- Dragonwyck (film)
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Dragonwyck 
Theatrical release posterDirected by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck
Ernst Lubitsch
(uncredited)Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Anya Seton (novel)Starring Gene Tierney
Walter Huston
Vincent Price
Glenn Langan
Anne Revere
Spring Byington
Harry Morgan
Jessica TandyMusic by Alfred Newman Cinematography Arthur C. Miller Editing by Dorothy Spencer Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Release date(s) 1946 Running time 103 minutes Country United States Language English Dragonwyck is a 1946 American period drama film made by Twentieth Century-Fox.[1][2] It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck and Ernst Lubitsch (uncredited) from a screenplay by Mankiewicz, based on the novel Dragonwyck by Anya Seton. The music score was by Alfred Newman and the cinematography by Arthur C. Miller.
The film stars Gene Tierney, Walter Huston and Vincent Price, with Glenn Langan, Anne Revere, Spring Byington, Harry Morgan and Jessica Tandy.
Contents
Plot
Farmer's daughter Miranda Wells (Gene Tierney) is brought up in Connecticut by her strait-laced low church parents, Ephraim (Walter Huston) and Abigail (Anne Revere), dreaming of her rich distant cousin, Nicholas Van Ryn (Vincent Price) and his immense gothic house, Dragonwyck Manor. In 1844, she is invited by her dark, autocratic and charming atheistic cousin, to live in his New York mansion as a companion to his daughter.
Arriving with high hopes, Miranda finds the Van Ryns a bit strange. The parents barely know daughter Katrine; Nicholas faces a revolt of his tenant farmers; the servants hint darkly of curses and visitations. As she watches the dark secrets of the house unfold, she becomes more aware of selfishness and insanity while becoming more involved with Nicholas. The closer Miranda grows to the community and the Van Ryns, the more she wishes she had never come to Dragonwyck. How or why does Nicholas's wife, Johanna die? Can Dr. Jeff Turner help Miranda? And what does Nicholas really do up in his tower room?
Production notes
- Gregory Peck was the first choice for Nicholas Van Ryn. Ernst Lubitsch was to direct, but became ill, pre-production was delayed, and Peck dropped out.
Adaptations to Other Media
Dragonwyck was adapted as an hour-long radio play on the October 7, 1946 broadcast of Lux Radio Theater, starring Vincent Price and Gene Tierney. It was also dramatized as a half-hour radio play on the January 20, 1947 broadcast of The Screen Guild Theater, starring Vincent Price and Teresa Wright.
Cast
- Gene Tierney as Miranda Wells
- Vincent Price as Nicholas van Ryn
- Walter Huston as Ephraim Wells
- Glenn Langan as Dr. Turner
- Anne Revere as Abigail Wells
- Spring Byington as Magda
- Harry Morgan as Bleecker
- Jessica Tandy as Peggy
- Vivienne Osborne as Johanna Van Ryn
See also
Notes
- ^ Variety film review; February 20, 1946, page 8.
- ^ Harrison's Reports film review; February 23, 1946, page 31.
External links
- Dragonwyck at the Internet Movie Database
- Dragonwyck at AllRovi
- Dragonwick Movie Still
Films directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1940s Dragonwyck (1946) • Somewhere in the Night (1946) • The Late George Apley (1947) • The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) • Escape (1948) • A Letter to Three Wives (1949) • House of Strangers (1949)1950s No Way Out (1950) • All About Eve (1950) • People Will Talk (1951) • 5 Fingers (1952) • Julius Caesar (1953) • The Barefoot Contessa (1954) • Guys and Dolls (1955) • The Quiet American (1958) • Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)1960s 1970s There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) • Sleuth (1972)Categories:- 1946 films
- American films
- English-language films
- 20th Century Fox films
- Drug-related films
- Films directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Films based on novels
- Films set in the 1840s
- Black-and-white films
- 1940s drama film stubs
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