The Moon and Sixpence

The Moon and Sixpence (1959)

A staid, dull Englishman abruptly deserts his wife and children to become a painter in the South Seas.

Date of release
1959-10-30
TMDB
7.0 / 10 (1)
Runtime
1h 30m
Genres
Drama, TV Movie
Director
Robert Mulligan

Casting

Interesting facts

The Moon and Sixpence is an American television movie that was broadcast on NBC on October 30, 1959. The production, starring Laurence Olivier, was adapted by S. Lee Pogostin from the novel by Somerset Maugham. The production won multiple Emmy and Sylvania Awards, including awards for Olivier's acting, Pogostin's adaptation, and Robert Mulligan's direction.

Production

The 90-minute movie was produced in December 1958 and recorded on color videotape. David Susskind was the producer and Robert Mulligan the director. It was sponsored by RCA and used in advertising for color television sets.

The film is based on Somerset Maugham's 1919 novel, The Moon and Sixpence. The novel had previously been adapted into a stage play in 1925, a feature film in 1942, and an opera in 1957. The television adaptation was written by S. Lee Pogostin.

The production was Laurence Olivier's debut on American television. Olivier won Emmy and Sylvania Awards for his performance, which required him to portray the transformation of the protagonist from a timorous London stockbroker to a rude Parisian artist and eventually a noble leper in Tahiti.

Makeup artist Dick Smith was responsible for Olivier's makeup after the character developed leprosy. Olivier noted the extreme makeup reflecting the disfigurement of his character's face "does the acting for me." Smith and Olivier later worked together again on Marathon Man (1976).

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