Saratoga Trunk movie storyline. In 1875, Clio Dulaine, the illegitimate daughter of an aristocratic New Orleans Creole man and a French woman, returns from Paris to her birthplace in Rampart Street to avenge her mother’s mistreatment at the hands of her father’s family, the Dulaines. Years ago Clio’s mother accidentally killed Dulaine when he tried to prevent her from committing suicide, and the scandalized Dulaines then exiled Clio and her mother to Paris. Clio is accompanied by her mulatto maid, Angelique, and her dwarf manservant, Cupidon.
After fixing up the rundown house in Rampart Street, Clio ventures out, hoping to encounter the Dulaines. At the French marketplace, Clio stops for a bowl of jambalaya and is immediately attracted to Clint Maroon, a tall Texan in a white hat, who is eating at the counter. The attraction is mutual, and Clint offers to drive Clio to the cathedral in his carriage, but a disapproving Angelique interferes, and Clio leaves without him.
After the service, Clio, Angelique and Cupidon breakfast at the restaurant patronized by the Dulaines every Sunday. Announcing to the maitre d’ that she is a relative, Clio sits at the table reserved for the Dulaines, but when the Dulaines arrive, they recognize her by her resemblance to her mother and leave without a confrontation. Clint and Clio meet again at the restaurant, and afterward, he drives her home.
Eventually, Clint moves into Clio’s house. Although Clio and Clint are in love with each other, Clio, who is obsessed with her plans for revenge, intends to marry a rich and powerful man to prove that she is as good as her father’s family. Clint, a gambler, who never intends to marry, is out for revenge on the railroaders who ruined his father in Texas.
While Clio continues to embarrass the Dulaines at every opportunity, planning, if necessary, to interrupt the debut of her half-sister Charlotte, Clint, exasperated by Clio’s unrelenting machinations, leaves for Saratoga. As the result of Clio’s scheming, the Dulaines pay her $10,000, agree to destroy the Rampart Street house and bury her mother in a New Orleans cemetery.
Later, Clio joins Clint in Saratoga, where she plots to marry wealthy railroad heir Bartholomew Van Steed. Clio’s arrival with Angelique and Cupidon causes quite a stir, and because the hotel is completely booked, Clint, who is now calling himself Colonel Maroon, offers Clio two of the rooms in his suite. Privately, he explains that Bart owns a railroad, the Saratoga Trunk, which is suddenly worth millions of dollars because it connects the coal country with New York.
Railroader Raymond Soule, the same man who ruined Clint’s father, is trying to steal the railroad from Bart. Clio poses as the widow of a French count, a claim that many doubt until she is unexpectedly backed up by socialite Mrs. Coventry Bellop, who intensely dislikes Van Steed’s mother. Clio’s beauty and melodramatic posturing quickly capture Bart’s attentions.
Saratoga Trunk is a 1945 American romantic drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, and Flora Robson. Written by Casey Robinson, and based on the novel Saratoga Trunk by Edna Ferber, the film is about a Texas gambler and the daughter of a Creole aristocrat and his beautiful mistress. They become lovers and work together to seek justice from a society that has ruined their parents and rejected them.
Ethel Waters and Lena Horne were both considered for the role of Angelique, the Haitian maid. Instead of a woman of color, Warner Bros. cast British actress Flora Robson in dark makeup. This was unusual, as by this time, the use of what was essentially blackface was considered inappropriate and offensive. Robson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Shot in 1943, the film was not released until 1945.
Saratoga Trunk (1945)
Directed by: Sam Wood
Starring: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Flora Robson, Jerry Austin, John Warburton, Florence Bates, Curt Bois, John Abbott, Ethel Griffies, Louis Payne, Helen Freeman, Sophie Huxley
Screenplay by: Casey Robinson
Production Design by: Joseph St. Amand
Cinematography by: Ernest Haller
Film Editing by: Ralph Dawson
Costume Design by: Leah Rhodes
Set Decoration by: Fred M. MacLean
Art Direction by: Carl Jules Weyl
Music by: Max Steiner, William Lava
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: November 21, 1945 (USA)
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