The Country Girl (1954)

Director:

George Seaton

Writers:

Clifford Odets (play)
George Seaton (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 May 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

How far should a woman go...to redeem the man she loves?

Plot:

A director hires an alcoholic has-been and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife, whom he believes is the cause of all the man's problems.

Plot Keywords:

Director | Alcoholic | Actor | Alley | Guilt

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Frank Elgin
Grace Kelly	...	Georgie Elgin
William Holden	...	Bernie Dodd
Anthony Ross	...	Philip Cook
Gene Reynolds	...	Larry
Jacqueline Fontaine	...	Lounge singer
Eddie Ryder	...	Ed
Robert Kent	...	Paul Unger
John W. Reynolds	...	Henry Johnson

Also Known As:

Country Girl (Australia) (TV title)
Ein Mädchen vom Lande (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Une fille de la province (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Amar É Sofrer (Brazil) [pt]
Dziewczyna z prowincji (Poland) [pl]
Het buitenmeisje (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
I horiatopoula (Greece) [el]
La angustia de vivir (Spain) [es]
La que volvió por su amor (Chile) [es]
La ragazza di campagna (Italy) [it]
Mannen du gav mig (Sweden) [sv]
Mies jonka minulle annoit (Finland) [fi]
Vidéki lány (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #17063, General Audience) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2004) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Bing Crosby almost turned down the film because he thought he was too old for his character and wouldn't be able to play him.

Quotes:

Bernie Dodd: Does your wife really want you to play this part?
Frank Elgin: Yeah, she's all for it
Bernie Dodd: I was just wondering. The day I met her, she seemed a little difficult about terms and rather domineering, I thought.
Frank Elgin: She wasn't always like that
Bernie Dodd: Oh I know, I know. They all start out as Juliets and wind up as Lady Macbeths.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dallas: Country Girl (#12.15)" (1989)

Soundtrack:

The Pitchman / It's Mine, It's Yours

Fake high art...

Stage director William Holden fights with his producer over casting alcoholic-on-the-mend singer Bing Crosby as the lead in their newest musical production; Crosby's wife Grace Kelly, a no-nonsense type who dresses glumly, appears to be Crosby's rock but may in fact be what's crippling him. Peculiar melodrama is absorbing and interesting, well-paced and literate, but is also show-offy and fairly shallow. Everyone is unnaturally tense and forlorn, and the spirit of the piece is held back to showcase all the angst. Kelly won a Best Actress Oscar, and although her acting is solid, it's a clichéd part (one waits for her to make that visible transformation, and it happens right on cue; though to credit the filmmakers, a big fuss isn't made of it). Crosby was an odd choice for the role of the former star on the comeback trail; his style of acting is resolutely old-fashioned and, although he does good work, he looks so much older than Holden and Kelly--and his general style is older still--his performance sequences seem distinctly out-of-touch (even for 1954). Holden is the acting stand-out (he was the only one of the three leads not Oscar-nominated), and his innate grit and conflict are something the viewer can get a grip on; Holden immediately connects with the audience because he is completely focused and seems to bring this mannered material back down to earth (he makes it mean something). The plot functions are square and uptight, and the musical production within the film looks pretty hoary, but the drama and human interaction is still worthwhile on a soap opera level. **1/2 from ****