Cass Timberlane

Cass Timberlane is a romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy, Lana Turner and Zachary Scott, directed by George Sidney, and released in the United States on January 9, 1948. It was based on the 1945 novel Cass Timberlane: A Novel of Husbands and Wives by Sinclair Lewis, which was Lewis' nineteenth novel and one of his last.

Cass Timberlane
Theatrical poster
Directed byGeorge Sidney
Produced byArthur Hornblow, Jr.
Written bySinclair Lewis (Novel)
Donald Ogden Stewart (Adaptation and Screenplay)
Sonya Levien (Adaptation)
StarringSpencer Tracy
Lana Turner
Zachary Scott
Music byRoy Webb
CinematographyRobert Planck
Edited byJohn Dunning
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • November 6, 1947 (1947-11-06) (New York)
  • January 9, 1948 (1948-01-09) (United States)
[1]
Running time
119 mins.
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,733,000[2]
Box office$5,186,000[2]

Plot

Former Congressman and now Judge Cass Timberlane is a middle-aged, incorruptible, highly respected man who enjoys good books and playing the flute. He falls for Ginny, a much younger girl from a lower class in his small Minnesota town. At first, the marriage is happy, but Ginny becomes bored with the small town and with the judge's friends. She leaves him for an affair with a lawyer, Timberlane's boyhood friend. Eventually, disillusioned with her lover, Ginny returns to her husband and becomes the good wife. The novel is Lewis's examination of marriage, love, romance, heartache and trust.

Cast

Spencer Tracy, George Sidney and Lana Turner on the set of Cass Timberlane

Production

Cultural references

Wolcott Gibbs spoofed the novel in The New Yorker as "Shad Ampersand." The song "Cleo the Cat" by the band Benton Harbor Lunchbox was inspired by the novel Cass Timberlane: A Novel of Husbands and Wives.

Reception

Though it received tepid critical reviews, the film was a box office hit, earning $3,983,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $1,203,000 elsewhere, but because of its high production cost, it only returned a profit of $746,000.[2][4]

Home media

Cass Timberlane was released to DVD by Warner Home Video on July 6, 2010 via Warner Archives as a DVD-on-demand disc available through Amazon.

In other media

Radio

Cass Timberlane was presented on Theatre Guild on the Air February 15, 1953. The one-hour adaptation starred Fredric March and Nina Foch.[5]

References

  1. James Curtis, Spencer Tracy Random House, 2011
  2. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  3. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-feb-24-me-11289-story.html
  4. "Top Grossers of 1948", Variety 5 January 1949 p 46
  5. Kirby, Walter (February 15, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 42. Retrieved June 21, 2015 via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

  • Monder, Eric (1994). George Sidney:a Bio-Bibliography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313284571.
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