Summer and Smoke (1961)

Interesting facts

• Awards: 1 · Nominations: 4. Including: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Summer and Smoke is a 1961 American drama film based on the 1948 play by Tennessee Williams. Directed by Peter Glenville, the film stars Laurence Harvey and Geraldine Page, with Rita Moreno, Una Merkel, John McIntire, Thomas Gomez, Pamela Tiffin, Malcolm Atterbury, Lee Patrick, and Earl Holliman.

Production

The play had debuted in 1948 but not been a success. Nonetheless, Hal Wallis bought the film rights in 1952 for $100,000 (equivalent to $1.21 million in 2025) following the success of the movie of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

Later in 1952, the play was successfully revived off Broadway starring Geraldine Page.

Hal Wallis originally offered the film lead to Audrey Hepburn but she turned the role down, not wanting to play a dowdy spinster. Walllis' wife Martha Hyer claimed Wallis offered the lead part to Katharine Hepburn who demanded too much money. The role was given to Geraldine Page, who made her big screen comeback eight years after her Academy Award-nominated performance in Hondo. Wallis wrote "Gerry was a dream.

The male lead was Laurence Harvey who was cast on the strength of his work in the film Room at the Top (1958). Wallis wrote "although he lacked the power and virility of Gerry's husband, Rip Torn, who probably would have been better in the role, he was a bigger name at the time."

The film marked the debut of model Pamela Tiffin. Her role had originally been intended for Dolores Hart. Hart recalled that she coveted the role, writing "Wallis thought I was too young for the role—which I took to mean not sexy enough—but agreed to let me do a test for the director, Peter Glenville... I wanted to prove I could do something for Mr. Wallis besides Presley girls. Mr. Wallis liked the test. But Mr.

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