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Raintree County (film)
Encyclopedia
Raintree County is a 1957 Technicolor
film drama about the American Civil War
. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk
. The film stars Montgomery Clift
, Elizabeth Taylor
, Eva Marie Saint
, and Lee Marvin
.
It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Ross Lockridge, Jr.
In the credits for the film, the author's name is misspelled as Ross Rockridge Jr.
, an antebellum
mansion, Windsor Ruins
, in Natchez, Mississippi
, Reelfoot Lake
in northwest Tennessee
near the Kentucky
border , and two locations in Kentucky
, one of which was at the Liberty Hall Historic Site on Wilkinson Street in Frankfort
and the other in and around Danville
.
During filming, Montgomery Clift
had an automobile accident which almost killed him. After several weeks of recovery, he returned to finish the film, but the left side of his face had been partially paralyzed.
At the time, the film was the most expensive US-based film in MGM's history. It was a success at the box office but did not recoup its cost.
), a resident of Raintree County, Indiana, is distracted from his high school sweetheart Nell Gaither (Eva Marie Saint
) by a young rich New Orleans girl, Susanna Drake (Elizabeth Taylor
). He has a brief and passionate affair with Susanna while she is visiting in Raintree County. She returns to the South, but suddenly reappears to reveal that she is pregnant. John quickly marries her out of honor and duty, and Nell is heartbroken.
John and Susanna initially live in the South with Susanna's family. John is an abolitionist and does not fit well into southern society. He learns that Susanna's mother went insane and died in a suspicious fire, along with Susanna's father and a female slave who was intimated to be his lover. Susanna suspects that the slave may even have been her biological mother. It becomes apparent that Susanna has inherited her family's curse of mental illness. She reveals to John that she feigned pregnancy to trick him into marriage.
John and Susanna return to Freehaven in Raintree County Indiana before the outbreak of the Civil War, where John works as a teacher. They eventually have a child, Jimmy, born at the outbreak of the American Civil War
. Into the third year of the Civil War, Susanna develops severe paranoia and delusions. She flees Indiana, taking their young son, Jimmy, with her and seeks refuge among her family in the South.
John becomes determined to find her and his son, Jimmy, and enlists in the Union Army, in hopes that he will cross paths with Susanna and Jimmy. He fights in Tennessee
and Georgia
, and he eventually finds Jimmy and learns that Susanna has been placed in an insane asylum. He is wounded while carrying Jimmy back to Northern lines and then is discharged from the Union Army. John searches for Susanna, finds her in dreadful circumstances in a lunatic asylum and returns with her to Raintree County.
News reaches Raintree County that the South has surrendered, and shortly thereafter that Abraham Lincoln
has been assassinated. John contemplates his future, and Nell urges him to run for political office. Susanna recognizes that John and Nell still love each other deeply, and she decides to sacrifice herself to make way for John to pursue his career and consummate his love with Nell. She runs into the nearby swamp in the middle of the night to drown herself. Her four-year old son follows her. The search party eventually finds her body, and John and Nell find Jimmy lying asleep at the foot of the legendary Rain Tree of Raintree County. (All of this is told in the context of the Johnny Appleseed
legend of the Rain Tree.)
. The film was also nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
(William A. Horning
, Urie McCleary
, Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt
), Best Costume Design
and Best Music, Scoring
. The film was shot in a 65 millimeter widescreen process called MGM Camera 65, which was also used for MGM's 1959 version of Ben Hur
.
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...
film drama about the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk
Edward Dmytryk
Edward Dmytryk was an American film director who was amongst the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy-era 'red scare'.-Early life:Dmytryk was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada,...
. The film stars Montgomery Clift
Montgomery Clift
Edward Montgomery Clift was an American film and stage actor. The New York Times’ obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men"....
, Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
, and Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
.
It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Ross Lockridge, Jr.
Ross Lockridge, Jr.
Ross Franklin Lockridge, Jr., was an American novelist of the mid-20th century. He is noted for Raintree County , an expansive attempt at creating the "Great American Novel".-Biography:...
In the credits for the film, the author's name is misspelled as Ross Rockridge Jr.
Production
Raintree County was shot at various locations, including DunleithDunleith
Dunleith is an antebellum mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. The previous building, Routhland had been built by Job Routh and passed down to his daughter Mary Routh. When it was struck by lightning and burned down in 1855, her husband, General Charles G. Dahlgren rebuilt the home. It was sold for...
, an antebellum
Antebellum architecture
Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...
mansion, Windsor Ruins
Windsor Ruins
The Windsor Ruins are located in Claiborne County in the U.S. state of Mississippi, about 10 miles southwest of Port Gibson near Alcorn State University. The ruins are those of the largest antebellum Greek Revival mansion built in the state, and have been used in various motion...
, in Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez is the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. With a total population of 18,464 , it is the largest community and the only incorporated municipality within Adams County...
, Reelfoot Lake
Reelfoot Lake
Reelfoot Lake is a shallow natural lake located in the northwest portion of Tennessee, United States of America. Much of it is really more of a swamp, with bayou-like ditches connecting more open bodies of water called basins, the largest of which is called Blue Basin. Reelfoot Lake is noted for...
in northwest Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
near the Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
border , and two locations in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, one of which was at the Liberty Hall Historic Site on Wilkinson Street in Frankfort
Frankfort, Kentucky
Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
and the other in and around Danville
Danville, Kentucky
Danville is a city in and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,218 at the 2010 census.Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Boyle and Lincoln counties....
.
During filming, Montgomery Clift
Montgomery Clift
Edward Montgomery Clift was an American film and stage actor. The New York Times’ obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men"....
had an automobile accident which almost killed him. After several weeks of recovery, he returned to finish the film, but the left side of his face had been partially paralyzed.
At the time, the film was the most expensive US-based film in MGM's history. It was a success at the box office but did not recoup its cost.
Plot
Idealist John Wickliff Shawnessy (Montgomery CliftMontgomery Clift
Edward Montgomery Clift was an American film and stage actor. The New York Times’ obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men"....
), a resident of Raintree County, Indiana, is distracted from his high school sweetheart Nell Gaither (Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint
Eva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
) by a young rich New Orleans girl, Susanna Drake (Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
). He has a brief and passionate affair with Susanna while she is visiting in Raintree County. She returns to the South, but suddenly reappears to reveal that she is pregnant. John quickly marries her out of honor and duty, and Nell is heartbroken.
John and Susanna initially live in the South with Susanna's family. John is an abolitionist and does not fit well into southern society. He learns that Susanna's mother went insane and died in a suspicious fire, along with Susanna's father and a female slave who was intimated to be his lover. Susanna suspects that the slave may even have been her biological mother. It becomes apparent that Susanna has inherited her family's curse of mental illness. She reveals to John that she feigned pregnancy to trick him into marriage.
John and Susanna return to Freehaven in Raintree County Indiana before the outbreak of the Civil War, where John works as a teacher. They eventually have a child, Jimmy, born at the outbreak of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Into the third year of the Civil War, Susanna develops severe paranoia and delusions. She flees Indiana, taking their young son, Jimmy, with her and seeks refuge among her family in the South.
John becomes determined to find her and his son, Jimmy, and enlists in the Union Army, in hopes that he will cross paths with Susanna and Jimmy. He fights in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, and he eventually finds Jimmy and learns that Susanna has been placed in an insane asylum. He is wounded while carrying Jimmy back to Northern lines and then is discharged from the Union Army. John searches for Susanna, finds her in dreadful circumstances in a lunatic asylum and returns with her to Raintree County.
News reaches Raintree County that the South has surrendered, and shortly thereafter that Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
has been assassinated. John contemplates his future, and Nell urges him to run for political office. Susanna recognizes that John and Nell still love each other deeply, and she decides to sacrifice herself to make way for John to pursue his career and consummate his love with Nell. She runs into the nearby swamp in the middle of the night to drown herself. Her four-year old son follows her. The search party eventually finds her body, and John and Nell find Jimmy lying asleep at the foot of the legendary Rain Tree of Raintree County. (All of this is told in the context of the Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed
Johnny Appleseed , born John Chapman, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois...
legend of the Rain Tree.)
Cast
- Montgomery CliftMontgomery CliftEdward Montgomery Clift was an American film and stage actor. The New York Times’ obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men"....
as John Wickliff Shawnessey - Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth TaylorDame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
as Susanna Drake - Eva Marie SaintEva Marie SaintEva Marie Saint is an American actress who has starred in films, on Broadway, and on television in a career spanning seven decades. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama film On the Waterfront , and later starred in the thriller film North by...
as Nell Gaither - Nigel PatrickNigel PatrickNigel Patrick was an English actor and stage director born into a theatrical family.-Biography:...
as Prof. Jerusalem Webster Stiles - Lee MarvinLee MarvinLee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
as Orville 'Flash' Perkins - Rod Taylor as Garwood B. Jones
- Agnes MooreheadAgnes MooreheadAgnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. Although she began with the Mercury Theatre, appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences...
as Ellen Shawnessy - Walter AbelWalter AbelWalter Abel was an American stage and film character actor. His eyes were brown and his height was five foot ten inches....
as T.D. Shawnessy - Jarma Lewis as Barbara Drake
- Tom DrakeTom DrakeTom Drake , born Alfred Sinclair Alderdice in Brooklyn, New York, was an American actor. Drake made films starting in 1940 and continuing until the mid-1970s, and also made TV acting appearances....
as Bobby Drake - Rhys WilliamsRhys Williams (actor)Rhys Williams was a Welsh character actor in movies and television, whose career spanned several decades.He made his film debut in How Green Was My Valley . This movie takes place in rural Wales with a large cast of Welsh characters, but was actually filmed in Hollywood with Canadian, American,...
as Ezra Gray - Russell Collins as Niles Foster
- DeForest KelleyDeForest KelleyJackson DeForest Kelley was an American actor known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek.-Early life:...
as Southern officer
Awards and nominations
Elizabeth Taylor was nominated for the Academy Award for Best ActressAcademy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
. The film was also nominated for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
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...
(William A. Horning
William A. Horning
William A. Horning was a multiple Academy Award winner. He was married to Esther Montgomery until his death....
, Urie McCleary
Urie McCleary
Urie McCleary was an American art director. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for four more in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Arkansas and died in Los Angeles, California....
, Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt
Hugh Hunt
Hugh Hunt was an American set decorator. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for eleven more in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
), Best Costume Design
Academy Award for Costume Design
The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....
and Best Music, Scoring
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:...
. The film was shot in a 65 millimeter widescreen process called MGM Camera 65, which was also used for MGM's 1959 version of Ben Hur
Ben-Hur (1959 film)
Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the third film adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay was written by Karl Tunberg, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The score was composed by...
.