Diane (1956)

Director:

David Miller

Writers:

John Erskine (story)
Christopher Isherwood (writer)

Release Date:

12 January 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

Lana Turner dares the devil in... Diane

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Historical | Character Name In Title

Cast

Lana Turner	...	Diane de Poitiers - Countess de Breze
Pedro Armendáriz	...	King Francis I
Roger Moore	...	Prince Henri
Marisa Pavan	...	Catherine de Medici
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Ruggieri
Torin Thatcher	...	Louis - Count de Breze
Taina Elg	...	Alys
John Lupton	...	Regnault
Henry Daniell	...	Gondi
Ronald Green	...	The Dauphin
Sean McClory	...	Count Michel Montgomery
Geoffrey Toone	...	Duke of Savoy
Michael Ansara	...	Count Ridolfi
Paul Cavanagh	...	Lord Bonnivet
Melville Cooper	...	1st Court Physician

Also Known As:

Diane - Kurtisane von Frankreich (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Diana de Francia (Venezuela) [es]
Diana la cortigiana (Italy) [it]
Diane - äventyrens kvinna (Sweden) [sv]
Diane de Poitiers (France) [fr]
Evnooumeni tou vasileos, I (Greece) [el]
Kruunu ja miekka (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Sound System) (magnetic prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #17655) | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Lana Turner's last film on her MGM contract.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Memories of Oz (2001) (TV)

Handsome, little heralded historical romance has its virtues...

DIANE is probably the least well-known of all LANA TURNER's "big" pictures at MGM--the studio which ironically was on the verge of bankruptcy at the time of this film, but you'd never know it from the opulence of the finished work in gorgeous Technicolor and featuring one of Miklos Rozsa's more subtle scores.

It's interesting for a couple of reasons: mainly, because it appears to be a faithful recreation of that period in costumes and settings, features ROGER MOORE (youthful and handsome before his James Bond adventures), and gives LANA TURNER and MARISA PAVAN some very interesting moments as they oppose each other in a number of well played scenes.

Other than that, it's a stilted costume romance that never quite comes to life despite all the efforts to give it handsome production values. That explains its obscurity among Lana's films. The lady herself is very fetching here, beautifully costumed (mostly in black), thanks to Walter Plunkett's designs, and attractively photographed for maximum glamor effect.

But part of the unreality comes from the excessive glamor given to Turner. Despite this flaw, she does turn in a good performance as Diane de Poitiers, courtesan who stirs envy in the king's wife and is the subject of much court intrigue in medieval France.

Neglected by today's viewers who probably have never had a chance to see it, it deserves a wider audience.