The Pride and the Passion | |
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Directed by | Stanley Kramer |
Produced by | Stanley Kramer |
Screenplay by |
Edna Anhalt Edward Anhalt |
Based on | novel The Gun by C.S. Forester |
Starring |
Cary Grant Frank Sinatra Sophia Loren |
Music by | George Antheil |
Cinematography | Franz Planer |
Edited by |
Frederic Knudtson Ellsworth Hoagland |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date
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Running time
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132 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $3.7 million |
Box office | $5.5 million (US rentals) |
The Pride and the Passion is a 1957 Napoleonic era war film in Technicolor and VistaVision from United Artists, produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, that stars Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren. The film co-starred Theodore Bikel and Jay Novello.
The film's storyline concerns a British artillery officer (Grant) who has orders to retrieve a huge brass cannon from Spain and transport it by ship to British forces. But first, the leader of the Spanish guerrillas (Sinatra) wants to transport the canon 1,000 km across Spain to help in the capture of the city of Ávila from the French before he releases it to the British. Most of the film deals with the hardships of transporting the huge weapon across rivers and through the mountains, while also evading the occupying French forces, until in the final battle for Ávila. A subplot concerns the struggle for the affections of the Spanish woman Juana (Loren) by the two men.
The screen story and screenplay by Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt was loosely based on the 1933 novel The Gun by C. S. Forester. Earl Felton did an uncredited screenplay re-write, George Antheil composed the music score, while Saul Bass designed the opening title sequence.
The film's music score was the last important work by George Antheil, once famous as the "bad boy of music" in the 1920s. It is the only one of Antheil's many film scores to have been preserved on a commercial soundtrack recording.