Back Street (1961)

Taglines: She shut her eyes to shame… When she opened her heart to love!

Back Street movie storyline. In Lincoln, the ambitious aspirant-designer Rae Smith has an incident with a wolf department store businessman and is rescued by the Marine Paul Saxon. They immediately fall in love with each other and spend the night together. On the next morning, Paul needs to return to Chicago and calls Rae to go with him. However she misses the plane and Paul travels alone. Soon she learns that he is married with children and she is convinced by her sister to move to New York where she succeeds in the fashion world.

Paul, who owns a department store chain, stumbles upon her on the street and their love is rekindled. However, Rae decides to leave New York and her boss and partner convinces her to open a store in Rome. Some time later, they meet each other again and Rae learn that Paul is indeed unhappily married with the alcoholic Liz Saxon. They have a love affair and Paul buys a country house at the countryside of France where they spend their leisure time together. But their lives shatter when Paul’s son discovers their love affair.

Back Street is a 1961 American Eastmancolor drama film directed by David Miller, and produced by Ross Hunter. The screenplay was written by William Ludwig and Eleanore Griffin based on the novel of the same name by Fannie Hurst. The music score is by Frank Skinner, who also scored the 1941 version. The film stars Susan Hayward, John Gavin, and Vera Miles.

The story follows two lovers who have limited opportunities to get together because one of them is married. Hedda Hopper claims Hunter was considering Gregory Peck and William Holden for the lead until she suggested John Gavin.

It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Color (Jean Louis). Unlike the previous film versions, this one gives Susan Hayward plenty of opportunity to appear in Jean Louis’s spectacular gowns. This was a trademark of Ross Hunter’s remakes of older “weepies”; he employed the same method in Lana Turner’s versions of Imitation of Life and Madame X.

Of all three screen versions of Back Street, this 1961 production took the most dramatic license with the novel. It is different from both the 1932 and 1941 screen versions in many ways – changing the names of several characters and updating the story to what was then the present day. Good examples of how the plotline was sensationalized in this third version are the attempted suicide and the fatal car crash.

Directed by: David Miller
Starring: Susan Hayward, John Gavin, Vera Miles, Charles Drake, Virginia Grey, Reginald Gardiner, Tammy Marihugh, Natalie Schafer, Karen Norris, Doreen McLean, Alex Gerry, Joseph Mell
Screenplay by: William Ludwig, Eleanore Griffin
Cinematography by: Stanley Cortez
Film Editing by: Milton Carruth
Costume Design by: Jean Louis
Set Decoration by: Howard Bristol, Jacques Mapes
Art Direction by: Alexander Golitzen
Music by: Frank Skinner
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: October 11, 1961