Justine (1969 film)

Justine
Justine
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	George Cukor; Joseph Strick
Written by	Lawrence B. Marcus; Lawrence Durrell (novel)
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman
Starring	Anouk Aimée; Dirk Bogarde; Robert Forster; Anna Karina; Philippe Noiret; Michael York; John Vernon; Jack Albertson; George Baker; Michael Dunn
Cinematography	Leon Shamroy
Edited by	Rita Roland
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Distributed by	Twentieth Century Fox
Release date	August 6, 1969;
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7,870,000
Box office	$2.2 million (US/ Canada rentals)

Justine is a 1969 American drama film directed by George Cukor and Joseph Strick. It was written by Lawrence B. Marcus (with uncredited contributions from critic Andrew Sarris),^[3] based on the 1957 novel Justine by Lawrence Durrell, which was part of the series The Alexandria Quartet.

Plot

Set in Alexandria in 1938, a young British schoolmaster named Darley meets Pursewarden, a British consular officer. Pursewarden introduces him to Justine, the wife of an Egyptian banker. Darley befriends her, and discovers she is involved in a plot against the British, the goal of which is to arm the Jewish underground movement in Palestine.

Cast

Anouk Aimée as Justine
Dirk Bogarde as Pursewarden
Michael York as Darley
Robert Forster as Narouz
Anna Karina as Melissa
Philippe Noiret as Pombal
John Vernon as Nessim
Jack Albertson as Cohen
Cliff Gorman as "Toto"
George Baker as Mountolive
Elaine Church as Liza
Michael Constantine as Memlik Pasha
Marcel Dalio as French Consul General
Michael Dunn as Mnemjian
Barry Morse as Maskelyne
Danielle Roter as Drusilla

Production

The film's pre-production was prepared by director Joseph Strick, who intended to shoot the movie in Morocco. He did some location filming there, but fought with the executives at Fox and with star Anouk Aimée. When he did not hire others for the film as instructed by the studio and slept on the set while working on one of Aimee's scenes, they fired him and George Cukor was brought in. He proceeded to bring the film to Hollywood where the remainder of the film was finished. It became a financial flop and received negative critical reviews.

Some scenes were shot at Ennejma Ezzahra, a palace at Sidi Bou Said, in northern Tunisia.^[4]

Reception

According to Fox records the film required $12,775,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $2,775,000.^[5] In September 1970 the studio reported it had lost $6,602,000 on the film.^[6]

References

^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255
^ "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, January 7, 1970 p 15
^ Luers, Erik (December 20, 2013). "Auteur Studies: What Is Your Favorite George Cukor Film? Critics Give Their Choices". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
^ Cowell, Alan (23 July 1987). "In Tunisia, A Rare Visit To a Palace And Its Owner". New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
^ Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 328.
^ Silverman p 259

External links

Justine at IMDb
Justine at Rotten Tomatoes

[1] Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255

[2] "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, January 7, 1970 p 15

[3] Luers, Erik (December 20, 2013). "Auteur Studies: What Is Your Favorite George Cukor Film? Critics Give Their Choices". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved September 25, 2022.

[Cowell-4] Cowell, Alan (23 July 1987). "In Tunisia, A Rare Visit To a Palace And Its Owner". New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2015.

[5] Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 328.

[6] Silverman p 259

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