The Visit (1964 film)

The Visit is a 1964 drama film directed by Bernhard Wicki, adapted by Ben Barzman and Maurice Valency from Friedrich Dürrenmatt's 1956 play of the same name. It stars Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, who also produced. Irina Demick, Paolo Stoppa, Hans Christian Blech, Romolo Valli, Valentina Cortese and Claude Dauphin play supporting roles.

The Visit
Original U.S. film poster
Directed byBernhard Wicki
Written byBen Barzman
Maurice Valency
Based onThe Visit
by Friedrich Durrenmatt
Produced byJulien Derode
Anthony Quinn
StarringIngrid Bergman
Anthony Quinn
CinematographyArmando Nannuzzi
Edited bySamuel E. Beetley
Françoise Diot
Music byRichard Arnell
Hans-Martin Majewski
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • 6 May 1964 (1964-05-06) (Cannes)
  • 31 July 1964 (1964-07-31) (France)
  • 17 September 1964 (1964-09-17) (West Germany)
  • 4 October 1964 (1964-10-04) (U.S.)
Running time
100 minutes
Country
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.1 million (US/ Canada)[3]

An international co-production between American, French, West German and Italian companies, The Visit premiered at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or. It was released in the United States on September 17, 1964, and received generally positive reviews.

Plot

Karla Zachanassian, a fabulously wealthy woman, returns to a decaying village that she had been forced to desert years earlier in disgrace. She bore a child by Serge Miller, who denied paternity. The purpose of Karla's visit is to arrange a deal with the town's inhabitants: in exchange for a vast sum of money, she wants Miller killed.

At first reluctant, the townspeople eventually accept the arrangement and Miller is condemned to death. At the last moment, Karla stops the execution and tells the citizens that they will have to live with the guilt of their murderous choice for the rest of their lives, while Miller will have to live with the knowledge that his friends and neighbors were willing to kill him for money.

Announcing that the visit is over, Karla leaves the town, taking with her Anya, a young woman whose life Karla fears may be damaged like her own.

Cast

Production

The fictional Central European village of Güllen was built on the backlots of Cinecittà Studios in Rome, while the exteriors were shot on-location in the town of Capranica.[1]

The film contains several differences from Friedrich Dürrenmatt's original play. A significant alteration is in the ending. In the film, Serge Miller's life is spared, but in the original play, the character (named Alfred Ill) is killed.

Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn would later costar again in the 1970 romantic melodrama A Walk in the Spring Rain.

Reception

According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $6,100,000 in film rentals to break even but earned only $2,635,000, losing money for the studio.[4]

Awards and nominations

See also

References
  1. "The Visit (1964)". AFI|Catalog. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  2. "Der BESUCH (1964)". BFI. Archived from the original on December 29, 2018. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  3. "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
  4. Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 323. ISBN 9780818404856.
  5. "Festival de Cannes: The Visit". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  6. "The 37th Academy Awards (1965) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
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