All the Brothers Were Valiant

All the Brothers Were Valiant is a 1953 Technicolor adventure drama film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Richard Thorpe. The film's screenplay was written by Harry Brown and based on the 1919 novel All the Brothers Were Valiant by Ben Ames Williams. The music score was led by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography by George J. Folsey.

For other uses, see All the Brothers Were Valiant (disambiguation).
All the Brothers Were Valiant
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRichard Thorpe
Written byHarry Brown
Based onAll the Brothers Were Valiant
1919 novel
by Ben Ames Williams
Produced byPandro S. Berman
StarringRobert Taylor
Stewart Granger
Ann Blyth
Betta St. John
Keenan Wynn
James Whitmore
CinematographyGeorge J. Folsey
Edited byFerris Webster
Music byMiklós Rózsa
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's Inc.[1]
Release date
  • 13 November 1953 (1953-11-13)
Running time
95 minutes
101 minutes (US)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,816,000[2]
Box office$4,628,000[2]

The film is a remake of the 1923 silent film starring Lon Chaney and produced by Metro Pictures (a forerunner of MGM). The 1923 film and a 1928 MGM version titled Across to Singapore are now both considered lost.

Plot

In the South Pacific, two brothers love the same woman. They fight over her and a bag of pearls on the floor of a lagoon. One of the brothers redeems himself by helping to prevent a mutiny.

Cast

Production

MGM bought the rights to the novel in 1936. Following the success of Captains Courageous, the studio announced that it would produce the film, to star Robert Taylor and Spencer Tracy.[3][4] However, plans were postponed.

In November 1951, the film was reactivated as a vehicle for Taylor and Stewart Granger.[5] Elizabeth Taylor was originally announced for the female lead.[6]

Filming began on location in Jamaica in early 1953 with Granger and Betta St. John.[7] While the unit was on location, Elizabeth Taylor, who had just given birth, was replaced by Ann Blyth.[8]

Granger later called the film a "crappy melodrama" but admitted: "I had an OK villain's part."[9] He said that the studio forced him to take the role instead of that which he truly wanted, the lead in Mogambo. He claimed that he had been promised the Mogambo role but that Dore Schary had reneged and given the role to Clark Gable. Granger enjoyed working with Robert Taylor, saying that Taylor "was the easiest person to work with but he had been entirely emasculated by the MGM brass who insisted that he was only a pretty face. He was convinced he wasn't really a good actor and his calm acceptance of this stigma infuriated me. He was such a nice guy, Bob, but he had even more hang-ups than I had."[10]

Lewis Stone died six months after completing filming.[11]

Reception

The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Color Cinematography (George J. Folsey).

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther panned the film: "What it all boils down to, in essence, is a lot of pseudo-salty South Seas whoop-de-do, put together with little distinction and without going off the studio lot."[12]

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $2,004,000 at the North American box office and $2,624,000 elsewhere. It recorded a profit of $958,000.[2]

In France, the film recorded admissions of 1,909,704.[13]

Proposed follow-up

In July 1953, MGM announced that it had optioned Black Pawl, another sailing adventure novel written by Ben Ames Williams. Although MGM intended the film as a follow-up to All the Brothers Were Valiant and planned to again cast Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger, the project did not come to fruition.[14]

References
  1. All the Brothers Were Valiant at the American Film Institute Catalog
  2. 'The Eddie Mannix Ledger’, Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study, Los Angeles
  3. "NEWS OF THE SCREEN: Metro Plans Second Sea Story-Selznick Increases Program by Two-Deal Denial From Schenck Of Local Origin Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.". The New York Times. February 24, 1937. p. 19.
  4. "News From Hollywood". New York Times. November 8, 1936. p. 31.
  5. "Drama: Eileen Christy Lead With Bill Shirley". Los Angeles Times. November 30, 1951. p. 26.
  6. Hedda Hopper's Staff (April 10, 1952). "Looking at Hollywood: Elizabeth Taylor to Play in Sea Adventure Film". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. C2.
  7. JOHN H. ROTHWELL OCHO RIOS, JAMAICA (February 8, 1953). "CAMERAS OVER THE CARIBBEAN". New York Times. p. X6.
  8. Schallert, Edwin (12 February 1953). "'Caesar' Pioneer to Do Gauguin; Adventuress Bids for Mala Powers". Los Angeles Times.
  9. Brian MacFarlane, An Autobiography of British Cinema, Methuen 1997, p. 230
  10. "All the Brothers Were Valiant", Turner Classic Movies at Turner Classic Movies
  11. "Lewis Stone, 'Judge Hardy' Of FilmsDies". The Washington Post. September 14, 1953. p. 16.
  12. Crowther, Bosley (December 29, 1953). "'All the Brothers Were Valiant,' a Yarn About Whalers, Opens at Loew's State". The New York Times. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  13. Box office information for Stewart Granger films in France at Box Office Story
  14. Schallert, Edwin (July 21, 1953). "Ghosts Will Gambol in 3D; 'Black Pawl' Due to Star Taylor, Granger". Los Angeles Times. p. A7.
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