Autumn Leaves (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Autumn Leaves

| image = Autumn_Leaves_One_Sheet.jpg

| caption = Original theatrical poster

| director = Robert Aldrich

| producer = William Goetz

| writer = Jean Rouverol
Lewis Meltzer
Robert Blees

| starring = Joan Crawford

| music = Hans J. Salter

| cinematography = Charles Lang

| editing = Michael Luciano

| studio = William Goetz Productions

| distributor = Columbia Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1956|08|01|New York City|}}

| runtime = 106 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $765,000Alain Silver and James Ursini, Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich?, Limelight, 1995 p 244

| gross = $1.1 million (US)'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1956', Variety Weekly, January 2, 1957
11,216 admissions (France)[http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.com.au&sl=fr&u=http://www.boxofficestory.com/box-office-robert-aldrich-c23331915&usg=ALkJrhiBj0BwkGhyaAI9UwR7ZxAaQO_fGg French box office results for Robert Aldrich films] at Box Office Story

}}

Autumn Leaves is a 1956 American psychological drama film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Joan Crawford in an older woman/younger man tale of mental illness. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jean Rouverol and Hugo Butler, though it was credited to Jack Jevne (serving as a front), since Rouverol and Butler were blacklisted at the time of the film's release.

The film was produced by William Goetz. Aldrich won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 1956 Berlin International Film Festival.

Plot

Millicent "Milly" Wetherby works at home as a self-employed typist. One evening in a diner, she meets a lonely, younger U.S. Army veteran named Burt Hanson. They share a romantic date at the beach, kissing amidst the crashing waves, but Milly tells Burt to date someone his own age. A month later, Burt is waiting for the still-lonely Milly at her home and the two celebrate his new job at a department store. He proposes to her in a movie theater, and while she initially rejects the proposal, she reconsiders when she sees him walking away.

The next day, the couple gets married in Mexico. However, on the marriage license, he lists his place of birth as Chicago, though he had earlier told her he was born in Racine, Wisconsin. Once home, Burt's ex-wife, Virginia, appears, which shocks Milly because Burt told her that he had never been married. Virginia gives her a property settlement that she wants Burt to sign and tells her that Burt is a habitual liar about his life and his past. Milly also learns that Burt's father (Lorne Greene) is in Los Angeles to find him.

Burt is haunted by the day when he discovered his wife and father making love; he begins displaying signs of mental instability with their sudden, unwelcomed presence in his life. When he becomes violent, Milly sends him to a mental hospital. Burt's condition improves with treatment (depicted sketchily as a montage of intravenous drugs and electroconvulsive therapy), and he severs connections with his past. Milly happily discovers he still loves her and they look forward to a brighter future.

Cast

Joan Crawford as Millicent Wetherby
Cliff Robertson as Burt Hanson
Vera Miles as Virginia Hanson
Lorne Greene as Mr. Hanson
Ruth Donnelly as Liz Eckhart
Sheppard Strudwick as Dr. Malcolm Couzzens
Selmer Jackson as Mr. Wetherby
Maxine Cooper as Nurse Evans
Marjorie Bennett as Waitress
Frank Gerstle as Mr. Ramsey
Leonard Mudie as Colonel Hillyer
Maurice Manson as Mr. Masterson
Bob Hopkins as Desk Clerk

Production

The film's original working title was The Way We Are. Robert Aldrich originally developed it for his own company, the Associates and Aldrich and it was announced in July 1954, based on an original script by Jack Jevne.{{cite news|title=RANDOM OBSERVATIONS ON PEOPLE AND PICTURES: Story of Gen. Billy Mitchell Planned By Wayne-Fellows -- Other Matters|author=A. H. WEILER|work=New York Times|date=4 July 1954|page=X5}}

Aldrich got Joan Crawford attached and they sold it to William Goetz who had a deal with Columbia. Filming began on August 31, 1955.{{cite news|title=HOLLYWOOD CANVAS: Aldrich and Sinatra in Full Throttle -Debate -- Science-Fiction Derby|author=THOMAS M. PRYOR|work=New York Times|date=Aug 7, 1955|page=X5}}

Song

The title was changed from The Way We Are to capitalize on the success of the then popular tune "Autumn Leaves", performed in the film by Nat King Cole. Crawford's character is fond of the song, but it is not identified by name in the script.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Cole's rendition is used over the film's main title sequence and the cast credits at the end.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSCfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA334 |title=Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era|first= Don |last=Tyler |date= 2007 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786429462 |page=334}}

The song's original title is "Les feuilles mortes" ("The Dead Leaves") with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by Jacques Prévert. English lyrics were written by the American songwriter Johnny Mercer (1949). The song was introduced by Yves Montand in the French feature film Les Portes de la Nuit (1946), but was made popular in the United States through a piano version by Roger Williams in 1955.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVFLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA4 |title=The Billboard Book of Number One Hits |first= Fred |last=Bronson |date= 1997|isbn=9780823076413 |publisher=Billboard Books|page=4}}

Reception

Although Bosley Crowther panned the film in The New York Times on August 2, 1956, calling it a "dismal tale",[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=1&res=9E02E3DD1E31E333A05751C0A96E9C946792D6CF&oref=slogin Crowther, Bosley. "A New Agonizer; Joan Crawford Stars in 'Autumn Leaves'"] Lawrence Quirk in Motion Picture Herald and William Zinsser in the New York Herald Tribune commented favorably upon the film.Quirk, Lawrence J.. The Films of Joan Crawford. The Citadel Press, 1968. Autumn Leaves was a modest box-office success.{{Cite book |last1=Quirk |first1=Lawrence J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfgvwUZcSK4C&dq=autumn+leaves+box-office%C2%A0&pg=PA194 |title=Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography |last2=Schoell |first2=William |date=2002-09-30 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-2254-0 |language=en}}

The actress thought highly of the film, deeming it the "best older woman/younger man movie ever made", and added, "Everything clicked on Autumn Leaves. The cast was perfect, the script was good, and I think Bob [Aldrich] handled everything well. I really think Cliff did a stupendous job; another actor might have been spitting out his lines and chewing the scenery, but he avoided that trap. I think the movie on a whole was a lot better than some of the romantic movies I did in the past...but somehow it just never became better known. It was eclipsed by What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with Bette Davis."Quirk, Lawrence J. and Schoell, William. Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography.

The film has grown in stature among Aldrich fans since its 1956 premiere and is now regarded as one of the director's best films. Dan Callahan of Slant Magazine (June 16, 2004) wrote, "All of Aldrich's early work is intriguing, but Autumn Leaves is his secret gem. It's been passed over as camp because of its star, Joan Crawford, but Aldrich brings all his hard edges to this woman's picture. The collision of his tough style with the soapy material makes for a film that never loses its queasy tension."[http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=1131 Slant Magazine. Callahan, Dan. Autumn Leaves]

Crawford and Aldrich announced plans to make another film together Storm in the Sun{{cite news|title=INGRID BERGMAN TO DO 'ANASTASIA': Actress Signed by Zanuck for Film to Be Made in Austria and Paris|author=THOMAS M. PRYOR|work=New York Times|date=Dec 16, 1955|page=38}} but these plans faltered when Aldrich had a falling out with Columbia.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} However the two later worked together again on Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?.

Awards

Silver Bear for Best Director (Aldrich), Berlin International Film Festival 1956.{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1956/03_preistr_ger_1956/03_Preistraeger_1956.html |title=6th Berlin International Film Festival: Prize Winners |accessdate=2009-12-25 |work=berlinale.de |archive-date=2013-10-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015120526/http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1956/03_preistr_ger_1956/03_Preistraeger_1956.html |url-status=dead }}