The Rose Tattoo (1955)

Taglines: Lusty… Rousing… Startling!

The Rose Tattoo movie synopsis. An Italian-American neighborhood in Louisiana is disturbed when truck driver Rosario Delle Rose is killed by police while smuggling. His buxom widow Serafina miscarries, then over a period of years draws more and more into herself, trying to force her lovely teenaged daughter Rosa to do likewise. On one eventful day, Rose finally breaks away; Serafina learns of Rosario’s affair with another woman; and a new carefree, handsome Italian truck driver enters her life…

The Rose Tattoo is a 1955 American film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play of the same name. It was adapted by Williams and Hal Kanter and directed by Daniel Mann, with stars Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan and Jo Van Fleet. Williams originally wrote the play for Italian Anna Magnani to play on Broadway in 1951, but she rejected the offer because of her difficulty with the English language at the time. By the time of this film adaptation, she was ready.

Anna Magnani won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, and the film won Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography receiving five other nominations including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Pavan.

Much of the film was shot on location in Key West, Florida, although the setting is not specifically mentioned in the film. The house featured in the film stands to this day and is known, appropriately, as the “Rose Tattoo House”.

The premiere of the movie was held in New York City at the Hotel Astor on December 2, 1955, with Arthur Miller, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield among the celebrities in attendance.

About the Story

Serafina Delle Rose (Anna Magnani) proudly praises her husband Rosario to her female neighbors before revealing that she is pregnant with their second child. Returning home she finds Rosario asleep in bed and whispers to him that she is with child. Emerging from his room she finds a young woman named Estelle (Virginia Grey) at the door who wants her to make a shirt for her lover from some expensive silk material. It transpires that Rosario is her lover as, when Serafina is out of the room, she steals a photograph of him from Serafina’s sideboard before departing.

Later that night Rosario is out working (he is a van driver who hauls bananas) and Serafina is busy working on the shirt for her customer. The women of the neighborhood discover that Rosario has been killed in a road accident while trying to speed away from the police; he was smuggling something illegal under the bananas. When Serafina discovers her beloved husband’s demise she collapses, and later the local doctor informs her daughter Rosa (Marisa Pavan) and the women of the neighborhood that Serafina has miscarried.

Three years later Serafina has become a recluse. She has allowed her appearance to deteriorate. It is the day of the high school graduation and the women of the neighborhood are impatiently banging on Serafina’s front door for their daughters’ graduation dresses, which she has sewn. Rosa is also begging for her graduation dress from her mother, but Serafina has locked them—along with the rest of Rosa’s clothes—away. Rosa’s teacher turns up in the neighborhood demanding to know what is keeping them. She goes to the Delle Rose household and eventually makes Serafina see sense.

After much thought Serafina decides to attend her daughter’s graduation. During this time two women arrive asking if Serafina can quickly mend their bandanas for a festival to which they are going. Serafina reluctantly does so, but is appalled by their talk of men and reprimands them. One of the women, Bessie (Jo Van Fleet), takes offense and informs Serafina that her late husband was having an affair.

Serafina does not go to the graduation ceremony after this revelation, but instead sits alone in the dark until Rosa comes home. She is infuriated when Rosa introduces her to her new sailor boyfriend Jack Hunter (Ben Cooper) and Serafina mistrusts his intentions. After her interrogation, he confides that he is a virgin. She forces him to vow before a statue of the Virgin Mary that he will respect Rosa’s innocence. Then Rosa and Jack are picked up by a car of friends for a party.

Directed by: Daniel Mann
Starring: Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan, Ben Cooper, Virginia Grey, Jo Van Fleet, Sandro Giglio, Mimi Aguglia, Florence Sundstrom, Larry Chance, Lewis Charles, Roger Gunderson
Screenplay by: Hal Kanter, Tennessee Williams
Cinematography by: James Wong Howe
Film Editing by: Warren Low
Costume Design by: Edith Head
Set Decoration by: Sam Comer, Arthur Krams
Art Direction by: Tambi Larsen, Hal Pereira
Music by: Alex North
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: December 12, 1955