Marjorie Morningstar (film)
| Marjorie Morningstar | |
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| Directed by | Irving Rapper |
| Produced by | Milton Sperling |
| Screenplay by | Everett Freeman |
| Based on | Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk |
| Starring |
Natalie Wood Gene Kelly Claire Trevor |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Edited by | Folmar Blangsted |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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128 min. |
| Language | English |
Marjorie Morningstar is a 1958 melodrama film based on the 1955 novel of the same name by Herman Wouk. The film, released by Warner Bros. and directed by Irving Rapper tells a fictional coming of age story about a young Jewish girl in New York City in the 1950s. The film's trajectory traces Marjorie Morgenstern's attempts to become an artist - exemplified through her relationship with the actor and playwright Noel Airman. The film's cast includes Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly, and Claire Trevor.
The central conflict in the film revolves around the traditional models of social behavior and religious behavior expected by New York Jewish families in the 1950s, and Marjorie's desire to follow an unconventional path.
The film is notable for its inclusion of Jewish religious scenes - including a Passover meal, a synagogue sequence and Jewish icons in the Morgenstern house. These depictions were one of the first times Jewish religion was portrayed overtly in film since The Jazz Singer in 1927.
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song (A Very Precious Love) sung by Gene Kelly. Music by Sammy Fain and Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.
Marjorie Morgenstern is a student at Hunter College and the girlfriend of an eligible young man, Sandy Lamm, who attends her family's synagogue. Her parents are happy with her choice of mate, and her mother Rose Morgenstern (Claire Trevor) tells her father, Arnold (Everett Sloane), that she hopes the two kids marry.
Marjorie breaks up with the boy, though, and goes to the Adirondacks that summer to be a camp counselor. One night, Marjorie and friend Marsha Zelenko (Carolyn Jones) sneak to a Borscht Belt resort for adults called South Wind. There she is caught by resort owner Maxwell Greech (George Tobias), but social director Noel Airman (Gene Kelly) vouches for Marjorie as a guest and offers her a job, beginning a relationship with Airman and a friendship with aspiring playwright Wally Wronkin (Martin Milner), who writes Airman's stage act. The latter has a romantic interest in Marjorie, but she's tempted by the older, cynical Airman, who meets the disapproval of her parents. Airman, whose original name was the more Jewish Ehrman, renames Marjorie as well from Morgenstern to Morningstar.
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