Kinopoivre, les films critiqués par Jean-Pierre Marquet – Les classiques – Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane

• Accueil
• Classement
• Critiques par titre
• Critiques par date
• Notules
• Br1èves et spoilers
• Meilleurs et pires
• Dédaignés
• Recherches
• Vite !
• Téléciné

Avant 2001 Fin 2000 Janvier 2001 Février-mars 2001 Avril-mai 2001 Juin-août 2001 Automne 2001 Hiver 2002 Printemps-été 2002 Fin 2002 Premier trimestre 2003 Printemps-été 2003 Automne 2003 Premier semestre 2004 Second semestre 2004 Premier semestre 2005 Second semestre 2005 Premier semestre 2006 Second semestre 2006 Premier semestre 2007 Second semestre 2007 Année 2008 Année 2009 Année 2010 Année 2011 Année 2012 Année 2013 Année 2014 Année 2015 Année 2016 Année 2017

Samson et Dalila

C’est bien à tort que Cecil B. DeMille passe pour un spécialiste des films « bibliques », puisque, sur les quatre-vingts qu’il réalisa dans de nombreux genres différents – aventures, drames bourgeois, westerns –, on ne compte que quatre films inspirés de la Bible : Les dix commandements (première version, muet, en 1923), Le roi des rois en 1927, Samson et Dalila en 1949, et son dernier film, Les dix commandements (seconde version, en 1956). Donc rien n’est plus faux que cette réputation ! Encore faut-il préciser, pour Les dix commandements, que la première version, qui durait deux heures et seize minutes, comportait un second épisode contemporain, dans lequel on montrait l’efficacité (supposée) desdits commandements dans la vie moderne : à San Francisco, deux frères, John et Dan, étaient amoureux de Mary, et ce conflit s’aggravait quand le premier découvrait que son frère avait utilisé des matériaux de mauvaise qualité pour construire une cathédrale...

L’histoire de Samson provient du Livre des Juges, chapitres 13 et 16, dans l’Ancien testament., mais elle a été arrangée pour la rendre beaucoup plus romanesque, grâce au personnage de Dalila, qui est au tout premier plan et dont le caractère a été considérablement enrichi par rapport au peu que la Bible raconte sur elle. Cette histoire avait déjà été filmée en Autriche, en 1922, par l’illustre Alexander Korda, et sortit à Vienne le 25 décembre de cette année, mais DeMille fut tenté par cette histoire à partir de 1935, et il avait versé dix mille dollars à l’historien Harold Lamb pour écrire le scénario de ce qu’il considérait alors comme « une des plus grandes histoires d’amour de tous les temps ». Néanmoins, il avait délaissé ce projet jusqu’en 1948, pour tourner The plainsman (en français, Une aventure de Buffalo Bill, avec Gary Cooper et Jean Arthur, en 1936, sorti en France le 7 mai 1937). Il le reprit après avoir terminé Unconquered en 1947 (en français, Les conquérants d’un nouveau monde, toujours avec Gary Cooper), et lu Judge and Fool, roman de Vladimir Jabotinsky qui décrivait Dalila comme la jeune sœur de Sémadar, la femme philistine de Samson – personnage inventé, absent de la Bible.

Issu de la tribu de Dan, fils de Manoach et juge d’Israël pendant vingt ans, Samson était doté d’une force prodigieuse, qu’il devait au fait de ne s’être jamais coupé les cheveux – condition posée avant sa naissance par un ange à sa future mère Hazelelponit, jusqu’alors stérile.

Development

In 1935, DeMille paid $10,000 to historian Harold Lamb to write a film treatment of the biblical story of Samson and Delilah, which DeMille regarded as "one of the greatest loves stories of all time."[5] However, DeMille later abandoned the film project in favor of The Plainsman,[5] but returned to it once Unconquered was completed in 1947.[6] DeMille hired illustrator Henry Clive to paint his visualization of Delilah on canvas in spring of 1948.[5] DeMille described his Delilah as "warm, soft, cunning" with a "dangerous capacity for vengeance."[5] He further expressed her as a "combination of Vivien Leigh and Jean Simmons with a dash of Lana Turner."[5] Adding to his dramatization of the biblical story, DeMille bought the rights to Judge and Fool, a novel by Vladimir Jabotinsky which portrayed Delilah as the younger sister of Samson’s wife.[1][7] He felt the novel "made possible a connected drama" for the film.[7] The final screenplay was written by Jesse L. Lasky, Jr. and Fredric M. Frank, based on the biblical account, Lamb’s treatment, and Jabotinsky’s novel.

Casting

Mature and Lamarr as Samson and Delilah When DeMille first commenced production on the film in 1935, some of the famous women suggested for the part of Delilah were Dolores del Río, Paulette Goddard, and Joan Crawford.[8] Once production restarted in 1947, DeMille and his staff considered dozens of Hollywood actresses for the role. Those considered were Märta Torén, Viveca Lindfors, Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Jane Greer, Greer Garson, Maureen O’Hara, Rhonda Fleming, Jeanne Crain, Lucille Ball, Jennifer Jones, Vivien Leigh, Gail Russell, Alida Valli, Linda Darnell, Patricia Neal, Jean Simmons, and Nancy Olson.[9][10][11] DeMille cast Hedy Lamarr as Delilah after screening the film The Strange Woman, which featured Ian Keith (a contender for the role of the Saran).[12] DeMille first wanted Lamarr to play Esther in a biblical film he was planning to make in 1939,[13] but the film was never realized. However, he was content with Lamarr’s performance as Delilah, describing it as "more than skin-deep." He would also described her as "a gazelle–incapable of a clumsy or wrong move," and she would flirtatiously refer to herself as "Delilah" and DeMille as her "Samson."[14] Burt Lancaster was the original choice to play Samson, but he declined due to a bad back.[15] Body builder Steve Reeves was also considered and DeMille lobbied long and hard to get the studio to pick up Reeves,[11] but both DeMille and the studio wanted Reeves to tone down his physique, which Reeves, still young and new to the industry, ultimately refused to do.[16] DeMille finally decided to cast Victor Mature as Samson after admiring his performance in the film Kiss of Death.[15][17] Phyllis Calvert was originally cast as Semadar, but she relinquished the part due to her illness.[10] Therefore, DeMille cast Angela Lansbury in the role in July 1948.[10] When Lawrence Perry of The Pittsburgh Press interviewed Lansbury on September 24, 1949, he told her that the Bible does not describe Delilah as having a sister.[18] Lansbury replied, "Anyway, if Delilah didn’t have a sister, Mr. DeMille has supplied one."[18] Kasey Rogers auditioned and was screen-tested for the role of Miriam, the Danite girl who loves Samson.[19] But DeMille told her, "You’re too pretty and you’re too young," and Rogers was cast as a Philistine spectator in the temple scene and credited in the film as "Laura Elliot."[19] Olive Deering was cast as Miriam, instead. She later played the real biblical Miriam, sister of Moses, in DeMille’s last and most successful film The Ten Commandments.

Filming

Principal photography began on October 4, 1948 and ended on December 22, 1948.[1] The scenes involving the plowed field were shot on January 4, 1949, and added scenes and closeups were shot between January 18 and January 21, 1949.[1] DeMille’s legendary status led him to play himself in Billy Wilder’s film noir Sunset Boulevard.[20] The film is about a fictional silent film star named Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson) who, no longer active, once worked as an actress for DeMille. For the scene where Desmond visits DeMille at Paramount, an actual set of Samson and Delilah was reconstructed to show the director at work.[20] The first day scheduled to shoot the scene was May 23, 1949, months after filming on Samson and Delilah had ended.[20] After the scene was shot in a total of four days, Wilder patted DeMille on the back and humorously told him, "Very good, my boy. Leave your name with my secretary. I may have a small part for you in my next picture."[20] Wilder later said that DeMille "took direction terrifically. He loved it. He understood it. He was very subtle."[20] The film’s special effects were supervised by Gordon Jennings.[21] The "money shot" was the toppling of the temple of Dagon, the god of the Philistines.[21] It is the penultimate scene in the film, cost $150,000, and took a year to shoot.[21] The bottom portion of the temple was constructed full-scale.[21] A separate 37-foot high model with a 17-foot high Dagon statue was built for the photographic effects.[21] The model was destroyed three times in order to shoot it through different camera angles.[21] Footage of the full-scale set was merged with footage of the scale model using a "motion repeater system" fabricated by Paramount, which enabled the exact repetition of camera moves.[21]

Release

“ Here—for me—is the climax of thirty-seven years of motion picture making, the dream of a lifetime come true. ” —Cecil B. DeMille, an excerpt of a half-page DeMille statement about Samson and Delilah published in New York newspapers in late 1949.[22] The film received its world premiere at two of New York City’s Broadway theatres, the Paramount and the Rivoli, on December 21, 1949, in order to "accommodate the 7,000,000 movie-goers in the greater New York area."[22]

Critical response

The 37-foot tall model of the temple of Dagon Samson and Delilah received moderately positive reviews upon its release in 1949. Variety described the film as a "lusty action story with a heavy coating of torrid-zone romance."[23] The magazine also appreciated the film’s cast by writing, "Victor Mature fits neatly into the role of the handsome but dumb hulk of muscle that both the Bible and DeMille make of the Samson character. Hedy Lamarr never has been more eye-filling and makes of Delilah a convincing minx. George Sanders gives a pleasantly light flavor of satirical humor to the part of the ruler, while Henry Wilcoxon is duly rugged as the military man."[23] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times admired the "dazzling displays of splendid costumes, of sumptuous settings and softly tinted flesh which Mr. DeMille’s color cameras have brilliantly pageanted... Color has seldom been more lushly or unmistakably used."[24] Film critic Leonard Maltin, in his review for Samson and Delilah, wrote: "With expected DeMille touches, this remains a tremendously entertaining film."[25]

Box office

Samson and Delilah was enormously successful, taking in $11,000,000 at the box office, making it the top moneymaker for 1950.[26][27] It was the second most popular film at the British box office that year.[28] Accolades Award Category Name Outcome Academy Awards[29] Art Direction (Color) Art Direction: Hans Dreier, Walter H. Tyler Set Decoration: Sam Comer, Ray Moyer Won Cinematography (Color) George Barnes Nominated Costume Design (Color) Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele, Gwen Wakeling Won Music (Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) Victor Young Nominated Special Effects Cecil B. DeMille Productions Nominated American Film Institute[30][31] AFI’s 100 Years...100 Passions Nominated AFI’s 100 Years...100 Film Scores Victor Young Nominated Boxoffice Magazine[32] Boxoffice Barometer Trophy Cecil B. DeMille Won The Christian Herald and the Protestant Motion Picture Council[33] Picture of the Month Award (December 1949) Cecil B. DeMille Won Film Francais[34] Grand Prix Cecil B. DeMille Won Golden Globe Awards[35] Cinematography - Color George Barnes Nominated Parents’ Magazine[36] The Parents’ Magazine Medal Cecil B. DeMille Won

Home media

In 2012 a costly, 4K-scanned, digital restoration of Samson and Delilah was completed. The restored version received its premiere at Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato 2012. Paramount Home Media Distribution released the "meticulously restored" Samson and Delilah in DVD format, with English, French, and Spanish audio and subtitles, on March 12, 2013.[37] All previous DVDs are pirated copies from official VHS cassettes or television broadcasts of the film. See also