Saint Joan (1957 film)
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Saint Joan is a 1957 movie based on George Bernard Shaw's play about the life of Joan of Arc, directed by Otto Preminger, with a screenplay by Graham Greene. The screenplay re-structures the original play. The film begins with the play's last scene, which then becomes the springboard for a long flashback, in which the main story is told. At the end of the flashback, the film then returns to the play's final scene, which then continues through to the end.
[edit] Reception
The film was not well received. Jean Seberg, then unknown, and with no previous acting experience, was chosen by Preminger to play Joan after a highly publicized search reminiscent of David O. Selznick's quest to find an actress to play Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. As an American acting alongside a cast of British veterans, many of whom had appeared in other plays by Shaw, Seberg was raked over the coals by the critics, as was Preminger, for selecting her when he could have chosen a more experienced British actress. [[1]] She also happened to be beautiful, which went completely against what Shaw assumed Joan looked like, as he described in his preface to the original play.
Richard Widmark was also criticized for his performance as the Dauphin in the film, though not as savagely as Seberg. The film has turned up on television from time to time, and opinion of Seberg's performance tends to be more favorable now, but the film is still not counted among the best adaptations of a George Bernard Shaw play.
[edit] Cast
- Harry Andrews
- Felix Aylmer
- Patrick Barr
- Sydney Bromley
- Finlay Currie
- Francis De Wolff
- Archie Duncan
- John Gielgud
- Margot Grahame
- Kenneth Haigh
- Barry Jones
- David Langton
- Victor Maddern
- Bernard Miles
- David Oxley
- Jean Seberg - as Joan of Arc
- Richard Todd
- Anton Walbrook
- Richard Widmark
[edit] Sources
External reviews for the film at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050928/externalreviews
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