A Hatful of Rain (1957)

Interesting facts

• Filmed in: New York City
• Awards: 1 · Nominations: 1. Including: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

A Hatful of Rain is a 1957 American drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Eva Marie Saint, Don Murray, Anthony Franciosa and Lloyd Nolan. It is adapted by Michael V. Gazzo, Alfred Hayes, and Carl Foreman from Gazzo's 1955 play. The film is about the effects of morphine addiction on a family in New York City. It was released by 20th Century Fox on July 17, 1957.

Production

The screenplay for the film was written by Gazzo, Alfred Hayes, and Carl Foreman. Foreman was uncredited on the original release, as he was blacklisted at the time. The Writers Guild of America added his name to the film's credits in 1998, 14 years after his death.

Fred Zinnemann originally intended Don Murray to be cast as Polo, but Murray insisted on playing Johnny, and Anthony Franciosa reprised his stage role. Franciosa and Henry Silva (Mother) were the only actors to appear in both the original play and the film. This was the film debut of William Hickey.

In preparation for the film, Zinnemann and Murray spent time with the NYPD Narcotics unit. He recalled,

"[We] were taken into 'hot' areas in daytime and in the dead of night, able to observe many things and make mental notes which would be of enormous value to us later on.... A most harrowing experience was seeing patients at the corrective hospital at Rikers Island [where] the hard cases were treated."

Filming took place on-location in New York City's Lower East Side, and at the 20th Century Fox studios in Los Angeles. The exteriors of the housing project were filmed at the Alfred E. Smith Houses. The film was shot in CinemaScope despite Zinnemann's objections, as Fox had a mandate to shoot all its productions in the format. Zinnemann recalled,

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