Temptation (1946 film)
Encyclopedia
Temptation is an American
drama
film noir
directed by Irving Pichel
. The drama features Merle Oberon
and George Brent
. The film was based on Robert Smythe Hichens
's novel Bella Donna.
The film was originally made in 1923, starring Pola Negri
, directed by George Fitzmaurice
and named Bella Donna.
panned the film when it was released, writing "True enough, Miss Oberon looks lovely, Mr. Korvin behaves with bold sang-froid and George Brent is sufficiently unimpressive to seem a husband that a dame would double-cross. Paul Lucas, Arnold Moss and Lenore Ulric also act as though they thought they had a script. But the whole thing is as claptrap in its nature as it was when Pola Negri played it back in 1923."
Variety
magazine panned the screenplay, writing "Production is well-stacked with solid values in every department except for the screenplay, which falls short in its attempt to stretch an unsubstantial story line over so long a running time."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
directed by Irving Pichel
Irving Pichel
Irving Pichel was an American actor and film director. He married Violette Wilson, daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister and Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California. Her sister was actress Viola Barry...
. The drama features Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
and George Brent
George Brent
George Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, the son of a British Army officer.During the Irish...
. The film was based on Robert Smythe Hichens
Robert Smythe Hichens
Robert Smythe Hichens was an English journalist, novelist, music lyricist, short story writer, music critic and collaborated on successful plays. He is best remembered as a satirist of the "Naughty Nineties".-Biography:...
's novel Bella Donna.
The film was originally made in 1923, starring Pola Negri
Pola Negri
Pola Negri was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles from the 1910s through the 1940s during the Golden Era of Hollywood film. She was the first European film star to be invited to Hollywood, and became a great American star. She...
, directed by George Fitzmaurice
George Fitzmaurice
George Fitzmaurice was a film director and producer. Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage...
and named Bella Donna.
Cast
- Merle OberonMerle OberonMerle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
as Ruby - George BrentGeorge BrentGeorge Brent was an Irish film and television actor in American cinema.-Early life:He was born George Brendan Nolan in Raharabeg, County Roscommon on the opposite bank of the River Shannon from the town of Shannonbridge, County Offaly, Ireland, the son of a British Army officer.During the Irish...
as Nigel Armine - Charles KorvinCharles KorvinCharles Korvin was a film and television actor. The Piešťany, Hungary-born actor moved to the United States in 1940 after studying at the Sorbonne. Korvin made his stage debut on Broadway in 1943 using the name Geza Korvin...
as Mahoud Baroudi - Paul LukasPaul LukasPaul Lukas was an Austrian-Hungarian-born actor.-Biography:Born Pál Lukács in Budapest, he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 after a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany and Austria where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917...
as Sir Meyer Isaacson - Lenore UlricLenore UlricLenore Ulric was a star of the Broadway stage and Hollywood films of the silent-film and early sound era. Her father, Franz Xavier Ulrich, was a United States Army hospital steward...
as Marie - Arnold MossArnold MossArnold Moss was an American character actor.His son is songwriter Jeff Moss....
as Ahmed Effendi - Robert CapaRobert CapaRobert Capa was a Hungarian combat photographer and photojournalist who covered five different wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indochina War...
as Hamza - Aubrey MatherAubrey MatherAubrey Mather was an English character actor.Mather began his career on the stage in 1905. He debuted in London in Brewster's Millions in 1909 and on Broadway ten years later in Luck of the Navy. He eventually branched out to films, starting with Young Woodley in 1930...
as Dr. Harding - Ludwig StösselLudwig StösselLudwig Stössel was an actor born in Lockenhaus, Austria. He was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933....
as Dr. Mueller - André CharlotAndré CharlotAndré Eugene Maurice Charlot was a French impresario known primarily for the highly successful musical revues he staged in London between 1912 and 1937...
as Prof. Dupont - Suzanne CloutierSuzanne CloutierSuzanne Cloutier was a Canadian film actress.She was born in Ottawa, Ontario. In 1952 she appeared in the film Derby Day as a maid who wins a trip to the Epsom Derby in the company of a famous film star. She appeared as Desdemona in Orson Welles' 1952 film adaptation of Othello...
as Yvonne Dupont - Gloria Lloyd as Jean McCormick
Reception
Film critic Bosley CrowtherBosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
panned the film when it was released, writing "True enough, Miss Oberon looks lovely, Mr. Korvin behaves with bold sang-froid and George Brent is sufficiently unimpressive to seem a husband that a dame would double-cross. Paul Lucas, Arnold Moss and Lenore Ulric also act as though they thought they had a script. But the whole thing is as claptrap in its nature as it was when Pola Negri played it back in 1923."
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine panned the screenplay, writing "Production is well-stacked with solid values in every department except for the screenplay, which falls short in its attempt to stretch an unsubstantial story line over so long a running time."