The Essentials (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
SYNOPSIS
Dave Hirsh is a returning WWII
veteran whose career as a writer has
taken a nosedive. He arrives by bus
to his boyhood home of Parkham,
Illinois, carrying a new manuscript.
Shortly upon arrival he hooks up with
a good-hearted floozy named Ginny.
Dave proceeds to shake up the
complacency of the small town as he
reacquaints himself with his
estranged brother Frank and his
upper-crust family. Ginny attaches
herself to Dave and his other circle
of friends, which includes local
gambler Bama. Playing both sides of
the town's dividing line of
respectability, Dave also forms a
relationship with Gwen, a lonely
schoolteacher.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Producer: Sol C. Siegel
Screenplay: John Patrick, Arthur
Sheekman, based on the novel by James
Jones
Cinematography: William H.
Daniels
Editor: Adrienne Fazan
Art Direction: William A. Horning,
Urie McCleary
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Song: Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van
Heusen
Costume Design: Walter Plunkett
Makeup: William Tuttle
Cast: Frank Sinatra (Dave Hirsh),
Dean Martin (Bama Dillert), Shirley
MacLaine (Ginny Moorhead), Martha
Hyer (Gwen French), Arthur Kennedy
(Frank Hirsh).
C-137m. Letterboxed. Close
captioning.
Why SOME CAME RUNNING is Essential
Encouraged by the sales and the
critical acclaim of his book,
From
Here to Eternity, James Jones set
down to write the great American
novel. The result was
Some Came
Running, the story of a war
veteran with literary aspirations who
returns in 1948 to his hometown of
Parkham, Illinois, after a failed
writing career. While it wasn't the
masterpiece Jones hoped it would be,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, hoping to
duplicate the success of
From Here
to Eternity (1953), optioned the
book and cast Frank Sinatra as the
lead, Dave Hirsh. Sinatra, in turn,
approved Dean Martin for the role of
his gambling pal, Bama Dillert.
Martin had recently split from a
partnership with Jerry Lewis and was
just beginning to prove himself as an
actor.
Producer Sol Siegel brought Vincente
Minnelli on board as director.
Minnelli was no doubt attracted to
many of the story's major themes -
the tortured artist (a frequent
Minnelli protagonist), the conflict
of two brothers who are polar
opposites in temperament (reminiscent
of the brothers that had been seen in
Minnelli's
Undercurrent (1946)
and would feature in his 1960
melodrama,
Home from the
Hill), and small-town America -
here featuring complex layers of
hypocrisy and social strictures.
Minnelli later wrote that he drew
upon his own childhood memories for
many of the small-town
details.
The movie provided Shirley MacLaine
with her best role to date. In her
autobiography,
Dance While You
Can, MacLaine gave much of the
credit for her success in the part to
Sinatra: "I always thought he was
responsible for my good performance
in
Some Came Running. 'Let
the kid get killed,' he said to
Vincente Minnelli and to the head of
the studio. 'If she dies, she'll get
more sympathy. Then she'll get
nominated.' He was right."
Minnelli puts every part of the
CinemaScope widescreen to use in
Some Came Running - it is a
textbook example of using the format
in a non-epic film. Minnelli's
staging and composition within the
frame often provides as much
information about character
relationship as does the dialogue.
Using very few close-ups, Minnelli
stages long takes in medium shots
that are crammed with background
detail and bits of business that
reveal much about the town and the
characters' shifting social status
within it.
The film features careful color and
design choices throughout. Minnelli
saw
Some Came Running as "a
story of small-town honky-tonks, of
cheap low lifes not without charm.
The audience had to be knocked out by
their vulgarity. I decided to use
the inside of a juke box as my
inspiration for the settings - garishly
lit in primary colors." While the
pyrotechnics of color are clearly
evident in the carnival setting of
the finale, the entire film is
enhanced by a subtle color
design.
Elmer Bernstein provides
Some Came
Running with a varied and
underrated music score. It avoids
being overwrought in supporting the
quiet melodrama of the picture, but
is appropriately jazzy for the
violent outbursts. A flash of
intense red kicks off the carnival
finale, and Bernstein keeps up with
Minnelli's garish "juke box" visuals
shot for shot.
In addition to MacLaine's Oscar®
nomination for Best Actress in
Some Came Running, the film
was also in the running for Best
Supporting Actor (Arthur Kennedy),
Best Supporting Actress (Martha
Hyer), Best Song ("To Love and Be
Loved" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van
Heusen), and Best Costume Design
(Walter Plunkett). Although
Some
Came Running didn't win in any of
the categories, 1959 was a banner
year for Vincente Minnelli who won
the Best Director Oscar for
Gigi. He could be proud of
the fact that together his two films
racked up a total of fourteen Academy
Award nominations.
by John Miller & Jeff Stafford
The Essentials (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
SYNOPSIS
Dave Hirsh is a returning WWII
veteran whose career as a writer has
taken a nosedive. He arrives by bus
to his boyhood home of Parkham,
Illinois, carrying a new manuscript.
Shortly upon arrival he hooks up with
a good-hearted floozy named Ginny.
Dave proceeds to shake up the
complacency of the small town as he
reacquaints himself with his
estranged brother Frank and his
upper-crust family. Ginny attaches
herself to Dave and his other circle
of friends, which includes local
gambler Bama. Playing both sides of
the town's dividing line of
respectability, Dave also forms a
relationship with Gwen, a lonely
schoolteacher.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Producer: Sol C. Siegel
Screenplay: John Patrick, Arthur
Sheekman, based on the novel by James
Jones
Cinematography: William H.
Daniels
Editor: Adrienne Fazan
Art Direction: William A. Horning,
Urie McCleary
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Song: Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van
Heusen
Costume Design: Walter Plunkett
Makeup: William Tuttle
Cast: Frank Sinatra (Dave Hirsh),
Dean Martin (Bama Dillert), Shirley
MacLaine (Ginny Moorhead), Martha
Hyer (Gwen French), Arthur Kennedy
(Frank Hirsh).
C-137m. Letterboxed. Close
captioning.
Why SOME CAME RUNNING is Essential
Encouraged by the sales and the
critical acclaim of his book, From
Here to Eternity, James Jones set
down to write the great American
novel. The result was Some Came
Running, the story of a war
veteran with literary aspirations who
returns in 1948 to his hometown of
Parkham, Illinois, after a failed
writing career. While it wasn't the
masterpiece Jones hoped it would be,
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, hoping to
duplicate the success of From Here
to Eternity (1953), optioned the
book and cast Frank Sinatra as the
lead, Dave Hirsh. Sinatra, in turn,
approved Dean Martin for the role of
his gambling pal, Bama Dillert.
Martin had recently split from a
partnership with Jerry Lewis and was
just beginning to prove himself as an
actor.
Producer Sol Siegel brought Vincente
Minnelli on board as director.
Minnelli was no doubt attracted to
many of the story's major themes -
the tortured artist (a frequent
Minnelli protagonist), the conflict
of two brothers who are polar
opposites in temperament (reminiscent
of the brothers that had been seen in
Minnelli's Undercurrent (1946)
and would feature in his 1960
melodrama, Home from the
Hill), and small-town America -
here featuring complex layers of
hypocrisy and social strictures.
Minnelli later wrote that he drew
upon his own childhood memories for
many of the small-town
details.
The movie provided Shirley MacLaine
with her best role to date. In her
autobiography, Dance While You
Can, MacLaine gave much of the
credit for her success in the part to
Sinatra: "I always thought he was
responsible for my good performance
in Some Came Running. 'Let
the kid get killed,' he said to
Vincente Minnelli and to the head of
the studio. 'If she dies, she'll get
more sympathy. Then she'll get
nominated.' He was right."
Minnelli puts every part of the
CinemaScope widescreen to use in
Some Came Running - it is a
textbook example of using the format
in a non-epic film. Minnelli's
staging and composition within the
frame often provides as much
information about character
relationship as does the dialogue.
Using very few close-ups, Minnelli
stages long takes in medium shots
that are crammed with background
detail and bits of business that
reveal much about the town and the
characters' shifting social status
within it.
The film features careful color and
design choices throughout. Minnelli
saw Some Came Running as "a
story of small-town honky-tonks, of
cheap low lifes not without charm.
The audience had to be knocked out by
their vulgarity. I decided to use
the inside of a juke box as my
inspiration for the settings - garishly
lit in primary colors." While the
pyrotechnics of color are clearly
evident in the carnival setting of
the finale, the entire film is
enhanced by a subtle color
design.
Elmer Bernstein provides Some Came
Running with a varied and
underrated music score. It avoids
being overwrought in supporting the
quiet melodrama of the picture, but
is appropriately jazzy for the
violent outbursts. A flash of
intense red kicks off the carnival
finale, and Bernstein keeps up with
Minnelli's garish "juke box" visuals
shot for shot.
In addition to MacLaine's Oscar®
nomination for Best Actress in
Some Came Running, the film
was also in the running for Best
Supporting Actor (Arthur Kennedy),
Best Supporting Actress (Martha
Hyer), Best Song ("To Love and Be
Loved" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van
Heusen), and Best Costume Design
(Walter Plunkett). Although Some
Came Running didn't win in any of
the categories, 1959 was a banner
year for Vincente Minnelli who won
the Best Director Oscar for
Gigi. He could be proud of
the fact that together his two films
racked up a total of fourteen Academy
Award nominations.
by John Miller & Jeff Stafford
Pop Culture (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
Pop Culture 101 - SOME CAME
RUNNING
Some Came Running is often
called the beginning of the famed
"Rat Pack." Actually, the term
was originally coined by Lauren
Bacall in the mid-1950s and
attached to her husband Humphrey
Bogart and his social circle in
Holmby Hills, which included Frank
Sinatra and Judy Garland (and on
occasion, her husband Vincente
Minnelli). This informal group
dissolved when Bogart died of
throat cancer in 1957. The
Some Came Running filming,
then, can be seen as the beginning
of the Sinatra-led, Las
Vegas-centered Rat Pack, which
consisted of Sinatra, Dean Martin,
Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford,
Joey Bishop, and their "Girl
Friday," Shirley MacLaine. The
group (Sinatra preferred "The
Clan" or "The Summit" to "The Rat
Pack") reached its cultural apex
in 1960, as they filmed
Ocean's
Eleven in the daytime while
performing two shows a night at
the Sands Hotel and Casino in
Vegas. That same summer Frank,
Sammy, Peter, and Shirley sang the
"Star-Spangled Banner" to open the
Democratic National Convention, at
which Lawford's brother-in-law
John F. Kennedy received the
nomination for President.
Following his first two novels,
writer James Jones continued to
explore WWII and the veterans of
war in most of his subsequent
books.
Pistol dealt with
the day of the attack on Pearl
Harbor.
The Thin Red Line
and
Whistle were populated
with virtually the same characters
that existed in Jones' classic
first novel,
From Here to
Eternity. Jones had good
reason for this single-minded
interest; as a young sailor he was
stationed at Pearl Harbor in 1941
and witnessed the surprise attack.
He was later wounded at
Guadalcanal and returned home to
small-town Illinois, where he
began writing about his
experiences. He helped create the
Handy Writer's Colony in Marshall,
Illinois, which existed until
1964. He lived in Paris for a
decade, then taught in Miami for a
time before his death in 1977.
The Thin Red Line, about
Guadalcanal, was filmed in 1964
and again (by Terrence Malick) in
1998. James Jones also served as
"script consultant" for the 1962
film about the Normandy invasion,
The Longest Day.
Some Came Running features
the song "To Love and Be Loved,"
written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy
Van Heusen. The pair was
responsible for writing numerous
hit songs for movies, in
particular several recorded by
Sinatra, such as "All the Way"
from
The Joker Is Wild
(1957) and "High Hopes" from
A
Hole in the Head (1959). Van
Heusen was a long-time Sinatra
crony, and was one of the many
guests to the house Sinatra and
Dean Martin rented in Madison,
Indiana, during the
Some Came
Running shoot.
Vincente Minnelli's daughter
became an honorary member of the
Rat Pack in 1988. During a final
live performance tour that year
featuring Sinatra, Martin, and
Sammy Davis, Jr., Martin fell ill
and Liza Minnelli stepped in for
the remaining tour dates.
by John Miller
Pop Culture (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
Pop Culture 101 - SOME CAME
RUNNING
Some Came Running is often
called the beginning of the famed
"Rat Pack." Actually, the term
was originally coined by Lauren
Bacall in the mid-1950s and
attached to her husband Humphrey
Bogart and his social circle in
Holmby Hills, which included Frank
Sinatra and Judy Garland (and on
occasion, her husband Vincente
Minnelli). This informal group
dissolved when Bogart died of
throat cancer in 1957. The
Some Came Running filming,
then, can be seen as the beginning
of the Sinatra-led, Las
Vegas-centered Rat Pack, which
consisted of Sinatra, Dean Martin,
Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford,
Joey Bishop, and their "Girl
Friday," Shirley MacLaine. The
group (Sinatra preferred "The
Clan" or "The Summit" to "The Rat
Pack") reached its cultural apex
in 1960, as they filmed Ocean's
Eleven in the daytime while
performing two shows a night at
the Sands Hotel and Casino in
Vegas. That same summer Frank,
Sammy, Peter, and Shirley sang the
"Star-Spangled Banner" to open the
Democratic National Convention, at
which Lawford's brother-in-law
John F. Kennedy received the
nomination for President.
Following his first two novels,
writer James Jones continued to
explore WWII and the veterans of
war in most of his subsequent
books. Pistol dealt with
the day of the attack on Pearl
Harbor. The Thin Red Line
and Whistle were populated
with virtually the same characters
that existed in Jones' classic
first novel, From Here to
Eternity. Jones had good
reason for this single-minded
interest; as a young sailor he was
stationed at Pearl Harbor in 1941
and witnessed the surprise attack.
He was later wounded at
Guadalcanal and returned home to
small-town Illinois, where he
began writing about his
experiences. He helped create the
Handy Writer's Colony in Marshall,
Illinois, which existed until
1964. He lived in Paris for a
decade, then taught in Miami for a
time before his death in 1977.
The Thin Red Line, about
Guadalcanal, was filmed in 1964
and again (by Terrence Malick) in
1998. James Jones also served as
"script consultant" for the 1962
film about the Normandy invasion,
The Longest Day.
Some Came Running features
the song "To Love and Be Loved,"
written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy
Van Heusen. The pair was
responsible for writing numerous
hit songs for movies, in
particular several recorded by
Sinatra, such as "All the Way"
from The Joker Is Wild
(1957) and "High Hopes" from A
Hole in the Head (1959). Van
Heusen was a long-time Sinatra
crony, and was one of the many
guests to the house Sinatra and
Dean Martin rented in Madison,
Indiana, during the Some Came
Running shoot.
Vincente Minnelli's daughter
became an honorary member of the
Rat Pack in 1988. During a final
live performance tour that year
featuring Sinatra, Martin, and
Sammy Davis, Jr., Martin fell ill
and Liza Minnelli stepped in for
the remaining tour dates.
by John Miller
Trivia (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
Trivia and Other Fun Stuff on SOME
CAME RUNNING
While
Some Came Running
lost in the five categories in
which it was nominated for an
Academy Award, director Vincente
Minnelli was still a happy man
after the 1959 Oscar®
ceremony. His other
heavily-nominated film that year,
Gigi, walked away with nine
wins, including Best Picture and
Best Director.
The shooting location of Madison,
Indiana, was featured in a
documentary produced during WWII
by the Office of War Information
as the "Model American
Community."
The principal actors in
Some
Came Running were close-knit
and were soon reunited on screen.
Shirley MacLaine next co-starred
with Frank Sinatra in
Can-Can (1960), and with
Dean Martin in
All In a Night's
Work (1961). Sinatra and
Martin co-starred in many more
films together, the first being
the Rat Pack opus
Ocean's
Eleven (1960), which also
featured a cameo by
MacLaine.
Vincente Minnelli and Dean Martin
worked together again just two
years after
Some Came
Running, on the musical
Bells Are Ringing (1960),
co-starring Judy Holliday.
While Frank Sinatra clashed with
director Minnelli during the
filming of
Some Came
Running, he obviously got
along fine with director of
photography William H. Daniels,
who shot Sinatra's next four
movies:
A Hole in the Head
and
Never So Few in 1959,
and
Can-Can and
Ocean's
Eleven in 1960.
by John Miller
Famous Quotes from SOME CAME
RUNNING
Dave (Frank Sinatra): I'll have
the best room in the house.
Hotel clerk (Chuck Courtney):
Seven-fifty a day?
Dave: I once promised myself that
if I had to come back here I'd
have the best room in the
house.
Frank (Arthur Kennedy): Oh, I
know, I know - It's getting a
little thin on top, but like they
say, not much grass on a busy
street.
Dave: You may be losing your
hair, but you haven't lost your
razor sharp wit. You wanna
drink?
Frank: What - at 10:30 in the
morning?
Dave: I don't watch a
clock.
Frank: Say, why don't you have
diner with us. I'd like it very
much. Not that it'll look funny
if you don't, you know,
but...
Bama (Dean Martin): You sorta
stuck the needle in ol' Frank
where it hurts - y'know, puttin'
your money in a bank he ain't
with.
Dave: News sure gets around
fast.
Bama: 'Bout the only thing in
town that does. Do you play
cards, Mr. Hirsh?
Dawn (Betty Lou Keim): Bumming
around, doing all sorts of jobs...didn't that help to make you a
writer?
Dave: Dawn, honey, bumming
around can only help make you a
bum.
Gwen (Martha Hyer): You know,
I've watched every step of your
career with a great deal of
interest.
Dave: You must have a lot of
spare time.
Gwen: I wish I could influence
you to start writing again.
Dave: Good. Then we'd be
pen-pals.
Gwen: I would like to - I started
to say stimulate you - I would
like to help you, if you decide to
start writing. I am a good
critic.
Dave: Would you mind dropping me
on the corner - on my head,
please.
Ginny (Shirley MacLaine): You
know the only time you talk nice
to me is when you're loaded?
Dave: Let's get loaded.
Dave: You know what I don't
figure? You drink three drinks to
my one, and you look like a
milk-fed quarterback.
Bama: That all depends on what a
man's cut out for - I can drink,
and you can write.
Bama: I don't know what it is
about them pigs, but they always
look better at night.
Dave: Apparently you didn't hear
what I said. I'm in love with
you.
Gwen: And I was avoiding the
obvious comment that you said that
with the ease of a man who's said
that rather often to quite an
assortment of women.
Ginny (upon hearing Dave's short
story): No, honest - I really
liked it a lot. Golly, just think
¿ you can put those words down on
paper like that, and all I can do
is hem brassieres. You know, it
really makes me feel like a
terrible failure.
Compiled by John Miller
Trivia (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
Trivia and Other Fun Stuff on SOME
CAME RUNNING
While Some Came Running
lost in the five categories in
which it was nominated for an
Academy Award, director Vincente
Minnelli was still a happy man
after the 1959 Oscar®
ceremony. His other
heavily-nominated film that year,
Gigi, walked away with nine
wins, including Best Picture and
Best Director.
The shooting location of Madison,
Indiana, was featured in a
documentary produced during WWII
by the Office of War Information
as the "Model American
Community."
The principal actors in Some
Came Running were close-knit
and were soon reunited on screen.
Shirley MacLaine next co-starred
with Frank Sinatra in
Can-Can (1960), and with
Dean Martin in All In a Night's
Work (1961). Sinatra and
Martin co-starred in many more
films together, the first being
the Rat Pack opus Ocean's
Eleven (1960), which also
featured a cameo by
MacLaine.
Vincente Minnelli and Dean Martin
worked together again just two
years after Some Came
Running, on the musical
Bells Are Ringing (1960),
co-starring Judy Holliday.
While Frank Sinatra clashed with
director Minnelli during the
filming of Some Came
Running, he obviously got
along fine with director of
photography William H. Daniels,
who shot Sinatra's next four
movies: A Hole in the Head
and Never So Few in 1959,
and Can-Can and Ocean's
Eleven in 1960.
by John Miller
Famous Quotes from SOME CAME
RUNNING
Dave (Frank Sinatra): I'll have
the best room in the house.
Hotel clerk (Chuck Courtney):
Seven-fifty a day?
Dave: I once promised myself that
if I had to come back here I'd
have the best room in the
house.
Frank (Arthur Kennedy): Oh, I
know, I know - It's getting a
little thin on top, but like they
say, not much grass on a busy
street.
Dave: You may be losing your
hair, but you haven't lost your
razor sharp wit. You wanna
drink?
Frank: What - at 10:30 in the
morning?
Dave: I don't watch a
clock.
Frank: Say, why don't you have
diner with us. I'd like it very
much. Not that it'll look funny
if you don't, you know,
but...
Bama (Dean Martin): You sorta
stuck the needle in ol' Frank
where it hurts - y'know, puttin'
your money in a bank he ain't
with.
Dave: News sure gets around
fast.
Bama: 'Bout the only thing in
town that does. Do you play
cards, Mr. Hirsh?
Dawn (Betty Lou Keim): Bumming
around, doing all sorts of jobs...didn't that help to make you a
writer?
Dave: Dawn, honey, bumming
around can only help make you a
bum.
Gwen (Martha Hyer): You know,
I've watched every step of your
career with a great deal of
interest.
Dave: You must have a lot of
spare time.
Gwen: I wish I could influence
you to start writing again.
Dave: Good. Then we'd be
pen-pals.
Gwen: I would like to - I started
to say stimulate you - I would
like to help you, if you decide to
start writing. I am a good
critic.
Dave: Would you mind dropping me
on the corner - on my head,
please.
Ginny (Shirley MacLaine): You
know the only time you talk nice
to me is when you're loaded?
Dave: Let's get loaded.
Dave: You know what I don't
figure? You drink three drinks to
my one, and you look like a
milk-fed quarterback.
Bama: That all depends on what a
man's cut out for - I can drink,
and you can write.
Bama: I don't know what it is
about them pigs, but they always
look better at night.
Dave: Apparently you didn't hear
what I said. I'm in love with
you.
Gwen: And I was avoiding the
obvious comment that you said that
with the ease of a man who's said
that rather often to quite an
assortment of women.
Ginny (upon hearing Dave's short
story): No, honest - I really
liked it a lot. Golly, just think
¿ you can put those words down on
paper like that, and all I can do
is hem brassieres. You know, it
really makes me feel like a
terrible failure.
Compiled by John Miller
The Big Idea (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
The Big Idea Behind SOME
CAME RUNNING
James Jones' debut novel,
From
Here to Eternity, proved to be a
critical success and a national
best-seller upon its publication in
1951. It also provided Frank Sinatra
with his famed "comeback" role as
Private Maggio when it was adapted
for the screen in 1953. Jones
subsequently set out to write a
worthy follow-up for his sophomore
effort. MGM bought the movie rights
to this next novel almost a year
before publication, paying $250,000
for it in January 1957.
Some Came
Running, all 1,266 pages of it,
was finally released by Scribner's in
November, 1957 - more than six years
after the publication of Jones' first
novel. Literary critics were not
overly impressed with the book,
calling it rambling and
self-indulgent. MGM was undeterred,
however, and was determined to create
an effective melodrama out of the
Jones epic.
Sol C. Siegel had just taken over
from Dore Schary as MGM production
chief, and under his supervision a
screenwriting team was assigned to
condense Jones' book down to feature
film size. John Patrick and Arthur
Sheekman cut out many of the book's
secondary characters, eliminated
confusing flashbacks, and condensed
the timeline from three years to
several weeks. Siegel first gave
thought to casting bankable star
Glenn Ford in the lead, then hit upon
a bit of stunt casting - namely,
Frank Sinatra, who had been such a
smash in the film of Jones' first
novel. Sinatra's price had gone up
quite a bit since the dark days of
1953. His fee for
Some Came
Running and two other Metro films
was a then-astounding $400,000
against ten-percent of the gross
profits.
Vincente Minnelli had just returned
from shooting
The Reluctant
Debutante (1958) when MGM offered
him
Some Came Running to
direct. For Minnelli, it was a
wonderful opportunity to explore
small-town life in America and a
welcome change of pace after months
of filming in Europe. Minnelli later
wrote in his autobiography, "The
James Jones novel was long and
rambling, heavily populated, but I
felt the main characters were
interesting and well thought out."
So he took on the rigorous schedule -
six months to turn a first-draft
script into a film in time for an
Oscar®-qualifying showing in Los
Angeles before the end of
1958.
Minnelli set about casting the rest
of the picture. Sinatra pal Dean
Martin was a natural as the hero's
gambling buddy Bama Dillert. For the
showy role of dimwitted Ginny
Moorhead, Sinatra suggested Shirley
MacLaine because he had seen her on a
Pat Boone TV special, and because (as
MacLaine was to write later), "they
couldn't get Shelley Winters."
MacLaine continued, "Upon learning
that I had landed the role of Ginny
Moorhead, I immediately went to a
specialty store and had a stuffed toy
dog made, which I would use as a prop
for the role. I boarded a bus for
Madison and arrived on location
completely in character. Frank saw
me get off the bus and just fell down
laughing, 'That's Ginny,' he
said."
With filming set to begin in early
August in Madison, Indiana, Sinatra
and Martin rented a house adjacent to
the hotel where the rest of the cast
and crew would be housed. In their
personal bungalow, Frank and Dean
could relax, drink, play cards and
play host to assorted colorful
out-of-town guests. Shirley MacLaine
later called these guests "The Boys
from Chicago" and said, "I didn't
know who they were. I only knew that
the nightlife of poker, jokes, pasta,
and booze went on until five a.m.
Our calls were at six a.m."
by John Miller
The Big Idea (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
The Big Idea Behind SOME
CAME RUNNING
James Jones' debut novel, From
Here to Eternity, proved to be a
critical success and a national
best-seller upon its publication in
1951. It also provided Frank Sinatra
with his famed "comeback" role as
Private Maggio when it was adapted
for the screen in 1953. Jones
subsequently set out to write a
worthy follow-up for his sophomore
effort. MGM bought the movie rights
to this next novel almost a year
before publication, paying $250,000
for it in January 1957. Some Came
Running, all 1,266 pages of it,
was finally released by Scribner's in
November, 1957 - more than six years
after the publication of Jones' first
novel. Literary critics were not
overly impressed with the book,
calling it rambling and
self-indulgent. MGM was undeterred,
however, and was determined to create
an effective melodrama out of the
Jones epic.
Sol C. Siegel had just taken over
from Dore Schary as MGM production
chief, and under his supervision a
screenwriting team was assigned to
condense Jones' book down to feature
film size. John Patrick and Arthur
Sheekman cut out many of the book's
secondary characters, eliminated
confusing flashbacks, and condensed
the timeline from three years to
several weeks. Siegel first gave
thought to casting bankable star
Glenn Ford in the lead, then hit upon
a bit of stunt casting - namely,
Frank Sinatra, who had been such a
smash in the film of Jones' first
novel. Sinatra's price had gone up
quite a bit since the dark days of
1953. His fee for Some Came
Running and two other Metro films
was a then-astounding $400,000
against ten-percent of the gross
profits.
Vincente Minnelli had just returned
from shooting The Reluctant
Debutante (1958) when MGM offered
him Some Came Running to
direct. For Minnelli, it was a
wonderful opportunity to explore
small-town life in America and a
welcome change of pace after months
of filming in Europe. Minnelli later
wrote in his autobiography, "The
James Jones novel was long and
rambling, heavily populated, but I
felt the main characters were
interesting and well thought out."
So he took on the rigorous schedule -
six months to turn a first-draft
script into a film in time for an
Oscar®-qualifying showing in Los
Angeles before the end of
1958.
Minnelli set about casting the rest
of the picture. Sinatra pal Dean
Martin was a natural as the hero's
gambling buddy Bama Dillert. For the
showy role of dimwitted Ginny
Moorhead, Sinatra suggested Shirley
MacLaine because he had seen her on a
Pat Boone TV special, and because (as
MacLaine was to write later), "they
couldn't get Shelley Winters."
MacLaine continued, "Upon learning
that I had landed the role of Ginny
Moorhead, I immediately went to a
specialty store and had a stuffed toy
dog made, which I would use as a prop
for the role. I boarded a bus for
Madison and arrived on location
completely in character. Frank saw
me get off the bus and just fell down
laughing, 'That's Ginny,' he
said."
With filming set to begin in early
August in Madison, Indiana, Sinatra
and Martin rented a house adjacent to
the hotel where the rest of the cast
and crew would be housed. In their
personal bungalow, Frank and Dean
could relax, drink, play cards and
play host to assorted colorful
out-of-town guests. Shirley MacLaine
later called these guests "The Boys
from Chicago" and said, "I didn't
know who they were. I only knew that
the nightlife of poker, jokes, pasta,
and booze went on until five a.m.
Our calls were at six a.m."
by John Miller
Behind the Camera (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
Behind the Camera on SOME CAME
RUNNING
The entire cast and crew of
Some
Came Running traveled to Madison,
Indiana, for the majority of filming
but after the town's initial
excitement over Frank Sinatra's
arrival, an antagonistic relationship
developed between the star and the
townspeople after the press reported
some disparaging comments from
Sinatra about their fair city. As
director Vincente Minnelli observed,
"The people of Madison..weren't aware
of what they had in their midst.
They thought Frank and his friends
were just plain movie stars, to be
ogled and fondled. But Frank chooses
the subjects of his familiarity -
they don't choose him. The fireworks
were inevitable." Shirley MacLaine
takes over the story: "The people of
Madison surrounded the house night
and day, sometimes four abreast,
hoping and waiting to see these male
movie idols. We had to keep the
curtains drawn for privacy and that
soon started to wear on all of us. It
was like living in a tomb! It became
a surreal experience as women would
break through the police barricade,
enter the house and target Frank and
Dean, ripping at their
clothes."
In her autobiography, MacLaine would
later describe how the actors and
director got along during the
close-quarters shooting in Madison.
"I was comfortable and friendly being
around the guys in the group," she
said, "because I was perceived by
most of them as a mascot. I was the
only woman they allowed in the house...I was a pal, maybe even one of the
boys." She thought that Martin
turned in his best ever performance,
because "he was a lot like Bama, a
loner with his own code of ethics who
would never compromise, so maybe it
wasn't really a performance."
MacLaine went on to say that "Neither
[Dean] nor Frank liked Vincente
Minnelli. They thought he was too
precious and pursed his lips too
much." She herself thought he was
"an excellent director, simply
because he didn't direct much. He
'let' us actors find our own
characters and our own way. Dean
thrived on the freedom he felt with
Vincente¿ but Frank was threatened by
this way of working because the
freedom of choice exposed him too
much." Director Vincente Minnelli
related how he gave Sinatra and
Martin advice on approaching their
characters: "I think you should
approach each other - as if you were
two matrons being introduced at a
party in Beverly Hills. Both of you
used to be hookers, but you're now
married to producers and are totally
respectable. But when you look at
each other, you know, you both
know."
Characters often have their own color
codes in
Some Came Running,
and even the social settings dictate
different color approaches.
Carefully chosen colors are used as
exclamation points in certain scenes.
Minnelli alluded to this
consideration when he described,
"Even after we'd started filming, I'd
roam the streets of Madison. I came
across a red brick building with a
neon sign, set off the street, and
immediately cast it as the house Bama
would be living in."
On Sinatra's acting style, Minnelli
wrote, "Frank hated to rehearse.
Prior to shooting each scene, I would
work with other members of the cast
until the last moment. Frank would
then be called in, we'd go over the
scene once again, and shoot. He gave
me everything I wanted." Minnelli
and Sinatra clashed famously during
the filming of the climactic carnival
scene. Minnelli took too much time
setting up a shot with a Ferris wheel
and then decided to move the giant
wheel, instead of moving the camera,
to get the effect he wanted. Then,
according to MacLaine, "Frank bolted
toward his limo, dove into it
headfirst, and ordered the driver to
the airport. He went back to Los
Angeles, and Dean went with him."
Minnelli defended his actions in his
autobiography: "Folklore suggests
that the Ferris wheel had to be moved
three inches to satisfy my esoteric
tastes. The reason for the move was
somewhat more practical. The camera
wouldn't pick it up in the long shots
unless it was moved six feet. It was
important that the Ferris wheel be
seen from all angles, since it was
the focal point of the
scene."
Tempers cooled all around once
shooting moved back to California
soundstages. Here Minnelli bowed to
another Sinatra demand, though; the
shooting day would be from noon to
eight p.m. Filming on the picture
wrapped six days ahead of schedule,
on October 21st. Editor Adrienne
Fazan compiled a final cut for the
film's sneak preview and the Los
Angeles showing that qualified it for
the Academy Awards. The official
opening would take place in New York
in January 1959.
by John Miller
Behind the Camera (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
Behind the Camera on SOME CAME
RUNNING
The entire cast and crew of Some
Came Running traveled to Madison,
Indiana, for the majority of filming
but after the town's initial
excitement over Frank Sinatra's
arrival, an antagonistic relationship
developed between the star and the
townspeople after the press reported
some disparaging comments from
Sinatra about their fair city. As
director Vincente Minnelli observed,
"The people of Madison..weren't aware
of what they had in their midst.
They thought Frank and his friends
were just plain movie stars, to be
ogled and fondled. But Frank chooses
the subjects of his familiarity -
they don't choose him. The fireworks
were inevitable." Shirley MacLaine
takes over the story: "The people of
Madison surrounded the house night
and day, sometimes four abreast,
hoping and waiting to see these male
movie idols. We had to keep the
curtains drawn for privacy and that
soon started to wear on all of us. It
was like living in a tomb! It became
a surreal experience as women would
break through the police barricade,
enter the house and target Frank and
Dean, ripping at their
clothes."
In her autobiography, MacLaine would
later describe how the actors and
director got along during the
close-quarters shooting in Madison.
"I was comfortable and friendly being
around the guys in the group," she
said, "because I was perceived by
most of them as a mascot. I was the
only woman they allowed in the house...I was a pal, maybe even one of the
boys." She thought that Martin
turned in his best ever performance,
because "he was a lot like Bama, a
loner with his own code of ethics who
would never compromise, so maybe it
wasn't really a performance."
MacLaine went on to say that "Neither
[Dean] nor Frank liked Vincente
Minnelli. They thought he was too
precious and pursed his lips too
much." She herself thought he was
"an excellent director, simply
because he didn't direct much. He
'let' us actors find our own
characters and our own way. Dean
thrived on the freedom he felt with
Vincente¿ but Frank was threatened by
this way of working because the
freedom of choice exposed him too
much." Director Vincente Minnelli
related how he gave Sinatra and
Martin advice on approaching their
characters: "I think you should
approach each other - as if you were
two matrons being introduced at a
party in Beverly Hills. Both of you
used to be hookers, but you're now
married to producers and are totally
respectable. But when you look at
each other, you know, you both
know."
Characters often have their own color
codes in Some Came Running,
and even the social settings dictate
different color approaches.
Carefully chosen colors are used as
exclamation points in certain scenes.
Minnelli alluded to this
consideration when he described,
"Even after we'd started filming, I'd
roam the streets of Madison. I came
across a red brick building with a
neon sign, set off the street, and
immediately cast it as the house Bama
would be living in."
On Sinatra's acting style, Minnelli
wrote, "Frank hated to rehearse.
Prior to shooting each scene, I would
work with other members of the cast
until the last moment. Frank would
then be called in, we'd go over the
scene once again, and shoot. He gave
me everything I wanted." Minnelli
and Sinatra clashed famously during
the filming of the climactic carnival
scene. Minnelli took too much time
setting up a shot with a Ferris wheel
and then decided to move the giant
wheel, instead of moving the camera,
to get the effect he wanted. Then,
according to MacLaine, "Frank bolted
toward his limo, dove into it
headfirst, and ordered the driver to
the airport. He went back to Los
Angeles, and Dean went with him."
Minnelli defended his actions in his
autobiography: "Folklore suggests
that the Ferris wheel had to be moved
three inches to satisfy my esoteric
tastes. The reason for the move was
somewhat more practical. The camera
wouldn't pick it up in the long shots
unless it was moved six feet. It was
important that the Ferris wheel be
seen from all angles, since it was
the focal point of the
scene."
Tempers cooled all around once
shooting moved back to California
soundstages. Here Minnelli bowed to
another Sinatra demand, though; the
shooting day would be from noon to
eight p.m. Filming on the picture
wrapped six days ahead of schedule,
on October 21st. Editor Adrienne
Fazan compiled a final cut for the
film's sneak preview and the Los
Angeles showing that qualified it for
the Academy Awards. The official
opening would take place in New York
in January 1959.
by John Miller
The Critics Corner (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
THE CRITIC'S CORNER - SOME CAME
RUNNING (1958)
"As bromide follows bromide, the
spectator slowly comes to a drugged
realization that the script is not
making fun of anybody's beliefs, but
simply stating its own. After that,
there is nothing to hang around for
except occasional flickers of
brilliant overacting by Shirley
MacLaine, the chance to watch Frank
Sinatra play Frank Sinatra, and the
spectacle of Director Vincente
Minnelli's talents dissolving in the
general mess of the story, like
sunlight in a slag heap." -
Time.
"Shirley [MacLaine] giggled inanely
where other actresses would have gone
throaty in big scenes. She ate like
a sloven, she sang roisterously and
out of tune, she dressed blowsily and
she slopped make-up on her face as
her beautiful co-star, Martha Hyer,
delivered a great speech about the
moral latitude that must be allowed
men of talent. Shirley never
comprehended a word. ¿[Sinatra's]
looking away when she meltingly turns
to kiss him at the ending of the
crummy marriage ceremony makes the
finale all hers. So does his gloomy
indifference to the wedding
certificate she values so highly.
'You don't have to understand,' says
Ginny, 'to be able to feel.' That is
the most poignant cry from the human
heart that the screen has recorded in
some time." - Jack Moffitt,
The
Hollywood Reporter.
"Sinatra moves with impressive speed
and precision in every situation,
with occasional flashes of humor.
It's his picture, but he has
distinguished support. Miss MacLaine
portrays a young woman out on her own
in the world, who admits she doesn't
understand many things, but knows,
nevertheless, that she is in love
with Sinatra. Her elfin quality
shines through the veneer and makes
her characterization sympathetic." -
James M Jerauld,
Motion Picture
Herald.
"This intelligent and sensitive
adaptation of a best-selling novel
is, apart from his musical comedies,
Minnelli's best romantic film." -
Georges Sadoul,
Dictionary of
Films.
"A marvelous, garish film about a
writer...the dramatic curve of
Sinatra's agonising voyage of
self-discovery through the cheap
neon-lit bars and cold houses, which
ends in the calm of self-acceptance,
is given an intensified realism which
precisely reflects the neurotic
'writerly' view of life that he must
overcome before he can write again."
- Phil Hardy,
TimeOut Film
Guide.
"Strident and rather pointless melodrama with solid acting and production values." -
Halliwell's Film & Video Guide.
"The story is pure melodrama, despite the intention of the original novel's author, James Jones, to invest it with greater stature...Sinatra gives a top performance, sardonic and compassionate, full of touches both instinctive and technical." -
Variety Movie Guide.
Compiled by John Miller
Awards & Honors
Shirley MacLaine was nominated for an
Academy Award and a Golden Globe for
her leading role in
Some Came
Running. (She lost to Susan
Hayward for her work in
I Want to
Live!). In addition, the film
was nominated for an Oscar® in
these categories: Best Supporting
Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best
Supporting Actress (Martha Hyer),
Best Costume Design (Walter
Plunkett), and Best Music, Original
Song (Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn
for "To Love and Be Loved").
by John Miller
The Critics Corner (1/14/2006) - SOME CAME RUNNING
THE CRITIC'S CORNER - SOME CAME
RUNNING (1958)
"As bromide follows bromide, the
spectator slowly comes to a drugged
realization that the script is not
making fun of anybody's beliefs, but
simply stating its own. After that,
there is nothing to hang around for
except occasional flickers of
brilliant overacting by Shirley
MacLaine, the chance to watch Frank
Sinatra play Frank Sinatra, and the
spectacle of Director Vincente
Minnelli's talents dissolving in the
general mess of the story, like
sunlight in a slag heap." -
Time.
"Shirley [MacLaine] giggled inanely
where other actresses would have gone
throaty in big scenes. She ate like
a sloven, she sang roisterously and
out of tune, she dressed blowsily and
she slopped make-up on her face as
her beautiful co-star, Martha Hyer,
delivered a great speech about the
moral latitude that must be allowed
men of talent. Shirley never
comprehended a word. ¿[Sinatra's]
looking away when she meltingly turns
to kiss him at the ending of the
crummy marriage ceremony makes the
finale all hers. So does his gloomy
indifference to the wedding
certificate she values so highly.
'You don't have to understand,' says
Ginny, 'to be able to feel.' That is
the most poignant cry from the human
heart that the screen has recorded in
some time." - Jack Moffitt, The
Hollywood Reporter.
"Sinatra moves with impressive speed
and precision in every situation,
with occasional flashes of humor.
It's his picture, but he has
distinguished support. Miss MacLaine
portrays a young woman out on her own
in the world, who admits she doesn't
understand many things, but knows,
nevertheless, that she is in love
with Sinatra. Her elfin quality
shines through the veneer and makes
her characterization sympathetic." -
James M Jerauld, Motion Picture
Herald.
"This intelligent and sensitive
adaptation of a best-selling novel
is, apart from his musical comedies,
Minnelli's best romantic film." -
Georges Sadoul, Dictionary of
Films.
"A marvelous, garish film about a
writer...the dramatic curve of
Sinatra's agonising voyage of
self-discovery through the cheap
neon-lit bars and cold houses, which
ends in the calm of self-acceptance,
is given an intensified realism which
precisely reflects the neurotic
'writerly' view of life that he must
overcome before he can write again."
- Phil Hardy, TimeOut Film
Guide.
"Strident and rather pointless melodrama with solid acting and production values." - Halliwell's Film & Video Guide.
"The story is pure melodrama, despite the intention of the original novel's author, James Jones, to invest it with greater stature...Sinatra gives a top performance, sardonic and compassionate, full of touches both instinctive and technical." - Variety Movie Guide.
Compiled by John Miller
Awards & Honors
Shirley MacLaine was nominated for an
Academy Award and a Golden Globe for
her leading role in Some Came
Running. (She lost to Susan
Hayward for her work in I Want to
Live!). In addition, the film
was nominated for an Oscar® in
these categories: Best Supporting
Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best
Supporting Actress (Martha Hyer),
Best Costume Design (Walter
Plunkett), and Best Music, Original
Song (Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn
for "To Love and Be Loved").
by John Miller
Some Came Running
Encouraged by the sales and the critical acclaim of his book,
From Here to Eternity, James Jones set down to write the great American novel. It took him seven years and the result was
Some Came Running, the story of a war veteran with literary aspirations who returns to his hometown of Parkham, Illinois after a failed writing career. While it wasn't the masterpiece Jones hoped it would be, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, hoping to duplicate the success of
From Here to Eternity (1953), optioned the book and cast Frank Sinatra as the lead, Dave Hirsh. Sinatra, in turn, approved Dean Martin for the role of his gambling pal, Bama Dillert. Martin had recently split from a partnership with Jerry Lewis and was just beginning to prove himself as an actor. During the filming, both Sinatra and Martin became close friends and, in many ways,
Some Came Running (1958) marked the historic beginnings of the 'Rat Pack'.
Vincente Minnelli had just returned from shooting
The Reluctant Debutante (1958) when MGM offered him
Some Came Running to direct. For Minnelli, it was a wonderful opportunity to explore small-town life in America and a welcome change of pace after months of filming in Europe. The entire cast and crew traveled to Madison, Indiana, for the majority of filming but after the town's initial excitement over Sinatra's arrival, an antagonistic relationship developed between the star and the townspeople after the press reported some disparaging comments from Sinatra about their fair city.
Minnelli, who was known for his perfectionism on the set, also clashed with Sinatra on retakes and shooting schedules. Sinatra preferred one take and a work schedule that ran from noon to 8 p.m. as opposed to starting the day with a 7 a.m. start time. Probably their biggest confrontation occurred during the filming of the climatic carnival scene. Minnelli took too much time setting up a shot with a Ferris wheel and then decided to move the Ferris wheel, instead of moving the camera, to get the effect he wanted. Sinatra stormed off the set in disgust and returned to Los Angeles until the head of production at Metro coaxed him back.
Shirley MacLaine, however, saw a different side of Sinatra and was grateful to be included in his inner circle. She became an honorary member of the "Rat Pack," co-starring in some of their films (she has a cameo in
Ocean's 11 1960) and often turned up for group gatherings. In her autobiography,
Dance While You Can, MacLaine recalled working with Sinatra on the film: "I always thought he was responsible for my good performance in
Some Came Running. 'Let the kid get killed,' he said to Vincente Minnelli (the director) and to the head of the studio. 'If she dies, she'll get more sympathy. Then she'll get nominated.' He was right. Frank's a good guy. At least he always was to me."
In addition to MacLaine's Oscar nomination for Best Actress in
Some Came Running, the film was also in the running for Best Supporting Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best Supporting Actress (Martha Hyer), Best Song ("To Love and Be Loved" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen), and Best Costume Design. Although
Some Came Running didn't win in any of the categories, 1959 was a banner year for Vincente Minnelli who won the Best Director Oscar for
Gigi. He could be proud of the fact that together his two films racked up a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Producer: Sol C. Siegel
Screenplay: John Patrick, Arthur Sheekman, based on the novel by James Jones
Cinematography: William H. Daniels
Editor: Adrienne Fazan
Art Direction: William A. Horning, Urie McCleary
Music: Elmer Bernstein, Jimmy Van Heusen
Cast: Frank Sinatra (Dave Hirsh), Dean Martin (Bama Dillert), Shirley MacLaine (Ginny Moorhead), Martha Hyer (Gwen French), Arthur Kennedy (Frank Hirsh).
C-137m. Letterboxed. Close captioning.
by Jeff Stafford
Some Came Running
Encouraged by the sales and the critical acclaim of his book, From Here to Eternity, James Jones set down to write the great American novel. It took him seven years and the result was Some Came Running, the story of a war veteran with literary aspirations who returns to his hometown of Parkham, Illinois after a failed writing career. While it wasn't the masterpiece Jones hoped it would be, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, hoping to duplicate the success of From Here to Eternity (1953), optioned the book and cast Frank Sinatra as the lead, Dave Hirsh. Sinatra, in turn, approved Dean Martin for the role of his gambling pal, Bama Dillert. Martin had recently split from a partnership with Jerry Lewis and was just beginning to prove himself as an actor. During the filming, both Sinatra and Martin became close friends and, in many ways, Some Came Running (1958) marked the historic beginnings of the 'Rat Pack'.
Vincente Minnelli had just returned from shooting The Reluctant Debutante (1958) when MGM offered him Some Came Running to direct. For Minnelli, it was a wonderful opportunity to explore small-town life in America and a welcome change of pace after months of filming in Europe. The entire cast and crew traveled to Madison, Indiana, for the majority of filming but after the town's initial excitement over Sinatra's arrival, an antagonistic relationship developed between the star and the townspeople after the press reported some disparaging comments from Sinatra about their fair city.
Minnelli, who was known for his perfectionism on the set, also clashed with Sinatra on retakes and shooting schedules. Sinatra preferred one take and a work schedule that ran from noon to 8 p.m. as opposed to starting the day with a 7 a.m. start time. Probably their biggest confrontation occurred during the filming of the climatic carnival scene. Minnelli took too much time setting up a shot with a Ferris wheel and then decided to move the Ferris wheel, instead of moving the camera, to get the effect he wanted. Sinatra stormed off the set in disgust and returned to Los Angeles until the head of production at Metro coaxed him back.
Shirley MacLaine, however, saw a different side of Sinatra and was grateful to be included in his inner circle. She became an honorary member of the "Rat Pack," co-starring in some of their films (she has a cameo in Ocean's 11 1960) and often turned up for group gatherings. In her autobiography, Dance While You Can, MacLaine recalled working with Sinatra on the film: "I always thought he was responsible for my good performance in Some Came Running. 'Let the kid get killed,' he said to Vincente Minnelli (the director) and to the head of the studio. 'If she dies, she'll get more sympathy. Then she'll get nominated.' He was right. Frank's a good guy. At least he always was to me."
In addition to MacLaine's Oscar nomination for Best Actress in Some Came Running, the film was also in the running for Best Supporting Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best Supporting Actress (Martha Hyer), Best Song ("To Love and Be Loved" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen), and Best Costume Design. Although Some Came Running didn't win in any of the categories, 1959 was a banner year for Vincente Minnelli who won the Best Director Oscar for Gigi. He could be proud of the fact that together his two films racked up a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations.
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Producer: Sol C. Siegel
Screenplay: John Patrick, Arthur Sheekman, based on the novel by James Jones
Cinematography: William H. Daniels
Editor: Adrienne Fazan
Art Direction: William A. Horning, Urie McCleary
Music: Elmer Bernstein, Jimmy Van Heusen
Cast: Frank Sinatra (Dave Hirsh), Dean Martin (Bama Dillert), Shirley MacLaine (Ginny Moorhead), Martha Hyer (Gwen French), Arthur Kennedy (Frank Hirsh).
C-137m. Letterboxed. Close captioning.
by Jeff Stafford
Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004)
Elmer Bernstein, the film composer who created unforgettable music for such classics as
The Magnificent Seven,
To Kill a Mockingbird, and won his only Academy Award for
Thoroughly Modern Millie, died of natural causes at his Ojai, California home on August 17. He was 82.
Elmer Bernstein, who was not related to Leonard Bernstein, was born on August 4, 1922, in New York City. He displayed a talent in music at a very young age, and was given a scholarship to study piano at Juilliard when he was only 12. He entered New York University in 1939, where he majored in music education. After graduating in 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps, where he remained throughout World War II, mostly working on scores for propaganda films. It was around this time he became interested in film scoring when he went to see William Dieterle's
The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), a film whose score was composed by Bernard Herrmann, a man Bernstein idolized as the ideal film composer.
Bernstein, who originally intended to be a concert pianist and gave several performances in New York after being discharged from military service, decided to relocate to Hollywood in 1950. He did his first score for the football film
Saturday's Hero (1950), and then proved his worth with his trenchant, moody music for the Joan Crawford vehicle
Sudden Fear (1952). Rumors of his "communist" leanings came to surface at this time, and, feeling the effects of the blacklist, he found himself scoring such cheesy fare as
Robot Monster;
Cat Women of the Moon (both 1953); and
Miss Robin Caruso (1954).
Despite his politics, Otto Preminger hired him to do the music for
The Man With the Golden Arm, (1955) in which Frank Sinatra played a heroin-addicted jazz musician. Fittingly, Bernstein used some memorable jazz motifs for the film and his fine scoring put him back on the map. It prompted the attention of Cecil B. De Mille, who had Bernstein replace the ailing Victor Young on
The Ten Commandments (1956). His thundering, heavily orchestrated score perfectly suite the bombastic epic, and he promptly earned his first Oscar® nod for music.
After
The Ten Commandments (1956), Bernstein continued to distinguish himself in a row of fine films:
The Rainmaker (1956),
Sweet Smell of Success (1957),
Some Came Running (1958),
The Magnificent Seven (a most memorable galloping march, 1960);
To Kill a Mockingbird (unique in its use of single piano notes and haunting use of a flute, 1962);
Hud (1963); earned a deserved Academy Award for the delightful, "flapper" music for the Julie Andrews period comedy
Thoroughly Modern Mille (1967), and
True Grit (1969).
His career faltered by the '80s though, as he did some routine Bill Murray comedies:
Meatballs (1980) and
Stripes (1981). But then director John Landis had Bernstein write the sumptuous score for his comedy
Trading Places (1983), and Bernstein soon found himself back in the game. He then graced the silver screen for a few more years composing some terrific pieces for such popular commercial hits as
My Left Foot (1989),
A River Runs Through It (1992) and
The Age of Innocence (1993).
Far From Heaven, his final feature film score, received an Oscar® nomination for Best Score in 2002. He is survived by his wife, Eve; sons Peter and Gregory; daughters Emilie and Elizabeth; and five grandchildren.
by Michael T. Toole
Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004)
Elmer Bernstein, the film composer who created unforgettable music for such classics as The Magnificent Seven, To Kill a Mockingbird, and won his only Academy Award for Thoroughly Modern Millie, died of natural causes at his Ojai, California home on August 17. He was 82.
Elmer Bernstein, who was not related to Leonard Bernstein, was born on August 4, 1922, in New York City. He displayed a talent in music at a very young age, and was given a scholarship to study piano at Juilliard when he was only 12. He entered New York University in 1939, where he majored in music education. After graduating in 1942, he joined the Army Air Corps, where he remained throughout World War II, mostly working on scores for propaganda films. It was around this time he became interested in film scoring when he went to see William Dieterle's The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), a film whose score was composed by Bernard Herrmann, a man Bernstein idolized as the ideal film composer.
Bernstein, who originally intended to be a concert pianist and gave several performances in New York after being discharged from military service, decided to relocate to Hollywood in 1950. He did his first score for the football film Saturday's Hero (1950), and then proved his worth with his trenchant, moody music for the Joan Crawford vehicle Sudden Fear (1952). Rumors of his "communist" leanings came to surface at this time, and, feeling the effects of the blacklist, he found himself scoring such cheesy fare as Robot Monster; Cat Women of the Moon (both 1953); and Miss Robin Caruso (1954).
Despite his politics, Otto Preminger hired him to do the music for The Man With the Golden Arm, (1955) in which Frank Sinatra played a heroin-addicted jazz musician. Fittingly, Bernstein used some memorable jazz motifs for the film and his fine scoring put him back on the map. It prompted the attention of Cecil B. De Mille, who had Bernstein replace the ailing Victor Young on The Ten Commandments (1956). His thundering, heavily orchestrated score perfectly suite the bombastic epic, and he promptly earned his first Oscar® nod for music.
After The Ten Commandments (1956), Bernstein continued to distinguish himself in a row of fine films: The Rainmaker (1956), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Some Came Running (1958), The Magnificent Seven (a most memorable galloping march, 1960); To Kill a Mockingbird (unique in its use of single piano notes and haunting use of a flute, 1962); Hud (1963); earned a deserved Academy Award for the delightful, "flapper" music for the Julie Andrews period comedy Thoroughly Modern Mille (1967), and True Grit (1969).
His career faltered by the '80s though, as he did some routine Bill Murray comedies: Meatballs (1980) and Stripes (1981). But then director John Landis had Bernstein write the sumptuous score for his comedy Trading Places (1983), and Bernstein soon found himself back in the game. He then graced the silver screen for a few more years composing some terrific pieces for such popular commercial hits as My Left Foot (1989), A River Runs Through It (1992) and The Age of Innocence (1993). Far From Heaven, his final feature film score, received an Oscar® nomination for Best Score in 2002. He is survived by his wife, Eve; sons Peter and Gregory; daughters Emilie and Elizabeth; and five grandchildren.
by Michael T. Toole
