New Faces (film)
| New Faces | |
|---|---|
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|
| Directed by |
Harry Horner John Beal (sketches) Eugene Anderson, Jr. (assi) |
| Produced by |
Edward L. Alperson Berman Swarttz (co) Leonard Sillman (Associate) |
| Written by |
Ronny Graham Melvin Brooks Paul Lynde (additional) Luther Davis (additional) John Cleveland (additional) |
| Starring |
Ronny Graham Eartha Kitt Robert Clary Alice Ghostley |
| Music by | Raoul Kraushaar |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Edited by | Ace Herman |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
|
Release date
|
19 February 1954 |
|
Running time
|
96 minutes 98-99 minutes (USA) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
New Faces is a 1954 American film adaptation of the musical revue New Faces of 1952 directed by Harry Horner and sketches directed by John Beal. Filmed in Cinemascope and Eastmancolor it was released by Twentieth Century Fox on March 6, 1954.
The film is sometimes referred to as New Faces of 1952 due to the original Broadway show's title.
The film was essentially a reproduction of the stage revue with a thin plot added. This involved a producer and performer (Ronny Graham) in financial trouble on opening night. A wealthy Texan, whose daughter is in the show, offers to help out on the condition that he finds the show to be of high-enough quality and commercial potential to warrant the investment. Meanwhile, Graham locks a bill collector in a dressing room until the show is finished and he can collect the money.
Ronny Graham, Eartha Kitt, Robert Clary, Alice Ghostley, June Carroll, Virginia De Luce, Carol Lawrence, Patricia Hammerlee, Paul Lynde, and Bill Millikin reprised their stage roles.
The sketches include Lynde's famous "Trip of the Month" monologue, and a Death of a Salesman parody with Graham, Lynde and Ghostley, written by Brooks, who is billed in the credits as "Melvin." In a March 2012 appearance at the American Cinematheque, Brooks said the sketch was originally written for another revue, "Curtain Going Up," but that the show closed during its try-out in Philadelphia. However, Silliman had seen the show and asked him if he could import the sketch for "New Faces." Brooks readily agreed and thanked him for "saving my Broadway career." He added that Arthur Miller came to a performance and afterwards sent him a note which read, "I am not upset. But I should be."
The song order was changed and expanded and some songs were omitted, or had their lyrics updated. The song "Natty Puts her Hair Up" was omitted, however, an abridged version was used as an instrumental in a dance routine. The song "Don't Fall Asleep" was omitted. The song "Love is a Simple thing" omitted the final verse, being the Charles Addams character verse, because it was too outdated. Also, an extra verse was added to "Lizzie Borden". Some of the lines in "Monotonous" were replaced and updated, omitting the line "Ike Likes Me", and being replaced with writing the "Dragnet" theme instead.
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