Fanny | |
---|---|
Directed by | Joshua Logan |
Produced by | Ben Kadish |
Written by |
Musical: S.N. Behrman Joshua Logan Play: Marcel Pagnol |
Screenplay by | Julius J. Epstein |
Starring |
Leslie Caron Horst Buchholz Maurice Chevalier Charles Boyer |
Music by | Harold Rome |
Cinematography | Jack Cardiff |
Edited by | William Reynolds |
Production
company |
Mansfield Productions
|
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date
|
June 28, 1961 |
Running time
|
134 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $4.5 million (US/ Canada rentals) |
Fanny is a 1961 American Technicolor drama film directed by Joshua Logan. The screenplay by Julius J. Epstein is based on the book for the 1954 stage musical of the same title by Logan and S.N. Behrman, which in turn had been adapted from Marcel Pagnol's trilogy: Marius (1929) and Fanny (1932), plays which he adapted to film a year or two later; and César, the film he wrote and directed for the screen in 1936 (and later adapted for the stage).
The film deleted all the songs from the 1954 stage musical, but the music by Harold Rome served as the underscore for the soundtrack, and the title tune is used as the Main Title theme. Although it had been composed for another medium, it was nominated for both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
César (Charles Boyer) is a barkeeper in Marseille in the early 1920s. His 19-year-old son Marius (Horst Buchholz) works for him at his bar, but wants nothing more than to go to sea and leave his boring existence behind. The only thing holding him back is Fanny (Leslie Caron), an 18-year-old girl with whom he grew up. Fanny works selling fish with her mother down at the waterfront. Fanny has been in love with Marius her whole life, and flirts with him, but Marius always rejects her.
Fanny invites Marius to a Sunday night dance, but he rejects her once more. Unbeknownst to Fanny, Marius is planning to leave the next day, having secretly signed on as a sailor on a lengthy scientific expedition traveling around the world after being encouraged to do so by his friend known as the Admiral (Raymond Bussieres). Fanny is offended and leaves.