49 days til Oscar nominations. The #1 film of '49 was...
Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 5:45PM by Nathaniel R
With 49 days left of fervent prayers from contenders hoping to be among The Chosen on January 23rd, is it any wonder that Samson & Delilah (1949) popped into mind... shortly before Blade Runner 2049 (This is how my brain works -- my deepest apologies).
Biblical movies were once favorites of Oscar voters, especially in the mid 20th century. One might call them the sci-fi blockbusters of the day in terms of both their audience popularity and their difficulty being truly respected outside of "craft" categories. Samson & Delilah was, according to Wikipedia, the year's biggest box office hit in 1949... though that makes little sense. Apparently it was only released in NYC in 1949 and then hit Los Angeles in 1950 to become Oscar eligible for the 1950 Oscars instead of the 49 Oscars...
It won two of its eventual five Oscar nominations, the Moulin Rouge! prizes as we like to call them (Art Direction & Costume Design).
I dont know if you know of this craziness (I did not) but the Samson story is coming back to cinemas via PureFlix in just two months in a new version that looks just as bad and bloodthirsty and female-phobic as other recent biblical epics or remakes (Ben-Hur. shudder)
Like, where is Delilah? I mean there's no topping Hedy Lamarr, but still. Shouldn't she have a more than a cameo in the story?
Because this will surely be a stoopid revealing exercize in "different times" let's watch both trailers shall we?
THE 1949 CECIL B DEMILLE EPIC
THE 2018 PUREFLIX MOVIE OPENING THIS FEBRUARY DURING OSCAR SEASON - TEEHEE
VICTOR MATURE OR TAYLOR JAMES?
Reader Comments (22)
Samson and Delilah was actually not eligible until the 1950 Oscars
I love how noir influenced everything, including biblical epics. Like, all of them have femme fatale roles
One of my 90s crushes, Eric Thal, starred in a tv version directed by Nic Roeg and costarring Elizabeth Hurley as Delilah. Narrated my Max von Sydow. Not bad.
1949 saw Minnelli's Madame Bovary starring Jennifer Jones. A gorgeous, underrated movie. The ballroom scene is an all-timer,
Absolutely Victor Mature version, seems a little fun.
ken - well fuck, IMDB screwed me up yet again with their year indications. only in this case Wikipedia also lists samson & delilah as the top grossing film of 49. Weird as it apparently only played in NYC prior to 1950.
I agree with Brookesboy- Minelli's "Madame Bovary" is a stunner.
Nobody was better at these Biblical epics than Mr Demille- he knew how to put on a show- gorgeous costumes two very sexy movie stars and that still spectacular climax - the remake looks cheesy
It is funny that even in previews of old movies they showed the climax of the movie.
Nathaniel: It's just like Adam's Rib, my favorite American film of 1949 (tied with White Heat). It was released in Nov 1949 in New York, but not until 1950 in Los Angeles, so it got its one Oscar nomination in 1950, and every source will tell you it's a 1949 film. Curiously, there was also a reverse case,, as 12 O'Clock High was a 1949 Oscar film, but Gregory Peck won Best Actor of 1950 from the New York Film Critics.
Smartly DeMille focused on Delilah in a revenge and broken heart story, giving to Hedy Lamarr her most famous and favorite role and also her first color movie. Samson, in the Bible and on screen is all muscles not much brain, like Conan The Barbarian. Delilah makes the story happen. Burt Lancaster was the first choice - we don't know how it would be. Victor Mature is very fine. Like Tyrone Power he made comedies, dramas, musicals, westerns, films noir... Different genres. Of course he will always be Samson in a sumptuous and timeless production.
Jaragon, it's so good. Minnelli directing a dramatic literary adaptation in b&w. He rarely worked in that format. He understands Emma so well, as does Jennifer. He does justice to one of the great novels.
I agree with brookesboy about Madame Bovary. There is some great camera work and a beautiful film. I'd say Jennifer Jones deserved a best actress nomination for it.
"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!"
James Cagney in "White Heat", 1949
1949 is the year of birth of Oscar Darlings: Jessica Lange (april 20), Jim Broadbent (may 24), Meryl Streep (june 22), Julian Fellowes (august 17), Pedro Almodovar (september 25),
Jeff Bridges(december 4), Sissy Spacek (december 25).
Jackson Rathbone is playing a character named Rallah...Taylor James is playing Samson.
That ballroom scene in "Madame Bovary" shows Minelli's mastery of cinema. And yes I think he identified with Bovary's desire to escape into a romantic fantasy from her boring life- but isn't that what movie love is all about?
I dun really like Jen Jones as an actress, but in Madame Bovary, she delivers, imo her best performance! Her Emma is still my fav Bovary todate..it's a pity it was a crtical n commercial failure when it was 1st released.
Fun facts: Lana Turner was set to star in this film until a pregnancy forced her to withdraw n be replaced by Jones.
Jones herself was set to star in The Country Girl until a pregnancy forced her to withdraw n be replaced by Grace Kelly, who famously won the Oscar over Judy Garland!
Stritch - you're so right. UGH. i am just not at my best lately. apologies.
Daddy, why can't we have more "Savage Drama" like back in your day, Daddy?
Claran I wish she had been nominated for Madame Bovary over Duel in the Sun. She was better then most of the nominees in 1949.
I just watched and wrote about the Minnelli version of 'Madame Bovary.'
That ballroom scene is rightly famous. The other intense scene is when Emma waits for the stage coach--and her lover--on a stormy night, to take her away from her dull life.
What I found intrusive was the MGM glamour--I laughed out loud when Emma was introduced, in a country cottage, making Doctor Bovary an omelette in a Walter Plunkett gown that Scarlett O' Hara would have envied. And the other was framing the story with James Mason as Flaubert on trial for obscenity. If that wasn't bad enough, his fruit loops narration keeps popping up for more than half the movie!
My review: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2017/11/madame-bovary-1949.html
I don't know - if we're comparing the trailers and ONLY the trailers, the 49 version barely featured Delilah more than the modern one. They mentioned her once and then got right back to the action stuff. Sure, that's more than Delilah gets mentioned in the modern one but not by much.
So Victor Mature invented the mullet?
Who knew?