The Great Gatsby (1974 film): Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|1974 film directed by Jack Clayton}} |
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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2013}} |
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{{Infobox Film |
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{{Infobox film |
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| name = The Great Gatsby |
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| name = The Great Gatsby |
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| image = Daisy&Jay.jpg |
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| image = Great gatsby 74.jpg |
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| caption = |
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| alt = |
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| director = [[Jack Clayton]] |
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| caption = Theatrical release poster |
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| producer = [[David Merrick]]<br> Hank Moonjean (associate producer) |
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| director = [[Jack Clayton]] |
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| writer = [[Francis Ford Coppola]] <br> [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] (novel) |
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| producer = [[David Merrick]] |
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| starring = [[Robert Redford]]<br> [[Mia Farrow]]<br> [[Bruce Dern]]<br> [[Karen Black]]<br> [[Scott Wilson]] <br> [[Sam Waterston]] <br> [[Lois Chiles]] |
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| screenplay = [[Francis Ford Coppola]] |
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| based_on = {{Based on|''[[The Great Gatsby]]''|[[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]}} |
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| starring = |
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{{Plainlist| |
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*[[Robert Redford]] |
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*[[Mia Farrow]] |
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*[[Bruce Dern]] |
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*[[Sam Waterston]] |
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*[[Karen Black]]}} |
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| music = [[Nelson Riddle]] |
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| cinematography = [[Douglas Slocombe]] |
| cinematography = [[Douglas Slocombe]] |
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| editing |
| editing = [[Tom Priestley]] |
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| studio = Newdon Productions |
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| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]] |
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| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]] |
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| released = {{flagicon|USA}} [[26 March]] [[1974]] |
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| released = {{Film date|1974|03|29}} |
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| runtime = 144 min |
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| runtime = 146 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 146:19-->{{sfn|British Board of Film Classification|2013}} |
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| country = [[USA]] |
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| country = United States |
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| awards = |
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| language |
| language = English |
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| budget |
| budget = $7 million |
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| gross = $26.5 million<ref name="Gross">[http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1974/0GRGT.php ''The Great Gatsby'', Box Office Information.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413224957/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1974/0GRGT.php |date=April 13, 2012 }} The Numbers. Retrieved May 22, 2012.</ref> |
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| preceded_by = |
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}} |
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| followed_by = |
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'''''The Great Gatsby''''' is a 1974 American [[Historical romance|historical romantic]] [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] based on the [[The Great Gatsby|1925 novel]] by [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]. The film was directed by [[Jack Clayton]], produced by [[David Merrick]], and written by [[Francis Ford Coppola]]. It stars [[Robert Redford]], [[Mia Farrow]], [[Sam Waterston]], [[Bruce Dern]], and [[Karen Black]]. The plot concerns the interactions of writer [[Nick Carraway]] with enigmatic millionaire [[Jay Gatsby]] (Redford) and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, [[Daisy Buchanan]] (Farrow), amid the riotous parties of the [[Jazz Age]] on [[Long Island]] near New York City. |
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| amg_id = |
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| imdb_id = 0071577 |
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}}'''''The Great Gatsby''''' is a [[1974 in film|1974]] film made by Newdon Productions and [[Paramount Pictures]]. It was directed by [[Jack Clayton]] and produced by [[David Merrick]] with Hank Moonjean as associate producer, from a [[screenplay]] by [[Francis Ford Coppola]] based on [[The Great Gatsby|the novel of the same title]] by [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]. The music score was by [[Nelson Riddle]] and the cinematography by [[Douglas Slocombe]]. The production was designed by [[John Box]]. |
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''The Great Gatsby'' was preceded by [[The Great Gatsby (1926 film)|1926]] and [[The Great Gatsby (1949 film)|1949]] films of the same name. Despite a mixed reception by critics, the 1974 film grossed over $26 million against a $7 million budget. Coppola later stated that the film failed to follow his screenplay. In 2013, a [[The Great Gatsby (2013 film)|fourth film adaptation]] was produced. |
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The film stars [[Robert Redford]], [[Mia Farrow]], [[Bruce Dern]], [[Karen Black]], [[Scott Wilson]] and [[Sam Waterston]] with [[Lois Chiles]], [[Howard Da Silva]], [[Roberts Blossom]] and [[Edward Herrmann]]. [[Patsy Kensit]] appears in her first film role and [[Tom Ewell]] makes an uncredited appearance. |
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==Background and production== |
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The film is the third filmed version of the novel. The previous two, also made by Paramount, were: |
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* ''[[The Great Gatsby (1926 film)|The Great Gatsby]]'' (1926), a silent film, directed by [[Herbert Brenon]] and starring [[Warner Baxter]] as Gatsby, [[Lois Wilson]] as Daisy Buchanan and [[William Powell]]. This film is considered "lost". |
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* ''[[The Great Gatsby (1949 film)|The Great Gatsby]]'' (1949), directed by [[Elliott Nugent]] and starring [[Alan Ladd]] as Gatsby, [[Betty Field]] as Daisy Buchanan, [[Shelley Winters]], [[Macdonald Carey]], [[Barry Sullivan]] and [[Howard Da Silva]]. |
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== Plot == |
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The rights to the novel were purchased in 1971 by [[Robert Evans]] so that his then-wife, [[Ali MacGraw]] could play Daisy. Other actresses considered for the role were [[Faye Dunaway]], [[Candice Bergen]], [[Katharine Ross]], [[Lois Chiles]] and [[Mia Farrow]]. Chiles was given the role of Jordan and Farrow was eventually cast as Daisy. [[Warren Beatty]], [[Jack Nicholson]] and [[Steve McQueen]] were all considered for the role of Gatsby, but they were rejected or declined the offer. Farrow was pregnant during the shooting and the film was shot with her wearing loose, flowing dresses and in tight close-ups. |
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Writer [[Nick Carraway]] pilots his boat across the harbor to his cousin [[Daisy Buchanan|Daisy]] and her husband Tom’s mansion in East Egg. While there, he learns Tom and Daisy's marriage is troubled and Tom is having an affair with a woman in [[New York City|New York]]. Nick lives in a small cottage in West Egg, next to a mysterious tycoon named [[Jay Gatsby|Gatsby]], a former [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] student and decorated [[World War I]] veteran, who regularly throws extravagant parties at his home. |
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Tom takes Nick to meet his mistress, Myrtle, who is married to George Wilson, an automotive mechanic. George needs to purchase a vehicle from Tom, but Tom is only there to draw Myrtle to his city apartment, where he hits her in the face when she taunts him with Daisy's name. |
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[[Truman Capote]] was the original screenwriter, but was replaced by Francis Ford Coppola. |
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Back on [[Long Island]], Daisy wants to set Nick up with her friend, Jordan, a [[professional golfer]]. When Nick and Jordan attend a party at Gatsby's home, Nick is invited for a private meeting with Gatsby, who asks him to lunch the following day. |
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The film was shot at Rosecliff Mansion, [[Newport, Rhode Island]], in [[New York City]] and at [[Pinewood Studios]], [[Buckinghamshire]], England. |
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==Plot== |
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The action takes place in New York City and [[Long Island]] during the summer of 1925. |
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{{spoiler}} |
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Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston), a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg district of Long Island, and meets his mysterious neighbour, Jay Gatsby (Robert Redford), who lives in a gigantic mansion and throws extravagant parties every Saturday night. Nick becomes better acquainted with Gatsby, and learns of his obsession with a lost love, who is in fact Nick's own cousin, Daisy Buchanan (Mia Farrow), who now lives across Long Island Sound with her philandering husband, Tom (Bruce Dern). Gatsby had pursued Daisy before the Great War, but was poor, and was not an acceptable suitor. Now rich, though by uncertain and possibly illegitimate means, Gatsby sets out to meet up with Daisy once again. |
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At lunch, Nick meets Gatsby's business partner, a Jewish gangster and gambler named Meyer Wolfsheim, who rigged the [[1919 World Series]]. The following day, Jordan appears at Nick's work and requests he invite Daisy to his house so that Gatsby can meet with her. Gatsby surprises Daisy at lunch, and it is revealed that Gatsby and Daisy were once lovers, though she would not marry him because he was poor. |
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==Cast== |
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<div style="float:left; width:48%;"> |
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* [[Robert Redford ]] - Jay Gatsby |
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* [[Mia Farrow]] - Daisy Buchanan |
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* [[Bruce Dern]] - Tom Buchanan |
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* [[Karen Black]] - Myrtle Wilson |
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* Scott Wilson - George Wilson |
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* [[Sam Waterston]] - Nick Carraway |
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* [[Edward Herrmann]] - Klipspringer |
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* [[Sammy Smith]] - Comic |
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* [[Kathryn Leigh Scott]] - Catherine |
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* [[Vincent Schiavelli]] - Thin Man |
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* [[Roberts Blossom]] - Mr. Gatz |
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* [[Lois Chiles]] - Jordan Baker |
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* [[Beth Porter]] - Mrs. McKee |
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* [[Howard Da Silva]] - Meyer Wolfsheim |
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* [[Tom Ewell]] - Mourner |
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* [[John Devlin]] - Gatsby's Bodyguard |
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</div><br clear="all"> |
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Daisy and Gatsby have an affair, which soon becomes obvious. While Tom and Daisy entertain Gatsby, Jordan, and Nick at their home, Daisy, on a hot summer day, proposes they go into the city as a diversion. At the [[Plaza Hotel]], Gatsby and Daisy reveal their affair and Gatsby wants Daisy to admit she never loved Tom. She is unable to and drives off in Gatsby's car. |
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==Awards and nominations== |
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The film won two [[Academy Awards]], for [[Academy Award for Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] ([[Theoni V. Aldredge]]) and [[Academy Award for Original Music Score|Best Music]] ([[Nelson Riddle]]). It also won three [[BAFTA Awards]] for Best Art Direction (John Box), Best Cinematography (Douglas Slocombe) and Best Costume Design (Theoni V. Aldredge). It won a [[Golden Globe Award]] for Best Supporting Actress (Karen Black) and received three further nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Bruce Dern), (Sam Waterston) and Most Promising Newcomer (Sam Waterston). |
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During the drive home, Daisy hits Myrtle when Myrtle runs into the street. Believing that it was Gatsby who killed Myrtle, since Tom tells or implies this to him, George later goes to Gatsby's mansion and fatally shoots him as he relaxes in the swimming pool, then commits suicide. |
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==External links== |
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* {{imdb title|id=0071577|title=The Great Gatsby }} |
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Nick holds a funeral for Gatsby where he meets Gatsby's father and learns Gatsby's original name is "Gatz". No one else attends the funeral. Afterward, Daisy and Tom continue with their lives as though nothing occurred. Nick breaks up with Jordan and moves back west, frustrated with eastern ways, and lamenting Gatsby's inability to escape his past. |
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[[Category:American films|Great Gatsby, The]] |
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[[Category:Films based on fiction books|Great Gatsby, The]] |
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[[Category:Paramount films|Great Gatsby, The]] |
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[[Category:Drama films|Great Gatsby, The]] |
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[[Category:Films directed by Jack Clayton|Great Gatsby, The]] |
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[[Category:Film remakes|Great Gatsby, The]] |
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[[Category:1974 films|Great Gatsby, The]] |
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[[Category:English-language films|Great Gatsby, The]] |
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== Cast == |
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[[it:Il grande Gatsby (film 1974)]] |
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{{div col|colwidth=25em}} |
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* [[Robert Redford]] as [[Jay Gatsby]] |
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* [[Mia Farrow]] as [[Daisy Buchanan]] |
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* [[Bruce Dern]] as Tom Buchanan |
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* [[Sam Waterston]] as [[Nick Carraway]] |
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* [[Karen Black]] as Myrtle Wilson, George's wife |
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* [[Scott Wilson (actor)|Scott Wilson]] as George Wilson, Myrtle's husband |
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* [[Lois Chiles]] as Jordan Baker |
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* [[Edward Herrmann]] as Ewing Klipspringer |
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* [[Howard Da Silva]] as Meyer Wolfsheim |
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* [[Kathryn Leigh Scott]] as Catherine, Myrtle's sister |
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* [[Regina Baff]] as Miss Baedecker |
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* [[Vincent Schiavelli]] as Thin Man |
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* [[Roberts Blossom]] as Mr. Gatz |
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* [[Beth Porter]] as Mrs. McKee |
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* [[Patsy Kensit]] as Pammy Buchanan |
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{{Div col end}} |
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== Production == |
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=== Development === |
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Producer [[Robert Evans]] planned on making ''The Great Gatsby'' with his wife [[Ali MacGraw]] as Daisy as it was her favorite book.{{sfn|Evans|1994|pp=243}} Evans hired [[Truman Capote]] to write a script that turned out to be unusable despite Capote's $300,000 fee.{{sfn|Evans|1994|pp=243, 247-259}} Evans made a deal with [[Theatrical producer|Broadway producer]] [[David Merrick]] as producer of the movie, and it was Merrick who bought the rights for between $350,000 and $500,000 from [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]'s daughter, [[Frances Scott Fitzgerald|Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald]].{{sfn|Bryer|2000|p=112}}{{sfn|Bart|2013}} |
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=== Casting === |
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{{drama-film-stub}} |
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{{More citations needed section|date=September 2024}} |
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{{multiple image |
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| perrow = 2 |
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| total_width = 300 |
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| align = right |
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| image1 = Warren Beatty Photoplay, 1961.jpg |
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| width1 = 150 |
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| alt1 = Photographic portrait of Warren Beatty |
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| image2 = Jack Nicholson - 1976 (new).jpg |
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| width2 = 150 |
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| alt2 = Photographic portrait of Jack Nicholson |
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| footer = [[Warren Beatty]] (left) and [[Jack Nicholson]] (right) both wished to play the role of Jay Gatsby but refused to play opposite [[Ali MacGraw]] as Daisy Buchanan. |
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| footer_align = left |
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}} |
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Evans originally sought [[Warren Beatty]] for the role of Jay Gatsby, but Beatty turned him down, reluctant to act opposite MacGraw.{{sfn|Evans|1994|p=247}} With Beatty out, Evans offered the role to [[Jack Nicholson]], but Nicholson also reportedly was wary of acting with MacGraw and was unable to make a financial deal.{{sfn|Callan|2012|pp=248-249}}{{sfn|McGilligan|2015|p=206}}{{sfn|Evans|1994|p=247}} |
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Evans then sought 49-year-old [[Marlon Brando]] for the role coveted by 38-year-old [[Robert Redford]], who broke through to superstardom in 1973, the year ''The Great Gatsby'' remake was lensed.{{sfn|Smithsonian|2013}}{{sfn|Bart|2013}} Although Brando was too old for the part, he had reestablished himself as a box office star with the twin successes of ''[[The Godfather (film)|The Godfather]]'' and ''[[Last Tango in Paris]]''. Incensed at his loss of income when he surrendered his profit participation points for $100,000 to Paramount before the release of ''The Godfather'', Brando personally negotiated his deal, demanding an unprecedented salary reportedly as high as $4 million salary, frankly revealing that the high salary would recoup his losses from the sale of his points.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} [[Gulf + Western]] CEO [[Charles Bludhorn]], whose conglomerate owned Paramount, vetoed any such deal on the grounds that the two movies were separate entities. Brando refused to be in ''[[Godfather II]]'' when his salary demands were not met.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} |
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[[Robert Redford]] campaigned for the role of Jay Gatsby, but Evans rebuffed him on the incorrect belief that Fitzgerald's text specified Gatsby had dark hair.{{sfn|Callan|2012|pp=248-249}} Director Jack Clayton upbraided Evans for his lack of knowledge about the book and convinced him to cast Redford.{{sfn|Callan|2012|pp=248-249}} "I began to think Evans never read the book," Clayton recalled. "Sure, he liked the idea of doing a Fitzgerald [movie], but he didn't know the text. Nowhere in it does Fitzgerald say Gatsby's hair is dark."{{sfn|Callan|2012|pp=248-249}} During this time, Ali MacGraw subsequently lost the part of Daisy after she left Evans for [[Steve McQueen]].{{sfn|Callan|2012|pp=248-249}} MacGraw and McQueen approached producer Merrick through their agents and offered themselves as a package,{{sfn|Evans|1994|p=256}} but McQueen was turned down on the grounds that Redford already was cast.{{sfn|Evans|1994|p=256}} Without McQueen as her co-star, she dropped the project, although Evans claimed it was he himself who terminated her participation in the movie.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} |
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After Ali MacGraw's departure from the project, [[Candice Bergen]] and [[Katharine Ross]] reportedly were offered the role of Daisy Buchanan. [[Mia Farrow]] sent a cable to Evans asking him to consider her for the role, and director [[Jack Clayton]] liked the idea of casting her. [[Faye Dunaway]] wanted the role so badly she offered to do a screen test, but Clayton was not interested in her.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} |
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=== Screenplay === |
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{{multiple image |
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| perrow = 2 |
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| total_width = 300 |
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| align = right |
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| image1 = Truman Capote by Jack Mitchell.jpg |
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| width1 = 150 |
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| alt1 = Photographic portrait of Truman Capote |
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| image2 = Francis Ford Coppola -1976.jpg |
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| width2 = 150 |
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| alt2 = Photograph of Francis Ford Coppola |
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| footer = [[Truman Capote]] (left) wrote the first draft of the screenplay which producer Robert Evans rejected. [[Francis Ford Coppola]] (right) wrote a second screenplay, although director Jack Clayton purportedly ignored much of its nuance. |
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| footer_align = left |
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}} |
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[[Truman Capote]] was the original screenwriter but he was replaced by [[Francis Ford Coppola]].{{sfn|Evans|1994|pp=243, 255}} Coppola had just finished directing ''The Godfather'', but was unsure of its commercial reception and he needed the money.{{sfn|Coppola|2013|p=40}}{{sfn|Evans|1994|pp=243, 255}}{{sfn|Bart|2013}} He got the job on the recommendation of [[Robert Redford]], who had liked a rewrite Coppola did on ''[[The Way We Were]]''.{{sfn|Coppola|2013|p=40}} Coppola "had read Gatsby but wasn't familiar with it."{{sfn|Coppola|2013|p=40}} He checked himself into a hotel room in Paris ([[Oscar Wilde]]'s old room) and started.{{sfn|Coppola|2013|p=40}} He later recalled: |
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<blockquote>I was shocked to find that there was almost no dialogue between Daisy and Gatsby in the book, and was terrified that I'd have to make it all up. So I did a quick review of Fitzgerald's short stories and, as many of them were similar in that they were about a poor boy and a rich girl, I helped myself to much of the authentic Fitzgerald dialogue from them. I decided that perhaps an interesting idea would be to do one of those scenes that lovers typically have, where they finally get to be together after much longing, and have a "talk all night" scene, which I'd never seen in a film. So I did that – I think a six-page scene in which Daisy and Gatsby stay up all night and talk. And I remember my wife telling me that she and the kids were in New York when ''The Godfather'' opened, and it was a big hit and there were lines around the block at five theaters in the city, which was unheard of at the time. I said, "Yeah, yeah, but I've got to finish the Gatsby script." And I sent the script in, just in time. It had taken me two or three weeks to complete.{{sfn|Coppola|2013|p=40}}</blockquote> |
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On his commentary track for the [[DVD]] release of ''The Godfather'', Coppola refers to writing the ''Gatsby'' script, adding "Not that the director paid any attention to it. The script that I wrote did not get made." |
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[[William Goldman]], who loved the novel, said in 2000 that he actively campaigned for the job of adapting the script, but he was astonished by the quality of Coppola's work:{{sfn|Goldman|2000|pp=95–96}} |
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<blockquote>I still believe it to be one of the great adaptations... I called him [Coppola] and told him what a wonderful thing he had done. If you see the movie, you will find all this hard to believe... The director who was hired, Jack Clayton, is a Brit... he had one thing all of them have in their blood: a murderous sense of class... Well, Clayton decided this: that Gatsby's parties were shabby and tacky, given by a man of no elevation and taste. There went the ball game. As shot, they were foul and stupid and the people who attended them were foul and silly, and Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, who would have been so perfect as Gatsby and Daisy, were left hung out to dry. Because Gatsby was a tasteless fool and why should we care about their love? It was not as if Coppola's glory had been jettisoned entirely, though it was tampered with plenty; it was more that the reality and passions it depicted were gone.{{sfn|Goldman|2000|pp=95–96}}</blockquote> |
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=== Filming === |
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{{More citations needed section|date=September 2024}} |
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The [[Rosecliff]] and [[Marble House]] mansions in [[Newport, Rhode Island]] and an exterior of [[Linden Place]] mansion in [[Bristol, Rhode Island]], were used for Gatsby's house while scenes at the Buchanans' home were filmed at [[Pinewood Studios]] in [[Buckinghamshire]], England. One driving scene was shot in [[Windsor Great Park]], UK. Other scenes were filmed in [[New York City]] and [[Uxbridge, Massachusetts]]. |
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== Reception and legacy == |
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The film received mixed reviews, being praised for its faithful interpretation of the novel but also criticized for lacking any true emotion or feelings towards the [[Jazz Age]]. Based on 40 total reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 40%, with an average rating of 5/10. The critical consensus reads: "''The Great Gatsby'' proves that even a pair of tremendously talented leads aren't always enough to guarantee a successful adaptation of classic literary source material."<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|1008799-great_gatsby|The Great Gatsby}}</ref> Despite this, the film was a financial success, making $26,533,200<ref name="Gross"/> against a $7 million budget.<ref name="Gross"/> |
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[[Vincent Canby]]'s 1974 review in ''The New York Times'' typifies the critical ambivalence: "The sets and costumes and most of the performances are exceptionally good, but the movie itself is as lifeless as a body that's been too long at the bottom of a swimming pool," Canby wrote at the time.{{sfn|Canby|1974|p=32}} "As Fitzgerald wrote it, ''The Great Gatsby'' is a good deal more than an ill-fated love story about the cruelties of the idle rich...The movie can't see this through all its giant closeups of pretty knees and dancing feet. It's frivolous without being much fun."{{sfn|Canby|1974|p=32}} |
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[[Stanley Kauffmann]] of ''The New Republic'' wrote: "In sum this picture is a total failure of every requisite sensibility. A long, slow, sickening bore."{{sfn|Kauffmann|1974}} |
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''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''{{'}}s review was likewise split: "Paramount's third pass at ''The Great Gatsby'' is by far the most concerted attempt to probe the peculiar ethos of the Beautiful People of the 1920s. The fascinating physical beauty of the $6 million-plus film complements the utter shallowness of most principal characters from the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Robert Redford is excellent in the title role, the mysterious gentleman of humble origins and bootlegging connections...The Francis Ford Coppola script and Jack Clayton's direction paint a savagely genteel portrait of an upper class generation that deserved in spades what it received circa 1929 and after."<ref>''Variety'' staff, (1973). "Review: ''The Great Gatsby''". ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', December 31, 1973</ref> |
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[[Roger Ebert]] gave the movie two and a half stars out of four. Comparing film to the book details, Ebert stated: "The sound track contains narration by Nick that is based pretty closely on his narration in the novel. But we don't feel. We've been distanced by the movie's overproduction. Even the actors seem somewhat cowed by the occasion; an exception is Bruce Dern, who just goes ahead and gives us a convincing Tom Buchanan."{{sfn|Ebert|1974}} |
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[[Tennessee Williams]], in his book ''Memoirs'', wrote: "It seems to me that quite a few of my stories, as well as my one acts, would provide interesting and profitable material for the contemporary cinema, if committed to... such cinematic masters of direction as Jack Clayton, who made of ''The Great Gatsby'' a film that even surpassed, I think, the novel by Scott Fitzgerald."{{sfn|Williams|1975|p=78}}{{sfn|Sinyard|2000|p=289}} |
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Fitzgerald's daughter, [[Frances Scott Fitzgerald|Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald]], who sold the film rights, had reread her father's novel and noted how [[Mia Farrow]] on-set looked the part as her father's Daisy, while Robert Redford also asked advice to match the author's intent, but her father, she noted, was more in the narrator, Nick.{{sfn|''People''|1974}} However, after viewing the film, Fitzgerald's daughter criticized Farrow's performance as Daisy.{{sfn|Tredell|2007|p=101}} Although she praised Farrow as a "fine actress," Scottie noted that Farrow seemed unable to convey the "intensely Southern nature" of Daisy's character.{{sfn|Tredell|2007|p=101}} |
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In the 2004 [[documentary film]] ''[[Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession]]'', a montage of scenes of films shown on the defunct [[Z Channel]] is played with [[William Atherton]]'s cover of [[Irving Berlin]]'s "[[What'll I Do?]]" from the 1974 adaptation.<ref name="filmmontage">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bmuE0PUAsE Film Montage from "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession" (2004) on YouTube]</ref> |
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== Awards and honors == |
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The film won two [[Academy Awards]], for [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] ([[Theoni V. Aldredge]]) and [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Music]] ([[Nelson Riddle]]).<ref name="Oscars1975">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1975 |title=The 47th Academy Awards (1975) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2011-10-02 |work=oscars.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004005/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1975 |archive-date=2015-04-02 }}</ref> It also won three [[BAFTA Awards]] for [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]] ([[John Box]]), [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] ([[Douglas Slocombe]]), and [[BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] (Theoni V. Aldredge). The male costumes were executed by [[Ralph Lauren]],{{sfn|Bart|2013}} and the female costumes by [[Barbara Matera (costume designer)|Barbara Matera]]. It won a [[Golden Globe Award]] for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress]] ([[Karen Black]])<ref>[https://goldenglobes.com/film/great-gatsby-the/ Golden Globes]</ref> and received three further nominations for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actor]] ([[Bruce Dern]] and [[Sam Waterston]]) and [[Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor|Most Promising Newcomer]] (Sam Waterston). |
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{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" |
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|- |
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! scope="col" | Award |
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! scope="col" | Category |
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! scope="col" | Recipient/Nominee |
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! scope="col" | Result |
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|- |
|||
| rowspan="2" | [[47th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]] |
|||
| [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] |
|||
| [[Theoni V. Aldredge]] |
|||
| {{Won}} |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]] |
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| [[Nelson Riddle]] |
|||
| {{Won}} |
|||
|- |
|||
| rowspan="3" | [[28th British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]] |
|||
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]] |
|||
| [[Douglas Slocombe]] |
|||
| {{Won}} |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] |
|||
| [[Theoni V. Aldredge]] |
|||
| {{Won}} |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Production Design]] |
|||
| [[John Box]] |
|||
| {{Won}} |
|||
|} |
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== Charts == |
|||
The soundtrack was released by Paramount Records (L45481) |
|||
{| class="wikitable" |
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!Chart (1974) |
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!Position |
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|- |
|||
|Australia ([[Kent Music Report]]){{sfn|Kent|1993|p=281}} |
|||
|align="center"|22 |
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|} |
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== See also == |
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* [[List of American films of 1974]] |
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* [[New Hollywood]] |
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== References == |
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=== Citations === |
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{{reflist}} |
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=== Works cited === |
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{{refbegin|indent=yes|30em}} |
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* {{cite web | title = AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominees | publisher = [[American Film Institute]]|location=Los Angeles, California | url = http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/passions400.pdf | access-date = August 19, 2016 | archive-date = May 17, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170517073555/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/passions400.pdf | url-status = dead | ref = {{harvid|American Film Institute|2016}}}} |
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* {{cite magazine | last = Bart | first = Peter | author-link = Peter Bart | title = In Search of a Great 'Gatsby': Hollywood's F. Scott Fitz and Starts | date = April 23, 2013 | magazine = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | location = Los Angeles, California | url = https://variety.com/2013/biz/features/in-search-of-a-great-gatsby-hollywoods-f-scott-fitz-and-starts-1200386084/}} |
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* {{cite book | editor-last = Bryer | editor-first = Jackson R. | display-editors = et. al. | title = F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Perspectives | date = 2000 | publisher = [[University of Georgia Press]] | location = Athens, Georgia | page = 112 | isbn = 978-0-8203-4354-9 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ol4XL3Rmki0C | via = Google Books}} |
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* {{cite book | last = Callan | first = Michael Feeney | author-link = Michael Feeney Callan | title = Robert Redford: The Biography | date = 2012 | publisher = [[Vintage Books]] | location = New York | url = https://archive.org/details/robertredfordbio0000call_n4o2 | url-access = registration | isbn = 978-0-307-47596-1 | via = Internet Archive}} |
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* {{cite news | last = Canby | first = Vincent | author-link = Vincent Canby | title = A Lavish Gatsby Loses Book's Spirit | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = March 28, 1974 | page = 32 | location = New York | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/28/archives/a-lavish-gatsby-loses-book-s-spirit.html | url-access = subscription}} |
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* {{cite journal | last = Coppola | first = Francis Ford | author-link = Francis Ford Coppola | title = Gatsby and Me | date = April 16, 2013 | journal = [[Town & Country (magazine)|Town & Country]] | publisher = [[Hearst Magazines]] | issn = 0040-9952 | volume = 167 | issue = 5394 | page = 40 | url = http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/reviews/a1042/francis-ford-coppola-gatsby-and-me/ | access-date = January 21, 2017 | archive-date = February 2, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170202115153/http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/reviews/a1042/francis-ford-coppola-gatsby-and-me/ | url-status = live}} |
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* {{cite web | last = Ebert | first = Roger | author-link = Roger Ebert | title = The Great Gatsby Movie Review | work = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] | location = Chicago, Illinois | date = January 1, 1974 | url = http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-great-gatsby-1974 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130723063305/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-great-gatsby-1974 | archive-date = July 23, 2013 | access-date = November 11, 2023}} |
|||
* {{cite book | last = Evans | first = Robert | author-link = Robert Evans | title = The Kid Stays in the Picture | date = 1994 | publisher = New Star Press | location = Los Angeles | isbn = 978-0-06-222832-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/kidstaysinpictur00evan | pages = 247–259}} |
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* {{cite book | last = Goldman | first = William | author-link = William Goldman | title = Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade | location = New York | publisher = [[Pantheon Books]] | year =2000 | pages = 95–96 | url = https://archive.org/details/whichliediditel00gold/page/n107/mode/2up?q=95 | isbn = 0-375-40349-3 | lccn = 99-045130 | via = Internet Archive}} |
|||
* {{cite magazine | last = Kauffmann | first = Stanley | author-link = Stanley Kauffmann | title = TNR Film Classics: The Great Gatsby | date = April 13, 1974 | magazine = [[The New Republic]] | location = Washington, D.C. | url = https://newrepublic.com/article/99875/tnr-film-classics-the-great-gatsby-april-13-1974 | url-status = live | access-date = November 10, 2023 | archive-date = May 5, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190505024536/https://newrepublic.com/article/99875/tnr-film-classics-the-great-gatsby-april-13-1974}} |
|||
* {{cite book | last = Kent | first = David | author-link = David Kent (historian) | title = Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 | edition = Illustrated | publisher = Australian Chart Book | location = St Ives, N.S.W. | year = 1993 | isbn = 0-646-11917-6 | page = 281 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7--JAAAACAAJ | via = Google Books}} |
|||
* {{cite book | last = McGilligan | first = Patrick | author-link = Patrick McGilligan (biographer) | title = Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson (Updated and Expanded) | isbn = 978-0-393-35097-5 | date = November 9, 2015 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ofpzCwAAQBAJ&q=jack+nicholson+the+sting+turned+down&pg=PT206}} |
|||
* {{cite web | title = National Portrait Gallery: The Great Gatsby | url = https://www.si.edu/object/great-gatsby%3Anpg_NPG.78.TC691 | website = Smithsonian.com | publisher = [[Smithsonian Institution]] | location = Washington, D.C. | access-date = July 17, 2023 | ref = {{harvid|Smithsonian|2013}}}} |
|||
* {{cite magazine | author = People Staff | title = Mia's Back and ''Gatsby's'' Got Her | magazine = [[People (magazine)|People]] | location = New York | url = https://people.com/archive/cover-story-mias-back-and-gatsbys-got-her-vol-1-no-1 | date = March 4, 1974 | access-date = September 1, 2018 | archive-date = August 31, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180831141421/https://people.com/archive/cover-story-mias-back-and-gatsbys-got-her-vol-1-no-1/ | url-status = live | ref = {{harvid|''People''|1974}}}} |
|||
* {{cite book | last = Sinyard | first = Neil | title = Jack Clayton | year = 2000 | publisher = [[Manchester University Press]] | location = United Kingdom | isbn = 0-7190-5505-9 | page = 289 | url = https://archive.org/details/jackclayton0000siny}} |
|||
* {{cite web | title = ''The Great Gatsby'' (A) | publisher = [[British Board of Film Classification]] | location = London, England | date = March 12, 1974 | url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/great-gatsby-1970-3 | access-date = April 7, 2013 | ref = {{harvid|British Board of Film Classification|2013}}}} |
|||
* {{cite book | last = Tredell | first = Nicolas | title = Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: A Reader's Guide | date = February 28, 2007 | page = 101 | url = https://archive.org/details/fitzgeraldsgreat0000tred | url-access = registration | location = London | publisher = [[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum Publishing]] | isbn = 978-0-8264-9010-0 | via = Internet Archive | access-date = November 14, 2023}} |
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* {{cite book | last = Williams | first = Tennessee | author-link = Tennessee Williams | title = Memoirs | year = 1975 | publisher = [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday & Company]] | location = New York City | url = https://archive.org/details/memoirs00will | page = 78 | isbn = 0-385-00573-3}} |
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{{refend}} |
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== External links == |
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* {{IMDb title|0071577|The Great Gatsby}} |
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* {{TCMDb title|16782|The Great Gatsby}} |
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* {{mojo title|greatgatsby|The Great Gatsby}} |
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* {{rotten-tomatoes|1008799-great_gatsby|The Great Gatsby}} |
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{{The Great Gatsby}} |
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{{Jack Clayton}} |
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{{Francis Ford Coppola}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Gatsby (1974 film), The}} |
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[[Category:Films based on The Great Gatsby]] |
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[[Category:1974 films]] |
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[[Category:1974 romantic drama films]] |
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[[Category:American romantic drama films]] |
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[[Category:Films directed by Jack Clayton]] |
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[[Category:Films with screenplays by Francis Ford Coppola]] |
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[[Category:Films scored by Nelson Riddle]] |
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[[Category:Films shot in New York City]] |
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[[Category:Films shot in Rhode Island]] |
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[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]] |
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[[Category:Films shot in Massachusetts]] |
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[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]] |
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[[Category:Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award]] |
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[[Category:Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award]] |
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[[Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe–winning performance]] |
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[[Category:Films about Jewish-American organized crime]] |
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[[Category:Films about prohibition in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Films set in New York (state)]] |
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[[Category:1970s English-language films]] |
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[[Category:1970s American films]] |
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[[Category:English-language romantic drama films]] |
Latest revision as of 08:02, 5 November 2024
The Great Gatsby | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jack Clayton |
Screenplay by | Francis Ford Coppola |
Based on | The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald |
Produced by | David Merrick |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe |
Edited by | Tom Priestley |
Music by | Nelson Riddle |
Production company | Newdon Productions |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 146 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $7 million |
Box office | $26.5 million[2] |
The Great Gatsby is a 1974 American historical romantic drama film based on the 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film was directed by Jack Clayton, produced by David Merrick, and written by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Sam Waterston, Bruce Dern, and Karen Black. The plot concerns the interactions of writer Nick Carraway with enigmatic millionaire Jay Gatsby (Redford) and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan (Farrow), amid the riotous parties of the Jazz Age on Long Island near New York City.
The Great Gatsby was preceded by 1926 and 1949 films of the same name. Despite a mixed reception by critics, the 1974 film grossed over $26 million against a $7 million budget. Coppola later stated that the film failed to follow his screenplay. In 2013, a fourth film adaptation was produced.
Plot
[edit]Writer Nick Carraway pilots his boat across the harbor to his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom’s mansion in East Egg. While there, he learns Tom and Daisy's marriage is troubled and Tom is having an affair with a woman in New York. Nick lives in a small cottage in West Egg, next to a mysterious tycoon named Gatsby, a former Oxford student and decorated World War I veteran, who regularly throws extravagant parties at his home.
Tom takes Nick to meet his mistress, Myrtle, who is married to George Wilson, an automotive mechanic. George needs to purchase a vehicle from Tom, but Tom is only there to draw Myrtle to his city apartment, where he hits her in the face when she taunts him with Daisy's name.
Back on Long Island, Daisy wants to set Nick up with her friend, Jordan, a professional golfer. When Nick and Jordan attend a party at Gatsby's home, Nick is invited for a private meeting with Gatsby, who asks him to lunch the following day.
At lunch, Nick meets Gatsby's business partner, a Jewish gangster and gambler named Meyer Wolfsheim, who rigged the 1919 World Series. The following day, Jordan appears at Nick's work and requests he invite Daisy to his house so that Gatsby can meet with her. Gatsby surprises Daisy at lunch, and it is revealed that Gatsby and Daisy were once lovers, though she would not marry him because he was poor.
Daisy and Gatsby have an affair, which soon becomes obvious. While Tom and Daisy entertain Gatsby, Jordan, and Nick at their home, Daisy, on a hot summer day, proposes they go into the city as a diversion. At the Plaza Hotel, Gatsby and Daisy reveal their affair and Gatsby wants Daisy to admit she never loved Tom. She is unable to and drives off in Gatsby's car.
During the drive home, Daisy hits Myrtle when Myrtle runs into the street. Believing that it was Gatsby who killed Myrtle, since Tom tells or implies this to him, George later goes to Gatsby's mansion and fatally shoots him as he relaxes in the swimming pool, then commits suicide.
Nick holds a funeral for Gatsby where he meets Gatsby's father and learns Gatsby's original name is "Gatz". No one else attends the funeral. Afterward, Daisy and Tom continue with their lives as though nothing occurred. Nick breaks up with Jordan and moves back west, frustrated with eastern ways, and lamenting Gatsby's inability to escape his past.
Cast
[edit]- Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby
- Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan
- Bruce Dern as Tom Buchanan
- Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway
- Karen Black as Myrtle Wilson, George's wife
- Scott Wilson as George Wilson, Myrtle's husband
- Lois Chiles as Jordan Baker
- Edward Herrmann as Ewing Klipspringer
- Howard Da Silva as Meyer Wolfsheim
- Kathryn Leigh Scott as Catherine, Myrtle's sister
- Regina Baff as Miss Baedecker
- Vincent Schiavelli as Thin Man
- Roberts Blossom as Mr. Gatz
- Beth Porter as Mrs. McKee
- Patsy Kensit as Pammy Buchanan
Production
[edit]Development
[edit]Producer Robert Evans planned on making The Great Gatsby with his wife Ali MacGraw as Daisy as it was her favorite book.[3] Evans hired Truman Capote to write a script that turned out to be unusable despite Capote's $300,000 fee.[4] Evans made a deal with Broadway producer David Merrick as producer of the movie, and it was Merrick who bought the rights for between $350,000 and $500,000 from F. Scott Fitzgerald's daughter, Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald.[5][6]
Casting
[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2024) |
Evans originally sought Warren Beatty for the role of Jay Gatsby, but Beatty turned him down, reluctant to act opposite MacGraw.[7] With Beatty out, Evans offered the role to Jack Nicholson, but Nicholson also reportedly was wary of acting with MacGraw and was unable to make a financial deal.[8][9][7]
Evans then sought 49-year-old Marlon Brando for the role coveted by 38-year-old Robert Redford, who broke through to superstardom in 1973, the year The Great Gatsby remake was lensed.[10][6] Although Brando was too old for the part, he had reestablished himself as a box office star with the twin successes of The Godfather and Last Tango in Paris. Incensed at his loss of income when he surrendered his profit participation points for $100,000 to Paramount before the release of The Godfather, Brando personally negotiated his deal, demanding an unprecedented salary reportedly as high as $4 million salary, frankly revealing that the high salary would recoup his losses from the sale of his points.[citation needed] Gulf + Western CEO Charles Bludhorn, whose conglomerate owned Paramount, vetoed any such deal on the grounds that the two movies were separate entities. Brando refused to be in Godfather II when his salary demands were not met.[citation needed]
Robert Redford campaigned for the role of Jay Gatsby, but Evans rebuffed him on the incorrect belief that Fitzgerald's text specified Gatsby had dark hair.[8] Director Jack Clayton upbraided Evans for his lack of knowledge about the book and convinced him to cast Redford.[8] "I began to think Evans never read the book," Clayton recalled. "Sure, he liked the idea of doing a Fitzgerald [movie], but he didn't know the text. Nowhere in it does Fitzgerald say Gatsby's hair is dark."[8] During this time, Ali MacGraw subsequently lost the part of Daisy after she left Evans for Steve McQueen.[8] MacGraw and McQueen approached producer Merrick through their agents and offered themselves as a package,[11] but McQueen was turned down on the grounds that Redford already was cast.[11] Without McQueen as her co-star, she dropped the project, although Evans claimed it was he himself who terminated her participation in the movie.[citation needed]
After Ali MacGraw's departure from the project, Candice Bergen and Katharine Ross reportedly were offered the role of Daisy Buchanan. Mia Farrow sent a cable to Evans asking him to consider her for the role, and director Jack Clayton liked the idea of casting her. Faye Dunaway wanted the role so badly she offered to do a screen test, but Clayton was not interested in her.[citation needed]
Screenplay
[edit]Truman Capote was the original screenwriter but he was replaced by Francis Ford Coppola.[12] Coppola had just finished directing The Godfather, but was unsure of its commercial reception and he needed the money.[13][12][6] He got the job on the recommendation of Robert Redford, who had liked a rewrite Coppola did on The Way We Were.[13] Coppola "had read Gatsby but wasn't familiar with it."[13] He checked himself into a hotel room in Paris (Oscar Wilde's old room) and started.[13] He later recalled:
I was shocked to find that there was almost no dialogue between Daisy and Gatsby in the book, and was terrified that I'd have to make it all up. So I did a quick review of Fitzgerald's short stories and, as many of them were similar in that they were about a poor boy and a rich girl, I helped myself to much of the authentic Fitzgerald dialogue from them. I decided that perhaps an interesting idea would be to do one of those scenes that lovers typically have, where they finally get to be together after much longing, and have a "talk all night" scene, which I'd never seen in a film. So I did that – I think a six-page scene in which Daisy and Gatsby stay up all night and talk. And I remember my wife telling me that she and the kids were in New York when The Godfather opened, and it was a big hit and there were lines around the block at five theaters in the city, which was unheard of at the time. I said, "Yeah, yeah, but I've got to finish the Gatsby script." And I sent the script in, just in time. It had taken me two or three weeks to complete.[13]
On his commentary track for the DVD release of The Godfather, Coppola refers to writing the Gatsby script, adding "Not that the director paid any attention to it. The script that I wrote did not get made."
William Goldman, who loved the novel, said in 2000 that he actively campaigned for the job of adapting the script, but he was astonished by the quality of Coppola's work:[14]
I still believe it to be one of the great adaptations... I called him [Coppola] and told him what a wonderful thing he had done. If you see the movie, you will find all this hard to believe... The director who was hired, Jack Clayton, is a Brit... he had one thing all of them have in their blood: a murderous sense of class... Well, Clayton decided this: that Gatsby's parties were shabby and tacky, given by a man of no elevation and taste. There went the ball game. As shot, they were foul and stupid and the people who attended them were foul and silly, and Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, who would have been so perfect as Gatsby and Daisy, were left hung out to dry. Because Gatsby was a tasteless fool and why should we care about their love? It was not as if Coppola's glory had been jettisoned entirely, though it was tampered with plenty; it was more that the reality and passions it depicted were gone.[14]
Filming
[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2024) |
The Rosecliff and Marble House mansions in Newport, Rhode Island and an exterior of Linden Place mansion in Bristol, Rhode Island, were used for Gatsby's house while scenes at the Buchanans' home were filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England. One driving scene was shot in Windsor Great Park, UK. Other scenes were filmed in New York City and Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
Reception and legacy
[edit]The film received mixed reviews, being praised for its faithful interpretation of the novel but also criticized for lacking any true emotion or feelings towards the Jazz Age. Based on 40 total reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 40%, with an average rating of 5/10. The critical consensus reads: "The Great Gatsby proves that even a pair of tremendously talented leads aren't always enough to guarantee a successful adaptation of classic literary source material."[15] Despite this, the film was a financial success, making $26,533,200[2] against a $7 million budget.[2]
Vincent Canby's 1974 review in The New York Times typifies the critical ambivalence: "The sets and costumes and most of the performances are exceptionally good, but the movie itself is as lifeless as a body that's been too long at the bottom of a swimming pool," Canby wrote at the time.[16] "As Fitzgerald wrote it, The Great Gatsby is a good deal more than an ill-fated love story about the cruelties of the idle rich...The movie can't see this through all its giant closeups of pretty knees and dancing feet. It's frivolous without being much fun."[16]
Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote: "In sum this picture is a total failure of every requisite sensibility. A long, slow, sickening bore."[17]
Variety's review was likewise split: "Paramount's third pass at The Great Gatsby is by far the most concerted attempt to probe the peculiar ethos of the Beautiful People of the 1920s. The fascinating physical beauty of the $6 million-plus film complements the utter shallowness of most principal characters from the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Robert Redford is excellent in the title role, the mysterious gentleman of humble origins and bootlegging connections...The Francis Ford Coppola script and Jack Clayton's direction paint a savagely genteel portrait of an upper class generation that deserved in spades what it received circa 1929 and after."[18]
Roger Ebert gave the movie two and a half stars out of four. Comparing film to the book details, Ebert stated: "The sound track contains narration by Nick that is based pretty closely on his narration in the novel. But we don't feel. We've been distanced by the movie's overproduction. Even the actors seem somewhat cowed by the occasion; an exception is Bruce Dern, who just goes ahead and gives us a convincing Tom Buchanan."[19]
Tennessee Williams, in his book Memoirs, wrote: "It seems to me that quite a few of my stories, as well as my one acts, would provide interesting and profitable material for the contemporary cinema, if committed to... such cinematic masters of direction as Jack Clayton, who made of The Great Gatsby a film that even surpassed, I think, the novel by Scott Fitzgerald."[20][21]
Fitzgerald's daughter, Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald, who sold the film rights, had reread her father's novel and noted how Mia Farrow on-set looked the part as her father's Daisy, while Robert Redford also asked advice to match the author's intent, but her father, she noted, was more in the narrator, Nick.[22] However, after viewing the film, Fitzgerald's daughter criticized Farrow's performance as Daisy.[23] Although she praised Farrow as a "fine actress," Scottie noted that Farrow seemed unable to convey the "intensely Southern nature" of Daisy's character.[23]
In the 2004 documentary film Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, a montage of scenes of films shown on the defunct Z Channel is played with William Atherton's cover of Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do?" from the 1974 adaptation.[24]
Awards and honors
[edit]The film won two Academy Awards, for Best Costume Design (Theoni V. Aldredge) and Best Music (Nelson Riddle).[25] It also won three BAFTA Awards for Best Art Direction (John Box), Best Cinematography (Douglas Slocombe), and Best Costume Design (Theoni V. Aldredge). The male costumes were executed by Ralph Lauren,[6] and the female costumes by Barbara Matera. It won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress (Karen Black)[26] and received three further nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Bruce Dern and Sam Waterston) and Most Promising Newcomer (Sam Waterston).
Award | Category | Recipient/Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Costume Design | Theoni V. Aldredge | Won |
Best Original Score | Nelson Riddle | Won | |
British Academy Film Awards | Best Cinematography | Douglas Slocombe | Won |
Best Costume Design | Theoni V. Aldredge | Won | |
Best Production Design | John Box | Won |
Charts
[edit]The soundtrack was released by Paramount Records (L45481)
Chart (1974) | Position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report)[27] | 22 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ British Board of Film Classification 2013.
- ^ a b c The Great Gatsby, Box Office Information. Archived April 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine The Numbers. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
- ^ Evans 1994, pp. 243.
- ^ Evans 1994, pp. 243, 247–259.
- ^ Bryer 2000, p. 112.
- ^ a b c d Bart 2013.
- ^ a b Evans 1994, p. 247.
- ^ a b c d e Callan 2012, pp. 248–249.
- ^ McGilligan 2015, p. 206.
- ^ Smithsonian 2013.
- ^ a b Evans 1994, p. 256.
- ^ a b Evans 1994, pp. 243, 255.
- ^ a b c d e Coppola 2013, p. 40.
- ^ a b Goldman 2000, pp. 95–96.
- ^ The Great Gatsby at Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ a b Canby 1974, p. 32.
- ^ Kauffmann 1974.
- ^ Variety staff, (1973). "Review: The Great Gatsby". Variety, December 31, 1973
- ^ Ebert 1974.
- ^ Williams 1975, p. 78.
- ^ Sinyard 2000, p. 289.
- ^ People 1974.
- ^ a b Tredell 2007, p. 101.
- ^ Film Montage from "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession" (2004) on YouTube
- ^ "The 47th Academy Awards (1975) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
- ^ Golden Globes
- ^ Kent 1993, p. 281.
Works cited
[edit]- "AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions Nominees" (PDF). Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
- Bart, Peter (April 23, 2013). "In Search of a Great 'Gatsby': Hollywood's F. Scott Fitz and Starts". Variety. Los Angeles, California.
- Bryer, Jackson R.; et al., eds. (2000). F. Scott Fitzgerald: New Perspectives. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-8203-4354-9 – via Google Books.
- Callan, Michael Feeney (2012). Robert Redford: The Biography. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-307-47596-1 – via Internet Archive.
- Canby, Vincent (March 28, 1974). "A Lavish Gatsby Loses Book's Spirit". The New York Times. New York. p. 32.
- Coppola, Francis Ford (April 16, 2013). "Gatsby and Me". Town & Country. 167 (5394). Hearst Magazines: 40. ISSN 0040-9952. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
- Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1974). "The Great Gatsby Movie Review". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago, Illinois. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
- Evans, Robert (1994). The Kid Stays in the Picture. Los Angeles: New Star Press. pp. 247–259. ISBN 978-0-06-222832-1.
- Goldman, William (2000). Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade. New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 95–96. ISBN 0-375-40349-3. LCCN 99-045130 – via Internet Archive.
- Kauffmann, Stanley (April 13, 1974). "TNR Film Classics: The Great Gatsby". The New Republic. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
- Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 281. ISBN 0-646-11917-6 – via Google Books.
- McGilligan, Patrick (November 9, 2015). Jack's Life: A Biography of Jack Nicholson (Updated and Expanded). ISBN 978-0-393-35097-5.
- "National Portrait Gallery: The Great Gatsby". Smithsonian.com. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- People Staff (March 4, 1974). "Mia's Back and Gatsby's Got Her". People. New York. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
- Sinyard, Neil (2000). Jack Clayton. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press. p. 289. ISBN 0-7190-5505-9.
- "The Great Gatsby (A)". London, England: British Board of Film Classification. March 12, 1974. Retrieved April 7, 2013.
- Tredell, Nicolas (February 28, 2007). Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby: A Reader's Guide. London: Continuum Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-8264-9010-0. Retrieved November 14, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- Williams, Tennessee (1975). Memoirs. New York City: Doubleday & Company. p. 78. ISBN 0-385-00573-3.
External links
[edit]- 1974 films
- Films based on The Great Gatsby
- 1974 romantic drama films
- American romantic drama films
- Films directed by Jack Clayton
- Films with screenplays by Francis Ford Coppola
- Films scored by Nelson Riddle
- Films shot in New York City
- Films shot in Rhode Island
- Films shot at Pinewood Studios
- Films shot in Massachusetts
- Paramount Pictures films
- Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award
- Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award
- Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe–winning performance
- Films about Jewish-American organized crime
- Films about prohibition in the United States
- Films set in New York (state)
- 1970s English-language films
- 1970s American films
- English-language romantic drama films