Lady in the Dark (film)
Encyclopedia
Lady in the Dark is a 1944 Technicolor
musical film
directed by Mitchell Leisen
and starring Ginger Rogers
. It was nominated for three Academy Awards; for Best Cinematography
, Best Music
and Best Art Direction
(Hans Dreier
, Raoul Pene Du Bois
, Ray Moyer
).
Lady in the Dark
, written by Kurt Weill
(music), Ira Gershwin
(lyrics), and Moss Hart
(book and direction). The film version cut most of the Weill/Gershwin songs from the score. "The Saga of Jenny
" and "Girl of the Moment" remained, and part of "This Is New" is played by a nightclub band in the background. Part of "My Ship" was hummed by Ginger Rogers, but the song itself was never sung.
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
directed by Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen was an American director, art director, and costume designer.-Film career:He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments...
and starring Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
. It was nominated for three Academy Awards; for Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Best Music
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Hans Dreier
Hans Dreier
Hans Dreier was a film art director.Born in Bremen, Germany, Dreier began his career in German film in 1919 and by the end of the 1920s had relocated to Hollywood....
, Raoul Pene Du Bois
Raoul Pene Du Bois
Raoul Pene Du Bois was an American costume designer and scenic designer for the stage and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Career:...
, Ray Moyer
Ray Moyer
Ray Moyer was an American set decorator. He won three Academy Awards and was nominated for nine more in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Santa Barbara, California and died in Los Angeles, California....
).
Production background
The film was based on the 1941 Broadway musicalMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Lady in the Dark
Lady in the Dark
Lady in the Dark is a musical with music by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book and direction by Moss Hart. It was produced by Sam Harris. The protagonist, Liza Elliott, is the unhappy female editor of a fashion magazine, Allure, who is undergoing psychoanalysis...
, written by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
(music), Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
(lyrics), and Moss Hart
Moss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
(book and direction). The film version cut most of the Weill/Gershwin songs from the score. "The Saga of Jenny
The Saga of Jenny
"The Saga of Jenny" is a popular song written for the 1941 Broadway musical Lady in the Dark, with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ira Gershwin.The music is marked "Allegretto quasi andantino"; Gershwin describes it as "a sort of blues bordello"....
" and "Girl of the Moment" remained, and part of "This Is New" is played by a nightclub band in the background. Part of "My Ship" was hummed by Ginger Rogers, but the song itself was never sung.
Cast
- Ginger RogersGinger RogersGinger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
- Liza Elliott - Ray MillandRay MillandRay Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
- Charley Johnson - Warner BaxterWarner BaxterWarner Leroy Baxter was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona , for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent movies...
- Kendall Nesbitt - Jon HallJon HallJon Hall was an American film actor.-Biography:Born Charles Felix Locher in Fresno, California, and raised in Tahiti by his father, the Swiss-born actor Felix Locher, he was a nephew of James Norman Hall, one of the authors of Mutiny on the Bounty...
- Randy Curtis - Barry SullivanBarry Sullivan (actor)Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...
- Dr. Brooks - Mischa AuerMischa AuerMischa Auer was a Russian-born American actor.-Early life:Auer was born Mikhail Semyonovich Unskovsky in St. Petersburg, Russia...
- Russell Paxton - Phyllis BrooksPhyllis BrooksPhyllis Brooks was an American actress and model. Brooks was born Phyllis Seiler in Boise, Idaho on July 18, 1915. She began her career in films at age 20, and had been known as the "Ipana Toothpaste Girl" due to her work as a model...
- Allison DuBois - Mary PhilipsMary PhilipsMary Philips was an American stage and film actress.-Biography:Born in New London, Connecticut, she was the only child of Anna Hurley and Charles Philips of New Haven. She was educated in New Haven at what was then St. Mary's Academy. In 1920 she made her stage debut as a chorus girl...
- Maggie Grant - Edward Fielding - Dr. Carlton
- Don LoperDon LoperDon Loper Born in Toledo, Ohio was an American costume and necktie designer , as well as a screenwriter, choreographer, associate producer, actor , and assistant to MGM musicals producer Arthur Freed....
- Adams - Mary ParkerMary Parker (actor)Mary Parker born Mary Frances Roberson in Fort Worth, Texas, was an American stage, television and screen actress/performer. Parker appeared in 17 films from 1938 to 1954, but was also known for her dance work with partner Billy Daniel.Parker , was a protege of Mitchell Leisen...
- Miss Parker - Catherine Craig - Miss Foster
- Marietta Canty - Martha
- Virginia Farmer - Miss Edwards
- Fay Helm - Miss Bowers