Green Fire
| Green Fire | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Andrew Marton |
| Produced by | Armand Deutsch |
| Written by |
Ivan Goff Ben Roberts |
| Based on |
Green Fire 1942 memoir by Peter W. Rainier |
| Starring |
Stewart Granger Grace Kelly Paul Douglas John Ericson Murvyn Vye José Torvay Robert TafurAshley rios |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
| Cinematography | Paul Vogel |
| Edited by | Harold F. Kress |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,768,000[1] |
| Box office | $4,460,000[1] |
Green Fire is a 1954 CinemaScope and Eastmancolor MGM movie directed by Andrew Marton and produced by Armand Deutsch, with original music by Miklós Rózsa. It stars Grace Kelly, Stewart Granger, Paul Douglas and John Ericson.
Plot
Rugged mining engineer Rian Mitchell (Stewart Granger) discovers a lost emerald mine in the highlands of Colombia, which had last been operated by the Spanish conquistadors. Rian is a man consumed by the quest for wealth. However, he has to contend with local bandits and a savage jaguar.
Taken to recuperate at the plantation home of local coffee grower Catherine Knowland (Grace Kelly) and her brother Donald (John Ericson), Rian manages to charm Catherine.
His partner, Vic Leonard (Paul Douglas), is preparing to leave Colombia on the next ship. Rian, anxious to get Vic's assistance to mine the emeralds, tricks him into staying. Returning to the mine, Rian first gets Catherine's cooperation and then resumes his romantic overtures.
However, his greed to get the emeralds at any cost soon creates trouble. He comes into conflict with the chief of the local bandits, who threatens Catherine at her home. He also takes Donald into the mining operation, despite Donald's complete inexperience, solely in order to obtain the coffee plantation workers on for his mining needs. This, however, means that Catherine does not have enough workers available to pick the coffee when harvest time arrives. Rian's mining operations also put the plantation at risk of flooding.
When a tragic accident at the mine site kills Donald, even Vic abandons his old friend Rian and sets out to help Catherine with her harvest, all the while harboring his own passion for the beautiful young woman.
It takes a final shootout between the bandits and Rian's men, in which Catherine and Vic do support him, for Rian to finally come to his senses and realize his mistakes. At great risk to himself, he sets in place an explosion of dynamite that not only diverts the water away from Catherine's plantation, but also buries the mine under tons of rubble, from where it can no longer be reached. Rian then reunites with a forgiving Catherine.
Cast
- Stewart Granger as Rian X. Mitchell
- Grace Kelly as Catherine Knowland
- Paul Douglas as Vic Leonard
- John Ericson as Donald Knowland
- Murvyn Vye as El Moro
- José Torvay as Manuel (as Jose Torvay)
- Robert Tafur as Father Ripero
- Joe Dominguez as Jose
- Nacho Galindo as Officer Perez
- Charlita as Dolores
- Natividad Vacío as Hernandez
- Rico Alaniz as Antonio
- Paul Marion as Roberto
- Bobby Dominguez as Juan
Production
In common with all MGM CinemaScope films at the time (1954), it was filmed in both a CinemaScope and a non-anamorphic 4 x 3 version for screening in cinemas that hadn't yet converted to CinemaScope.
The film was originally announced as a vehicle for Ava Gardner, then Eleanor Parker, with Clarke Gable to co star.[2]
Grace Kelly was under contract to MGM, which released Green Fire, though she was often dissatisfied with the roles that MGM gave her. She made many of her more famous and critically acclaimed films while loaned out to other studios such as Universal and Paramount.
The mining and plantation scenes were shot on location in rural Colombia. The cast and crew ostensibly endured many weeks of miserable weather to give the film its very realistic look. Several exteriors, however were filmed in the Hollywood Hills, just off of Mulholland Drive, where the production company received permission to cut steps into part of the hill.[3]
The author of the memoir Green Fire,[4] on which the film was based, was Major Peter William Rainier 1890-1946, a South African whose great-great-grand-uncle was the person that Mount Rainier, Washington was named after (by the explorer George Vancouver).[5]
Reception
According to MGM records the film earned $1,829,000 in the US and Canada and $2,631,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $834,000.[1]
In France, the film recorded admissions of 2,048,836.[6]
References
- 1 2 3 'The Eddie Mannix Ledger’, Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study, Los Angeles
- ↑ Schallert, Edwin (8 Oct 1953). "Drama: Eleanor Parker 'Green Fire' Costar; 'Tea' Okay for Films, Says Deborah". Los Angeles Times. p. B11.
- ↑ Bundy: An Oral History. A Director's Guild of America Oral History. Interviewed by Joanne D'Antonio, 1980. UCLA Theater Arts Library. p.333
- ↑ Peter W. Rainier's memoir, "Green Fire" at Gemological Institute of America Inc.
- ↑ P. 211, Auto-Biographical Book, AMERICAN HAZARD, The Travel Book Club, London, UK, 1943, P.W. Rainier
- ↑ Box office information for Stewart Granger films in France at Box Office Story
External links
- Green Fire at the Internet Movie Database
- Green Fire at AllMovie
- Green Fire at the TCM Movie Database
- Green Fire at the American Film Institute Catalog