The French Line
| The French Line | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Lloyd Bacon |
| Produced by | Edmund Grainger - Producer Howard Hughes - Executive Producer |
| Written by | Matty Kemp Isabel Dawn Mary Loos Richard Sale |
| Starring |
Jane Russell Gilbert Roland Arthur Hunnicutt Mary McCarty Craig Stevens Kim Novak |
| Music by |
Walter Scharf Josef Myrow Constantin Bakaleinkoff |
| Cinematography | Harry J. Wild |
| Edited by | Robert Ford |
| Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.9 million (US) |
The French Line is a 1954 musical film starring Jane Russell made by RKO Pictures, directed by Lloyd Bacon and produced by Edmund Grainger, with Howard Hughes as executive producer. The screenplay was by Mary Loos and Richard Sale, based on a story by Matty Kemp and Isabel Dawn. It was filmed in three strip technicolor and Dual strip polarized 3D during what many consider 3-D film's "golden era" of 1952-1954.
Gilbert Roland co-stars and Kim Novak makes her first film appearance.
Millionairess Mame Carson's (Jane Russell) oil empire spells trouble for her love life. Men are either after her fortune or afraid of it. Her money-shy fiancé Phil Barton (Craig Stevens) has just given her the brush off.
A disappointed Mame heads for Paris on the French Line's Liberté with friend and fashion designer Annie Farrell (Mary McCarty). She swaps identities with Myrtle Brown (Joyce Mackenzie), one of Annie's models, hoping to find true love incognito.
Aboard ship, she falls in love with French playboy Pierre DuQuesne (Gilbert Roland) who, unbeknownst to Mame, has been hired by her zealous guardian Waco Mosby (Arthur Hunnicutt) to keep the fortune hunters at bay. Pierre professes his love for Mame. Is he sincere or is this just a ploy to gain access to her millions? Silliness ensues interspersed with several musical numbers until Pierre's real intentions are revealed.
The French Line captures Russell at the height of her career, the year after Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in a splashy musical comedy specializing in costumes so purposely skimpy that it received a "condemned" rating from the Catholic Legion of Decency. The outrageous outfits were designed by Howard Hughes and the craftsmen at RKO to display Russell's physique to best advantage. Russell's singing, dancing, and comedic skills are also much in evidence. The film was considered scandalous at the time.
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Wikipedia