THE GREAT GATSBY
US, 1949, 91 minutes, Black and white.
Alan Ladd, Betty Field, Macdonald Carey, Ruth Hussey, Barry Sullivan, Howard Da Silva, Shelley Winters, Henry Hull, Ed Begley, Elisha Cook Jr.
Directed by Elliott Nugent.
The Great Gatsby is the first major film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel. It was made only twenty years after the events of 1928, the jazz age, the time of gangsters and bootlegging. It was also the time of self-made millionaires.
Jay Gatsby had humble beginnings (and these are visualised in the film). He was in love with Daisy but, during World War One where he fought, she married the lawyer Tom Buchanan. (They are played by Betty Field and Barry Sullivan.)
The film visualises some of the bootlegging activities of Gatsby which made him his money. However, the main focus is on his buying a mansion, wanting to be near Daisy, contriving to meet her again – with some disastrous results which lead to his death.
Alan Ladd is perfectly at home in the role of Gatsby – more credible, perhaps, than Robert Redford in the 1974 version. Betty Field is an odd choice for Daisy, a blend of the common as well as the ambitious. Macdonald Cary is a good Nick Carraway. Shelley Winters has a small role as Myrtle Wilson with Howard Da Silva as her vengeful husband. The character of Dan Cody is amplified for the film and he is played with great relish by Henry Hull.
The film captures the atmosphere of the book while still coming across as an Alan Ladd programmer film from the 1940s when he was so popular. The remake by Jack Clayton starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow and was very much a fashion plate film of the 70s. It was made for television by Robert Markowitz in 2000 with Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd. In 2012 Baz Luhrmann filmed it again, in 3D, with Leonardo DiCaprio?, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire.
1. The classic novel? The character of Gatsby? The fulfilment of the American dream? Its basis? Its consequences?
2. The film made twenty years after the events, it first being a novel, then a play, adapted for cinema? The cinematic style of this film?
3. Black and white photography, the Long Island settings, the social milieu, wealth, the mansion? The exteriors and interiors? The parties? The contrast with the sea, the roads, the gas stations? The billboard with the eye? The musical score, I’m Always Chasing Rainbows?
4. The use of flashbacks, for moods and atmosphere? The gangster sequences, prohibition, bootlegging? The war, the soldiers and their spirit? The wharf, the boat, the South Seas? The way that these flashbacks were inserted into the narrative?
5. Nick and Jordan, going to the cemetery, remembering twenty years earlier, Nick’s perspective on Gatsby?
6. Jay Gatsby as an American icon, his image, wealth, his buying the mansion, settling in, the view? The Buchanans and his hosting the party, the mystery host, people remarking? His past and the stories? The reality of the past Jimmy Gatz, on the boat, the wharves? Captain Dan and his relationship with Ella? The philosophy of winning, work, development? Gatsby growing up on the boat, Dan’s advice, Ella and his rejection of her? Daisy, Jordan, the war? The twelve years passing, ambitions leading to crime? The effect of learning of Daisy’s marriage?
7. Gatsby and his motivation, wanting to win Daisy again, his presumptions, nervous? Getting Nick to have him invited to tea, Jordan and her role? Meeting Daisy and its effect on both of them?
8. Daisy, her past, the war years, marrying Tom? The tensions, Tom and his life, infidelities? His depending on her for cash? His going out, the affair with Myrtle, jealousy? Daisy and Jay reminiscing, the tea, love, the decision, finding the time to tell Tom or not?
9. Nick and his character, his being used, his interpretation of Jay, going to the party, meeting him, golf, the arrangements, his love for Jordan? The accident and the consequences?
10. Wilson, the garage, Myrtle and her taunting her husband, going out, the tensions? The accident? Wilson and his reaction to Myrtle’s death?
11. The group driving into town, Daisy and her decision to drive back? Myrtle, her death? Hit-run, Gatsby and his plan, the car and the dent, the discussions about what to do, issues of blame?
12. Daisy and her reliance on Gatsby? Tom’s arrival home, the discussion, her rationalising the situation? Gatsby overhearing this – and disillusioned? But his not hearing her change of heart?
13. Wilson, getting his gun, driving to the mansion, seeing the car, walking through the mansion, searching for Gatsby?
14. Daisy, her final honesty, persuading Tom to make the phone call, Gatsby deciding not to answer? His being shot?
15. The issues of responsibility in this period of American history? The American dream and its responsibilities? And the symbol of the billboard and the eyes watching? A symbolic film about the US in the 1920s?
