Lorna Doone (1951 film)

Lorna Doone
Italian poster
Directed by	Phil Karlson
Produced by	Edward Small
Written by	Jesse Lasky Jr Richard Schayer George Bruce (adaptation)
Based on	the novel by Richard D. Blackmore
Starring	Richard Greene
Music by	George Duning
Cinematography	Charles Van Enger
Edited by	Al Clark
Production company	Edward Small Productions
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	31 May 1951 (USA)
Running time	82 mins
Country	United States
Language	English

Lorna Doone is a 1951 American drama film directed by Phil Karlson for Columbia Pictures and starring Barbara Hale, Richard Greene and Carl Benton Reid. It is an adaptation of the novel Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore, set in the English West Country during the 17th century.

Lorna Doone falls for John Ridd, but is betrothed (against her will) to one Carver Doone. As the English Civil War looms, John is determined to defeat the vicious Doone family and win Lorna over.

Edward Small first announced plans to film the novel in 1944 and hired George Bruce to write a screenplay in 1946. He sent representatives to England to scout locations that year and there was talk of a co-production with J Arthur Rank starring Louis Hayward with filming in Scotland.Charles Bennett and Leonore Coffee also worked on the early drafts of the script. In 1948 Alfred Hitchcock announced plans to film the novel for Transatlantic Pictures. Small claimed he had registered the title in the US; Hitchcock could film the story but would not be able to call it Lorna Doone in the US. This prompted Small to announce he would start filming in England in association with Rank and producer John Beck on 1 March 1949. This was postponed due to the US–English film trade war of 1948–19 and in August 1949 filming was put back indefinitely.

The project was reactivated later in 1949 when Small signed a two picture deal with Columbia Pictures, for Lorna Doone and The Brigand. It was decided instead to make the movie in Hollywood, with locations shot at Yosemite National Park. Richard Greene and Barbara Hale were cast in the leads and Jesse Lasky Jr did the final draft of the script.