Lust for Life (film)

Lust for Life (film)

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For the album by Iggy Pop (not the movie soundtrack), see Lust for Life (album).

Lust for Life
Lust for Life DVD cover
Directed by	Vincente Minnelli George Cukor (uncredited - supervised one retake)
Produced by	John Houseman
Written by	Irving Stone (novel) Norman Corwin
Starring	Kirk Douglas Anthony Quinn James Donald
Music by	Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography	Russell Harlan
Edited by	Adrienne Fazan
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	September 17, 1956
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3,227,000[1]
Box office	$2,695,000[1][2]

Lust for Life (1956) is a MGM (Metrocolor) biographical film about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, based on the 1934 novel by Irving Stone and adapted by Norman Corwin.

It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by John Houseman. The film stars Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, James Donald as his brother Theo, Pamela Brown, Everett Sloane, and Anthony Quinn, who won an Oscar for his performance as Van Gogh's fast friend and rival Paul Gauguin.^[3]

 

Contents

 [show] 

• 1 Plot
• 2 Cast
• 3 About the depiction of van Gogh's art
• 4 Academy Awards
• 5 Reception
• 6 Box office
• 7 Companion short film
• 8 References
• 9 External links

 

Plot[edit]

Vincent van Gogh's obsessive devotion to his art engulfs, consumes, and finally destroys him. He fails at a religious career and then as a social activist in a coal mining town, returns home to his father's house where he is rejected by a woman he obsessively loves, takes up with a prostitute who leaves because he is too poor, and discovers painting, which he pursues while agonizing that his vision exceeds his ability to execute. His brother, Theo van Gogh, provides financial and moral support, while Vincent lives off and on with the critical Paul Gauguin. Vincent begins experiencing hallucinations and seizures and voluntarily commits himself to a mental institution. He signs himself out, and with Theo's help, returns to a rural area to paint, where he ultimately shoots himself in despair of never being able to put what he sees on canvas. ^[3]

Cast[edit]

Kirk Douglas – Vincent van Gogh Anthony Quinn – Paul Gauguin James Donald – Theo van Gogh Pamela Brown – Christine Everett Sloane – Dr. Gachet Henry Daniell – Theodorus van Gogh Madge Kennedy – Anna Cornelia van Gogh Noel Purcell – Anton Mauve

Niall MacGinnis – Roulin Jill Bennett – Willemien Lionel Jeffries – Dr. Peyron Laurence Naismith – Dr. Bosman Eric Pohlmann – Colbert Jeanette Sterke – Kay Toni Gerry – Johanna

About the depiction of van Gogh's art[edit]

In relation to van Gogh's art in Lust for Life, two hundred enlarged colour photos were used representing Vincent’s completed canvases; these were in addition to copies that were executed by an American art teacher, Robert Parker. In preparation for the film, Kirk Douglas practiced painting crows so that he could reasonably imitate van Gogh at work.^[4]

Academy Awards[edit]

Wins^[5][6]

• Actor in a Supporting Role: Anthony Quinn

Nominations

• Best Actor: Kirk Douglas
• Best Art Direction (Color): Art Direction: Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Preston Ames; Set Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, F. Keogh Gleason
• Best Writing (Screenplay--Adapted): Norman Corwin

Reception[edit]

New York Times critic Bosley Crowther praised the film's conception, acting and color scheme, noting the design team "consciously made the flow of color and the interplay of compositions and hues the most forceful devices for conveying a motion picture comprehension of van Gogh."^[7] Variety said, "This is a slow-moving picture whose only action is in the dialog itself."^[8]

Box office[edit]

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,595,000 in the US and Canada and $1.1 elsewhere resulting in a loss of $2,072,000.^[1]

Companion short film[edit]

MGM produced a short film Van Gogh: Darkness Into Light, narrated by Dore Schary and showing the European locations used for the filming, to promote Lust for Life. In the film, a 75-year-old woman from Auvers-sur-Oise (not Jeanne Calment, who lived in Arles several hundred km to the south), who claims to have known Van Gogh when she was a young girl, meets star Kirk Douglas, and comments on how much he looks like the painter. This short promotional film is shown on Turner Classic Movies occasionally. At the start and ending of the film, the creators list and thank a number of galleries, collectors, and historians who allowed the works of Van Gogh to be photographed for the film.