Marjorie Morningstar (film)
Encyclopedia
Marjorie Morningstar is a 1958
melodrama
film based on the 1955
novel of the same name
. The film, released by Warner Bros.
and directed by Irving Rapper
tells a fictional coming of age story about a young Jewish girl in New York City in the 1950s. The film's trajectory traces Marjorie Morgenstern's attempts to become an artist - exemplified through her relationship with the actor and playwright Noel Airman.
The central conflict in the film revolves around the traditional models of social behavior and religious behavior expected by New York Jewish families in the 1950s, and Marjorie's desire to follow an unconventional path.
The film is notable for its inclusion of Jewish religious scenes - including a Passover
meal, a synagogue sequence and Jewish icons in the Morgenstern house. These depictions were one of the first times Jewish religion was portrayed overtly in film since The Jazz Singer
in 1927. Marjorie Morningstar is also notable for its role in propagating the stereotype of the Jewish American Princess as well as the Jewish mother stereotype
. Ironically, it gave star Natalie Wood
a public reputation as a pioneer Jewish film actress, though Jewish women had been acting in Hollywood for decades and Wood was not Jewish.
) tells her father, Arnold (Everett Sloane
), that she hopes the two kids marry.
Marjorie breaks up with the boy, though, and that summer attends a summer camp in the Adirondacks as a camp counselor. One night, Marjorie and her friend Marsha Zelenko (Carolyn Jones
) sneak across to a Borscht Belt
resort for adults called South Wind. There she is caught by resort owner Maxwell Greech (George Tobias
) who is going to get her in trouble when the resort social director Noel Airman (Gene Kelly
) vouches for her as a guest. She begins to work at the resort and begin a relationship with Airman and a friendship with playwright Wally Wronkin (Martin Milner
). The latter wants a relationship with Marjorie, but she's tempted by the tragic Airman, who meets the disapproval of her parents. According to them, as demonstrated in a lunch scene with Airman, he lacks the prospects that a true professional should aspire to. Airman, whose original name was the more Jewish Ehrman, renames Marjorie as well from Morgenstern to Morningstar - thus giving us the name of the film.
When Marjorie's Uncle Sampson (Ed Wynn
) dies of a heart attack at the camp, the brief affair is interrupted and Marjorie goes back to the city. There she meets a doctor, with whom she quickly breaks up when Airman returns to find her. He declares that his love for her has convinced him to attempt to become respectable. Marjorie tells her mother, and Rose insists that Marjorie bring him to a Passover meal. "Not Passover, mother. He’s not very religious. He doesn’t believe in those things," Marjorie says. Rose answers, "He doesn’t believe in those things... you’re going to get married. How are you going to raise your children?" Airman attends the Passover meal, when a dramatic eruption occurs. In the midst of the meal, he leaves and Marjorie follows him. She is concerned he's bored, and he says, "I wasn’t bored. I was disturbed, deeply. I couldn’t help thinking of all the things I’ve missed in life. Family, your kind of family. Faith, tradition. All the things I’ve been ridiculing all the time. That’s why I couldn’t take it anymore. I love you very much, Marjorie Morgenstern."
Airman gets a job at an advertising firm and seems to be doing well for himself. But one week he disappears, doesn't show up to work, and refuses to take Marjorie's phone calls. She goes to his apartment to check up on him and finds him drunk with a strange woman in his apartment. He has decided he cannot stand the professional lifestyle and wants to be an artist. The impetus for his desire to change careers is the success of Wally Wronkin on Broadway - the playwright has launched on a series of hits and Airman is consumed with jealousy. Airman and Marjorie fight, but soon reconcile as Wronkin's investors meet with Airman to invest in his play. Despite the investment, Airman's play is panned by critics. "We were crucified," someone explains to Marjorie, and their relationship is unable to survive Airman's incredible failure.
In the final scene, Marjorie is back at South Wind. Greech notes of her that she's done some growing up. In the final shot, we see her board a bus and sit down. It is unclear where she is heading, but when we see her look in the rearview mirror, we see Wronkin in the back of the bus. He smiles. Though the film ends there, the suggestion is that they will embark on the relationship Wronkin had been hoping for from the beginning.
who would later go on to her greatest hit, West Side Story
, had until Marjorie Morningstar played mostly childish roles, including the role of Judy in Rebel Without a Cause
. The NY Times said of her performance, "Natalie Wood, who only yesterday was playing with dolls in films, has blossomed into a vivacious pretty brunette who very likely is as close to a personification of Marjorie as one could wish. But the character is hardly complex, and while Miss Wood is competent in the role, it is rarely a glowing performance."
Gene Kelly
was near the end of his career when he appeared in Marjorie Morningstar. He had already appeared in Singin' in the Rain
and Brigadoon
. Born in 1912, he was 46 when he took the role of Noel Airman. By contrast, his love interest Wood was only 20 years old. The Times said about his appearance that "Although Mr. Kelly appears a mite uncomfortable in his assignment, he plays it with understanding. And, as a professional song-and-dance man, he both hoofs with polish and pleasingly warbles 'A Very Precious Love,' the film's theme number."
Time's critiques of the other performances: "Carolyn Jones
, as Miss Wood's best friend, makes it an outspoken performance marked by one truly poignant scene in which she reveals her essential loneliness. Ed Wynn
, in the comparatively short role of an impecunious but understanding relative, adds some glint of humor and compassion. Claire Trevor
, as Marjorie's over-protective mother and Martin Milner
, as the playwright, who is one of Marjorie's retinue of devoted suitors, are well-turned, if not inspired, characterizations."
in the part of Marjorie. According to an interview in MovieMaker Magazine, Johansson received the book from her mother. She tells: "I read it and thought, 'Oh my god, this is me,' and I called her and told her 'I'm Marjorie Morningstar,' and she said, 'I know you are.'"
May 11, 2007, The Forward
reported that Johansson had abandoned the film. "It was one of those heartbreak projects that you had to let go," she shared with The Forward. "Sometimes when you have a book like that, there are a lot of rights to it, and everyone’s been involved for such a long time. It was a ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’ type of thing."
's ending, Alana Newhouse
writes in Slate Magazine that "In the final nine pages, the formerly vibrant Marjorie gives up on her career, gets married to a man named Sidney — er, Milton — Schwartz, and moves to Westchester... Most female readers cry when they reach the end of this book, and for good reason. Marjorie Morningstar, as they came to know her, has become another woman entirely: 'You couldn't write a play about her that would run a week, or a novel that would sell a thousand copies. … The only remarkable thing about Mrs. Schwartz is that she ever hoped to be remarkable, that she ever dreamed of being Marjorie Morningstar.'"
In the film, Marjorie seems to go off with Wally Wronkin, the playwright. Though he is successful, unlike Airman, he is far more artistic than the Milton Schwartz Marjorie settles down with at the end of the novel. This ending suggests a different prejudice in the film than Wouk's novel - the lesson is that Marjorie is able to mitigate her desire to break away from tradition, with her parent's wishes. In the novel, the moral seems to be that her only solution is to settle down into the tradition of her parents.
1958 in film
The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946....
melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
film based on the 1955
1955 in literature
The year 1955 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*28 May - Philip Larkin makes a train journey from Hull to London which inspires his poem The Whitsun Weddings....
novel of the same name
Marjorie Morningstar (novel)
Marjorie Morningstar is a 1955 novel by Herman Wouk, about a woman who wants to become an actress. In 1958, the book was made into a Hollywood feature movie starring Natalie Wood, also titled Marjorie Morningstar.-Plot:...
. The film, released by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and directed by Irving Rapper
Irving Rapper
Irving Rapper was a British film director. His most successful body of work is 10 films he made while under contract with Warner Brothers....
tells a fictional coming of age story about a young Jewish girl in New York City in the 1950s. The film's trajectory traces Marjorie Morgenstern's attempts to become an artist - exemplified through her relationship with the actor and playwright Noel Airman.
The central conflict in the film revolves around the traditional models of social behavior and religious behavior expected by New York Jewish families in the 1950s, and Marjorie's desire to follow an unconventional path.
The film is notable for its inclusion of Jewish religious scenes - including a Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
meal, a synagogue sequence and Jewish icons in the Morgenstern house. These depictions were one of the first times Jewish religion was portrayed overtly in film since The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
in 1927. Marjorie Morningstar is also notable for its role in propagating the stereotype of the Jewish American Princess as well as the Jewish mother stereotype
Jewish mother stereotype
The Jewish mother or wife stereotype is a common stereotype and stock character used by Jewish comedians and authors whenever they discuss actual or fictional situations involving their mothers or other females in their lives who possess mother-like qualities...
. Ironically, it gave star Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
a public reputation as a pioneer Jewish film actress, though Jewish women had been acting in Hollywood for decades and Wood was not Jewish.
Synopsis
Marjorie Morgenstern begins the film as a student at Hunter College and the girlfriend of an eligible young man who attends her family's synagogue. Her parents are happy with her choice of mate, and one evening while they flirt in front of the Morgenstern cooperative apartment, her mother Rose Morgenstern (Claire TrevorClaire Trevor
Claire Trevor was an Academy Award-winning American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
) tells her father, Arnold (Everett Sloane
Everett Sloane
Everett Sloane was an American stage, film and television actor, songwriter, and theatre director.-Early life:...
), that she hopes the two kids marry.
Marjorie breaks up with the boy, though, and that summer attends a summer camp in the Adirondacks as a camp counselor. One night, Marjorie and her friend Marsha Zelenko (Carolyn Jones
Carolyn Jones
Carolyn Sue Jones was an American actress.Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses...
) sneak across to a Borscht Belt
Borscht Belt
Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange and Ulster counties in upstate New York that were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews from the 1920s through the 1960s.-Name:The name comes from...
resort for adults called South Wind. There she is caught by resort owner Maxwell Greech (George Tobias
George Tobias
George Tobias was an American character actor.-Early life and career:Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood...
) who is going to get her in trouble when the resort social director Noel Airman (Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
) vouches for her as a guest. She begins to work at the resort and begin a relationship with Airman and a friendship with playwright Wally Wronkin (Martin Milner
Martin Milner
Martin Sam Milner is an American actor best known for his performances in two popular television series, Adam-12 and Route 66....
). The latter wants a relationship with Marjorie, but she's tempted by the tragic Airman, who meets the disapproval of her parents. According to them, as demonstrated in a lunch scene with Airman, he lacks the prospects that a true professional should aspire to. Airman, whose original name was the more Jewish Ehrman, renames Marjorie as well from Morgenstern to Morningstar - thus giving us the name of the film.
When Marjorie's Uncle Sampson (Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
) dies of a heart attack at the camp, the brief affair is interrupted and Marjorie goes back to the city. There she meets a doctor, with whom she quickly breaks up when Airman returns to find her. He declares that his love for her has convinced him to attempt to become respectable. Marjorie tells her mother, and Rose insists that Marjorie bring him to a Passover meal. "Not Passover, mother. He’s not very religious. He doesn’t believe in those things," Marjorie says. Rose answers, "He doesn’t believe in those things... you’re going to get married. How are you going to raise your children?" Airman attends the Passover meal, when a dramatic eruption occurs. In the midst of the meal, he leaves and Marjorie follows him. She is concerned he's bored, and he says, "I wasn’t bored. I was disturbed, deeply. I couldn’t help thinking of all the things I’ve missed in life. Family, your kind of family. Faith, tradition. All the things I’ve been ridiculing all the time. That’s why I couldn’t take it anymore. I love you very much, Marjorie Morgenstern."
Airman gets a job at an advertising firm and seems to be doing well for himself. But one week he disappears, doesn't show up to work, and refuses to take Marjorie's phone calls. She goes to his apartment to check up on him and finds him drunk with a strange woman in his apartment. He has decided he cannot stand the professional lifestyle and wants to be an artist. The impetus for his desire to change careers is the success of Wally Wronkin on Broadway - the playwright has launched on a series of hits and Airman is consumed with jealousy. Airman and Marjorie fight, but soon reconcile as Wronkin's investors meet with Airman to invest in his play. Despite the investment, Airman's play is panned by critics. "We were crucified," someone explains to Marjorie, and their relationship is unable to survive Airman's incredible failure.
In the final scene, Marjorie is back at South Wind. Greech notes of her that she's done some growing up. In the final shot, we see her board a bus and sit down. It is unclear where she is heading, but when we see her look in the rearview mirror, we see Wronkin in the back of the bus. He smiles. Though the film ends there, the suggestion is that they will embark on the relationship Wronkin had been hoping for from the beginning.
Cast
Natalie WoodNatalie Wood
Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...
who would later go on to her greatest hit, West Side Story
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
, had until Marjorie Morningstar played mostly childish roles, including the role of Judy in Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause
Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 American drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban slum environments...
. The NY Times said of her performance, "Natalie Wood, who only yesterday was playing with dolls in films, has blossomed into a vivacious pretty brunette who very likely is as close to a personification of Marjorie as one could wish. But the character is hardly complex, and while Miss Wood is competent in the role, it is rarely a glowing performance."
Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
was near the end of his career when he appeared in Marjorie Morningstar. He had already appeared in Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain
Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American comedy musical film starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, with Kelly also providing the choreography...
and Brigadoon
Brigadoon (film)
Brigadoon is a 1954 MGM musical feature film made in CinemaScope and Ansco Color based on the Broadway musical of the same name by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli and stars Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse...
. Born in 1912, he was 46 when he took the role of Noel Airman. By contrast, his love interest Wood was only 20 years old. The Times said about his appearance that "Although Mr. Kelly appears a mite uncomfortable in his assignment, he plays it with understanding. And, as a professional song-and-dance man, he both hoofs with polish and pleasingly warbles 'A Very Precious Love,' the film's theme number."
Time's critiques of the other performances: "Carolyn Jones
Carolyn Jones
Carolyn Sue Jones was an American actress.Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses...
, as Miss Wood's best friend, makes it an outspoken performance marked by one truly poignant scene in which she reveals her essential loneliness. Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
, in the comparatively short role of an impecunious but understanding relative, adds some glint of humor and compassion. Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor was an Academy Award-winning American actress. She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers...
, as Marjorie's over-protective mother and Martin Milner
Martin Milner
Martin Sam Milner is an American actor best known for his performances in two popular television series, Adam-12 and Route 66....
, as the playwright, who is one of Marjorie's retinue of devoted suitors, are well-turned, if not inspired, characterizations."
Remake
In July 2004, a remake of Marjorie Morningstar was announced starring Scarlett JohanssonScarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
in the part of Marjorie. According to an interview in MovieMaker Magazine, Johansson received the book from her mother. She tells: "I read it and thought, 'Oh my god, this is me,' and I called her and told her 'I'm Marjorie Morningstar,' and she said, 'I know you are.'"
May 11, 2007, The Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
reported that Johansson had abandoned the film. "It was one of those heartbreak projects that you had to let go," she shared with The Forward. "Sometimes when you have a book like that, there are a lot of rights to it, and everyone’s been involved for such a long time. It was a ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’ type of thing."
Differences Between the Film and Novel
The most significant difference between the 1955 novel and the 1958 film is the ending. At the end of the novel, the free-spirited Marjorie Morningstar settles down with a man her parents would approve of. In a criticism of Herman WoukHerman Wouk
Herman Wouk is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author of novels including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance.-Biography:...
's ending, Alana Newhouse
Alana Newhouse
Alana Newhouse is a writer and editor.Newhouse grew up in Lawrence, New York.She is a graduate of the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, a 1997 graduate of Barnard College, and a 2002 graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.After college, Newhouse worked for...
writes in Slate Magazine that "In the final nine pages, the formerly vibrant Marjorie gives up on her career, gets married to a man named Sidney — er, Milton — Schwartz, and moves to Westchester... Most female readers cry when they reach the end of this book, and for good reason. Marjorie Morningstar, as they came to know her, has become another woman entirely: 'You couldn't write a play about her that would run a week, or a novel that would sell a thousand copies. … The only remarkable thing about Mrs. Schwartz is that she ever hoped to be remarkable, that she ever dreamed of being Marjorie Morningstar.'"
In the film, Marjorie seems to go off with Wally Wronkin, the playwright. Though he is successful, unlike Airman, he is far more artistic than the Milton Schwartz Marjorie settles down with at the end of the novel. This ending suggests a different prejudice in the film than Wouk's novel - the lesson is that Marjorie is able to mitigate her desire to break away from tradition, with her parent's wishes. In the novel, the moral seems to be that her only solution is to settle down into the tradition of her parents.