Where Love Has Gone (film)
Encyclopedia
Where Love Has Gone is a 1964 drama film
made by Embassy Pictures
, Joseph E. Levine Productions and Paramount Pictures
. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk
and produced by Joseph E. Levine
from a screenplay
by John Michael Hayes
based on the novel of the same name by Harold Robbins
. The music score was by Walter Scharf
, the cinematography by Joseph MacDonald
and the costume design by Edith Head
.
The film stars Susan Hayward
and Bette Davis
with Mike Connors
, Joey Heatherton
, Jane Greer
, DeForest Kelley
and George Macready
.
After the end of World War II
, Miller is in San Francisco for a parade in his honor, and meets Valerie Hayden at an art show where one of her works is being exhibited. He is invited to dinner by Valerie' mother, Mrs. Gerald Hayden (Bette Davis), who offers him a job and dowry as an enticement for him to marry Valerie. He storms from the house but is followed by Valerie who says she is unable to go against her mother's wishes but that she admires him for having refused her. A relationship develops and the two marry, although a former suitor, Sam Corwin (DeForest Kelley) predicts that the marriage will fail.
As time passes, Luke Miller becomes a successful architect and refuses another offer of employment from his mother-in-law, however the influential Mrs. Hayden uses her contacts in the banking industry to ensure that Miller is refused loans to help him build his business. He relents and accepts a position in Mrs. Hayden's company. Their daughter, Danny, is born but the relationship of the couple begins to deteriorate with Miller declining into alcoholism, and Valerie indulging in a promiscuous lifestyle. The marriage ends when Miller finds her having sex with another man.
Years pass and Danny grows up, and eventually Valerie and Danny become rivals for the same man. When Danny kills the man, she claims that she was defending Valerie against attack, and when the case is brought to court a verdict of justifiable homicide is ruled. When Mrs. Hayden petitions for custody of Danny, Valerie reveals that Danny was trying to kill her, and that the man was only killed when he tried to defend Valerie. Valerie returns home and commits suicide, and after her death Luke Miller tries to help Danny rebuild her life.
noted the similarities between the movie and the real-life case of Cheryl Crane, the daughter of actress Lana Turner
, who in 1958 stabbed and killed her mother's boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato
, claiming that she was defending Turner from attack. Newsweek wrote that the case seemed to have influenced the "foolish story" and described it as "a typical Harold Robbins pastiche of newspaper clippings liberally shellacked with sentiment and glued with sex".
The Saturday Review criticised the script saying that it "somehow manages to make every dramatic line (particularly when uttered by Susan Hayward) sound like a caption to a cartoon in The New Yorker
.
was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe as "Best Song". Jack Jones sang the theme song on his album of the same name.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
made by Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as The Graduate, The Lion in Winter, This Is Spinal Tap and Escape from New York.-Founding:The company was founded in 1942 by producer Joseph E...
, Joseph E. Levine Productions and Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. 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,...
and produced by Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine was an American film producer.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as Hercules , The Carpetbaggers, Harlow, The Graduate, A Bridge Too Far and The Lion in Winter.Levine is famous...
from a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by John Michael Hayes
John Michael Hayes
John Michael Hayes was an American screenwriter, who scripted several of Alfred Hitchcock's films in the 1950s, and subject of the book "" by Steven DeRosa.-Early life:...
based on the novel of the same name by Harold Robbins
Harold Robbins
Harold Robbins was one of the best-selling American authors of all time. During his career, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages....
. The music score was by Walter Scharf
Walter Scharf
Walter Scharf was an American film composer.Born in New York, he was the son of Yiddish theatre comic Bessie Zwerling...
, the cinematography by Joseph MacDonald
Joseph MacDonald
Joseph MacDonald, A.S.C. was an award-winning Mexican-born American cinematographer.An assistant cameraman from the early 1920s, he became a cinematographer in the 1940s and soon was working on Hollywood productions,mostly at the 20th Century Fox studios...
and the costume design by Edith Head
Edith Head
Edith Head was an American costume designer who won eight Academy Awards, more than any other woman.-Early life and career:...
.
The film stars Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
and Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
with Mike Connors
Mike Connors
Mike Connors is an American actor best known for playing detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series, Mannix. Before that, he had played a crime-fighting investigator, wielding a .38 handgun hidden in his back, in another CBS series, Tightrope.-Early life:Connors was born Krekor Ohanian in...
, Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton is an American actress, dancer, and singer.-Early life:Christened Davenie Johanna Heatherton and nicknamed "Joey," she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb of New York City. There she attended St. Agnes Cathedral School, a Catholic grade and high school...
, Jane Greer
Jane Greer
Jane Greer was a film and television actress who was perhaps best known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir Out of the Past.-Career:...
, DeForest Kelley
DeForest Kelley
Jackson 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:...
and George Macready
George Macready
George Peabody Macready, Jr. , was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.-Background:...
.
Plot
The film begins with headlines stating that a young woman, Danny (Joey Heatherton) has murdered a man, who was the latest lover of her mother Valerie Hayden (Susan Hayward). Danny's father, Luke Miller (Mike Connors) describes the events that led to the tragedy.After the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Miller is in San Francisco for a parade in his honor, and meets Valerie Hayden at an art show where one of her works is being exhibited. He is invited to dinner by Valerie' mother, Mrs. Gerald Hayden (Bette Davis), who offers him a job and dowry as an enticement for him to marry Valerie. He storms from the house but is followed by Valerie who says she is unable to go against her mother's wishes but that she admires him for having refused her. A relationship develops and the two marry, although a former suitor, Sam Corwin (DeForest Kelley) predicts that the marriage will fail.
As time passes, Luke Miller becomes a successful architect and refuses another offer of employment from his mother-in-law, however the influential Mrs. Hayden uses her contacts in the banking industry to ensure that Miller is refused loans to help him build his business. He relents and accepts a position in Mrs. Hayden's company. Their daughter, Danny, is born but the relationship of the couple begins to deteriorate with Miller declining into alcoholism, and Valerie indulging in a promiscuous lifestyle. The marriage ends when Miller finds her having sex with another man.
Years pass and Danny grows up, and eventually Valerie and Danny become rivals for the same man. When Danny kills the man, she claims that she was defending Valerie against attack, and when the case is brought to court a verdict of justifiable homicide is ruled. When Mrs. Hayden petitions for custody of Danny, Valerie reveals that Danny was trying to kill her, and that the man was only killed when he tried to defend Valerie. Valerie returns home and commits suicide, and after her death Luke Miller tries to help Danny rebuild her life.
Critical comments
Although Robbins and the studio refused to acknowledge a connection, some publications such as NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
noted the similarities between the movie and the real-life case of Cheryl Crane, the daughter of actress Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
, who in 1958 stabbed and killed her mother's boyfriend, Johnny Stompanato
Johnny Stompanato
John "Johnny" Stompanato , also known as "Handsome Harry", "Johnny Stomp", "John Steele", and "Oscar", was a former United States Marine who became a bodyguard/enforcer for gangster Mickey Cohen...
, claiming that she was defending Turner from attack. Newsweek wrote that the case seemed to have influenced the "foolish story" and described it as "a typical Harold Robbins pastiche of newspaper clippings liberally shellacked with sentiment and glued with sex".
The Saturday Review criticised the script saying that it "somehow manages to make every dramatic line (particularly when uttered by Susan Hayward) sound like a caption to a cartoon in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
.
Nominations
The theme song Where Love Has Gone by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy CahnSammy Cahn
Sammy Cahn was an American lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premiered by recording companies in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe as "Best Song". Jack Jones sang the theme song on his album of the same name.