Our Town (1940 film)
American drama romance film by Sam Wood (1940) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Our Town is a 1940 American drama romance film adaptation of the 1938 play of the same name by Thornton Wilder, starring Martha Scott as Emily Webb, and William Holden as George Gibbs. The cast also included Fay Bainter, Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell, Guy Kibbee and Frank Craven. It was adapted by Harry Chandlee, Craven and Wilder, and directed by Sam Wood.
This article needs a plot summary. (November 2016) |
Our Town | |
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Directed by | Sam Wood |
Screenplay by | Harry Chandlee Frank Craven Thornton Wilder |
Based on | Our Town (1938 play) by Thornton Wilder |
Produced by | Sol Lesser |
Starring | William Holden Martha Scott Fay Bainter |
Cinematography | Bert Glennon |
Edited by | Sherman Todd |
Music by | Aaron Copland |
Production company | Sol Lesser Productions |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1 million (approx)[1] |
The film was a faithful reproduction of the play except for two significant changes: the film used scenery, whereas the play had not; the events of the third act, which in the play revolve around the death of one of the main characters, were turned into a dream from which she awakens, allowing her to resume a normal life. Producer Sol Lesser worked with Wilder in creating these changes. Wilder wrote Lesser that "Emily should live.... In a movie you see the people so close "to" that a different relation is established. In the theater, they are halfway abstractions in an allegory, in the movie they are very concrete.... It is disproportionately cruel that she die. Let her live...."[2]
A radio adaptation of the film on Lux Radio Theater on May 6, 1940, used the altered film ending.
The U.S. copyright of the film was not renewed after its first term expired in 1968.[citation needed]