Justine (1969 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Justine

| image = Justine_(1969).jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| writer = Lawrence B. Marcus
Lawrence Durrell (novel)

| narrator =

| starring = Anouk Aimée
Dirk Bogarde
Robert Forster
Anna Karina
Philippe Noiret
Michael York
John Vernon
Jack Albertson
George Baker
Michael Dunn

| music = Jerry Goldsmith

| cinematography = Leon Shamroy

| editing = Rita Roland

| distributor = Twentieth Century Fox

| released = {{Film date|1969|08|06}}

| runtime = 116 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $7,870,000Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-4244-1}}. p255

| gross = $2.2 million (US/ Canada rentals)"Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, January 7, 1970 p 15

}}

Justine is a 1969 American drama film directed by George Cukor and Joseph Strick. It was written by Lawrence B. Marcus (with uncredited contributions from critic Andrew Sarris),{{cite web|url=https://www.filmlinc.org/daily/george-cukor-films-favorites-film-society-2013/|title=Auteur Studies: What Is Your Favorite George Cukor Film? Critics Give Their Choices|website=Film at Lincoln Center|date=December 20, 2013|first=Erik|last=Luers|accessdate=September 25, 2022}} based on the 1957 novel Justine by Lawrence Durrell, which was part of the series The Alexandria Quartet.

Plot

Set in Alexandria in 1938, a young British schoolmaster named Darley meets Pursewarden, a British consular officer. Pursewarden introduces him to Justine, the wife of an Egyptian banker. Darley befriends her, and discovers she is involved in a plot against the British, the goal of which is to arm the Jewish underground movement in Palestine.

Cast

Anouk Aimée as Justine
Dirk Bogarde as Pursewarden
Michael York as Darley
Robert Forster as Narouz
Anna Karina as Melissa
Philippe Noiret as Pombal
John Vernon as Nessim
Jack Albertson as Cohen
Cliff Gorman as "Toto"
George Baker as Mountolive
Elaine Church as Liza
Michael Constantine as Memlik Pasha
Marcel Dalio as French Consul General
Michael Dunn as Mnemjian
Barry Morse as Maskelyne
Danielle Roter as Drusilla

Production

The film's pre-production was prepared by director Joseph Strick, who intended to shoot the movie in Morocco. He did some location filming there, but fought with the executives at Fox and with star Anouk Aimée. When he did not hire others for the film as instructed by the studio and slept on the set while working on one of Aimee's scenes, they fired him and George Cukor was brought in. He proceeded to bring the film to Hollywood where the remainder of the film was finished. It became a financial flop and received negative critical reviews.

Some scenes were shot at Ennejma Ezzahra, a palace at Sidi Bou Said, in northern Tunisia.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/23/garden/in-tunisia-a-rare-visit-to-a-palace-and-its-owner.html|title=In Tunisia, A Rare Visit To a Palace And Its Owner|last=Cowell|first=Alan|date=23 July 1987|work=New York Times|access-date=4 May 2015}}

Reception

According to Fox records the film required $12,775,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $2,775,000.{{cite book|page=328|title=The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox|last=Silverman|first=Stephen M|year=1988|publisher=L. Stuart}} In September 1970 the studio reported it had lost $6,602,000 on the film.Silverman p 259