Gypsy Wildcat

Gypsy Wildcat (1944)

A CARAVAN 0F ACTION AND ROMANCE!

In an unspecified Renaissance kingdom, no sooner has Anube's gypsy tribe encamped near Baron Tovar's village when Count Orso is found murdered. The wicked baron blames the gypsies and imprisons them all in his castle. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger on a white horse has hidden the murder arrow and won the heart of gypsy belle Carla, to the discomfiture of her erstwhile fiancée Tonio. Baron Tovar is also fascinated by Carla...especially when he notices her heraldic pendant.

Date of release
1944-08-02
TMDB
6.0 / 10 (5)
Runtime
1h 17m
Genres
Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance
Director
Roy William Neill

Casting

Interesting facts

Gypsy Wildcat is a 1944 Technicolor adventure film directed by Roy William Neil starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall and Peter Coe. It was co-written by James M. Cain.

Production

After the success of Arabian Nights Universal requested a series of films starring Montez, Hall and Sabu. It was followed by White Savage and Cobra Woman. The studio then requested three more, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, a gypsy tale, Zorya, and a tale of the modernisation of Turkey.

James Hogan was signed to write and direct Zorya which became Gypsy Girl then Gypsy Wildcat. He fell ill so he was replaced by Roy William Neill.

James M Cain was hired to work on the dialogue. He later said he agreed to do it because Universal guaranteed him two weeks work. They showed him a Maria Montez film "so I would know what kind of a creature I was writing for", he said years later. "Well, when she came on screen, I suddenly realized that I knew this girl personally. Her voice and every gesture were completely familiar to me. But I have yet to figure out where I met this girl.

Cain said he took and script "worked on it day and night, got order into the story and simplified it. I turned in the script and thought, "I've done something that makes sense"." When he left the studio, he walked past the office of producer George Waggner to say thanks and saw him rewriting the script. Cain said he was sorry the producer did not like it.

Cain said the script "was the beginning of a new phase of my picture career. After that I was a professional at the business; after that, I did all right" even though he did not have many credits.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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