Taglines: Get out of the way… Or get hit in the heart!
The Unsinkable Molly Brown movie storyline. Majestic mountains are in the background and a waterfall in the foreground. Is that a canoe on the river? No it’s a cradle with a baby. The buoyant Molly Brown has survived the first crisis of her life — a flood. Sixteen years later she sets out to make her way in the world. Can she sing and play the piano? She assures the Leadville saloon keeper that she can and learns quickly.
Soon she is the bride of Johnny Brown, who in a few years will be able to replace the original cigar wrapper wedding ring with a replica in gold and gemstones. But it takes more than a few million dollars to be accepted by Denver society. The Browns head for Europe and bring a few crowned heads back to Denver for a party that turns into a ballroom brawl. Molly goes to Europe alone, returning on the Titanic. She didn’t survive a flood as a baby for the story to end here.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown is a 1964 American musical Metrocolor film directed by Charles Walters and starring Debbie Reynolds, filmed in Panavision. The screenplay by Helen Deutsch is based on the book of the 1960 musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown by Richard Morris. The song score was composed by Meredith Willson. The plot is a fictionalized account of the life of Margaret Brown, who survived the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic. Debbie Reynolds was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Brown.
About the Production
Harve Presnell was the sole member of the original Broadway cast who was invited to reprise his stage role in the film. Although Tammy Grimes had originated the title role and had won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance, MGM executives wanted Shirley MacLaine for the film.
After she signed, producer Hal Wallis claimed she was under contract to him, and MacLaine was forced to withdraw from the project. When Debbie Reynolds was cast instead, MacLaine publicly accused her of agreeing to accept a lower salary in order to land the role, and director Charles Walters, who preferred MacLaine, tried to persuade Reynolds to turn down the part.
Exteriors were filmed in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in western Colorado. Some brief black-and-white footage from the 1953 movie Titanic, portraying the ill-fated ocean liner’s collision with an iceberg and sinking, was interspersed with scenes of Molly Brown aboard the ship and later in a lifeboat. Only five of the 17 musical numbers from the stage musical were used in the film, and Meredith Willson wrote “He’s My Friend” to extend the song score. Peter Gennaro, who had choreographed the original Broadway production, staged the musical sequences.
During production, MGM was putting all its resources into its forthcoming Doctor Zhivago (1965), and at least $1 million was cut from the budget of Molly Brown. Running out of money to complete the film, director Charles Walters proposed cutting the rousing dance number “He’s My Friend”. To save the number, cast and crew ultimately decided to film it in one rigorous day using multiple cameras to reduce shooting time. The film grossed $11,070,559 at the domestic box office. It earned $7.5 million in U.S. theatrical rentals.
The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
Directed by: Charles Walters
Starring: Debbie Reynolds, Harve Presnell, Ed Begley, Jack Kruschen, Hermione Baddeley, Vassili Lambrinos, Martita Hunt, Harvey Lembeck, Maria Karnilova, Audrey Christie
Screenplay by: Helen Deutsch
Production Design by: Dave Friedman
Cinematography by: Daniel L. Fapp
Film Editing by: Frederic Steinkamp
Costume Design by: Morton Haack
Set Decoration by: Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt
Art Direction by: E. Preston Ames, George W. Davis
Music by: Meredith Willson
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: June 11, 1964
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