The Proud Rebel  /  Four Daughters

The Proud Rebel  (1958)

Perhaps the best of Curtiz’s later films is an emotional Western drama about ex-Confederate officer John Chandler (Alan Ladd) who brings his son (David Ladd) to Illinois for medical treatment. The younger Chandler lost his voice after witnessing his mother’s death in a fire and his only friend other than his father is King, his beloved sheep dog.  While searching for a cure, father, son and dog become involved in a range war between a farmer (Olivia de Havilland) and a dastardly sheepherder (Dean Jagger) and his two reprobate sons (Harry Dean Stanton and Thomas Pittman).  With: Cecil Kellaway, James Westerfield, Henry Hull, and Percy Helton. Produced by Sam Goldwyn Jr.

35mm, Technicolor, 103 min. Production: Formosa Productions, Inc.  Distribution: Buena Vista Film Distribution Co., Inc.  Director: Michael Curtiz.  Producer: Samuel Goldwyn Jr.  Screenwriter: Joseph Petracca, Lillie Hayward.  Based on a story by James Edward Grant.  Cinematographer: Ted McCord.  Editor: Aaron Stell.  Cast: Alan Ladd, Olivia de Havilland, Dean Jagger, David Ladd, Cecil Kellaway.

Four Daughters  (1938)

One of Curtiz’s most overlooked masterpieces is a heartwarming family saga about a music professor Adam Lemp (Claude Rains) and his daughters (Priscilla, Rosemary and Lola Lane plus Gale Page).  The great John Garfield (in his screen debut) imbues the film with memorable dramatic impact.  A genuine sleeper, Four Daughters was nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Garfield).  Adapted from Fannie Hurst’s story by Julius Epstein and Lenore Coffee, this acclaimed box office hit spawned a pair of subsequent Lemp family films (Four Wives and Four Mothers).

35mm, b/w, 90 min.  Production/Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.  Director: Michael Curtiz.  Producer: Henry Blanke.  Screenwriter: Julius J. Epstein, Lenore Coffee.  Based on a short story by Fannie Hurst.  Cinematographer: Ernest Haller.  Editor: Ralph Dawson.  Cast: Claude Rains, Jeffrey Lynn, John Garfield, Frank McHugh, May Robson.