A Certain Smile (film)
{{short description|1958 film}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = A Certain Smile
| image = ACertainSmile1958Poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical poster
| director = Jean Negulesco
| producer = Henry Ephron
| writer = Frances Goodrich
Albert Hackett
Françoise Sagan
| music = Alfred Newman
| starring = Rossano Brazzi
Joan Fontaine
| cinematography = Milton Krasner
| editing = Louis R. Loeffler
| distributor = Twentieth Century-Fox
| released = {{Film date|1958|07|31}}
| runtime = 104 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $2.3 million{{Sfn|Solomon|1989|p=251}}
| gross = $1.3 million (US rentals){{Sfn|Solomon|1989|p=227}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety213-1959-01/page/n46/mode/1up?q=%22top+grossers%22|magazine=Variety|title=Top Grossers of 1958|date=7 January 1959|page=48}} Please note figures are for US and Canada only and are domestic rentals accruing to distributors as opposed to theatre gross
}}
A Certain Smile is a 1958 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco, based on the book of the same name by Françoise Sagan.
Plot
In Paris, beautiful Dominique Vallon is involved with a young man, Bertrand Griot, until suddenly entering into an unwise week-long romance with his wealthy and married uncle, Luc Ferrand.
Cast
- Rossano Brazzi as Luc Ferrand
- Joan Fontaine as Françoise Ferrand
- Bradford Dillman as Bertrand Griot
- Christine Carère as Dominique Vallon
- Eduard Franz as M. Vallon
- Katherine Locke as Mme. Vallon
- Kathryn Givney as Mme. Griot
- Steven Geray as Denis
- Johnny Mathis as Himself
- Trude Wyler as Mme. Denis
- Sandy Livingston as Catherine
- Renate Hoy as Mlle. Minot
- Muzaffer Tema as Pierre
Production
Christine Carère was cast in the main role, although she didn't know any English at the time. She was brought to Hollywood and trained for ten months before filming.French Doll: Meet Christine Carere, a Tiny Bundle of Sheer Acting Talent / 'Mardi Gras' Is Next for Christine. [https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/image/372901121/ Chicago Tribune archives, 15 June 1958, page 90] The Production Code Administration only authorized the film after substantial changes to the novel's story line. Negulesco later agreed "that A Certain Smile has not much of Sagan. She herself did not like it and she also wrote an article against it. She was right in saying that that was not her book."Michelangelo Capua, Jean Negulesco: The Life and Films, McFarland 2017, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZAwDwAAQBAJ&dq=film+%22A+Certain+Smile%22&pg=PA107 p.107]
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| Award
! Category ! Nominee(s) ! Result |
|---|
| rowspan="3"| Academy Awards{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1959 |title=The 31st Academy Awards (1959) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2011-08-21 |work=oscars.org}}{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/86903/A-Certain-Smile/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018121829/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/86903/A-Certain-Smile/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2012 |title=NY Times: A Certain Smile |access-date=December 23, 2008}}
| Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and John DeCuir; | {{nom}} |
| Best Costume Design
| Charles LeMaire and Mary Wills | {{nom}} |
| Best Song
| rowspan="2"| "A Certain Smile" | {{nom}} |
| Laurel Awards
| Best Song | {{draw|5th Place}} |
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last=Solomon|first=Aubrey|title=Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History |series=The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series |location=Lanham, Maryland|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=1989|isbn=978-0-8108-4244-1}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0051466|title=A Certain Smile}}
{{Jean Negulesco}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Certain Smile, A}}
Category:1958 romantic drama films
Category:20th Century Fox films
Category:American romantic drama films
Category:1950s English-language films
Category:Films scored by Alfred Newman
Category:Films based on French novels
Category:Films based on works by Françoise Sagan