susanna Drake
Eva Marie Saint	...	Nell Gaither
Nigel Patrick	...	Prof. Jerusalem Webster Stiles
Lee Marvin	...	Orville 'Flash' Perkins
Rod Taylor	...	Garwood B. Jones
Agnes Moorehead	...	Ellen Shawnessy
Walter Abel	...	T.D. Shawnessy
Jarma Lewis	...	Barbara Drake
Tom Drake	...	Bobby Drake
Rhys Williams	...	Ezra Gray
Russell Collins	...	Niles Foster
DeForest Kelley	...	Southern officer

Runtime:

188 min (Turner Library Print) | USA:168 min (original version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Danville, Kentucky, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The all-too-brief scenes which Clift filmed for "Raintree County" just before his accident represent the only color footage in films available of him before he was disfigured. All of his previous movies had been shot in black and white.

Goofs:

Continuity: After Lincoln wins the election, John and Nell say good night in front of John's house. The same wagon with the same people in it pass by them twice in the background.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Shenandoah (1965)

Soundtrack:

Never Till Now

sumptuous and nostalgic

An individual's life is formed by his memories. Books, music and - yes, movies - influence us. We remember the situations and the dialogue, we remember the sweet melodies. These memories enable us to react, as well as give us the ability to identify situations as they occur.

I saw "Raintree County" when I was 15. Orphaned at six, I'd just departed from an orphans home in Dallas, after nearly nine years. Knowing virtually nothing of the outside world, I was receptive to everything, every person that I encountered. That summer of 1958, I sneaked into the Forest Park Drive-In to see Elizabeth Taylor, of whom I knew little, other than that she was a breath-taking beauty, and had been recently widowed when Michael Todd's chartered plane had crashed.

The characters in the movie (when I was 15) were literal, if not visceral: the magnificence of Miss Taylor's satin gowns encased over crinoline, Lee Marvin's sharp, smart-alecky wit, the professor's lechery, Montgomery Clift's Yankee stoicism, Agnes Moorehead's curious detachment, were all primary colors.

Forty-five years have passed. Those primary colors are now a multitude of blendings and shadings of secondary colors. Montgomery Clift's character is now a beautifully controlled young man who reflects his parents' stoicism, a young man whose intelligence and self control are at the core of the film, and upon whom all characters revolve.

Originally, I thought that "Raintree County" was strictly Taylor's vehicle. She is the burr under the saddle, the exquisite seductress that interfers with Clift's heretofore regulated, almost predestined lifestyle upon his college graduation.

'Raintree' is an achingly beautiful film, and Miss Taylor, who is the most gifted in her portrayal of anguished characters, blesses the movie. Norma Shearer could be beautiful in 'Marie Antoinette", but she lacked depth. Betty Davis portrayed Sturm und Drang, but was never a clothes horse. Taylor combines the two.

Having read some of the other's comments, most of whom disliked the story, perhaps it helps to be Southern to truly love this film. And also, one wants to realize that it depicts two diametrically opposed cultures: North and South. When Northern chill mixes with Southern humidity, chaos results. And so it did, and it was known as The War Between the States.

In conclusion, one wants to luxuriate in this film: Lockridge wrote a brilliant story, and for the most part, it is well delivered. It is rich in history and characterization.