The Great Gatsby (1949 film)

In 1948, a middle-aged Nick Carraway is married to ex-flapper Jordan Baker, and the happily married couple visit the grave of their deceased acquaintance Jay Gatsby. Carraway sermonizes that he did not approve of Gatsby's sinful life, and he quotes the Book of Proverbs condemning Gatsby's actions as wicked: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

A flashback occurs to 1928 during the tumultuous period of Prohibition in the United States. Bootlegger Jay Gatsby is introduced after killing two rival gangsters in a street shootout. Gatsby hosts wild parties at his lavish Long Island Sound estate. He persuades Daisy's friend Jordan Baker to arrange a private meeting with Daisy at Nick's bungalow in exchange for his Duesenberg roadster. Gatsby and Daisy had been in love during World War I. Daisy begged Gatsby to marry her, but Gatsby insisted they wait until he made a fortune.

Now a wealthy millionaire, Gatsby yearns to reunite with Daisy. However, she is married to the far wealthier Tom Buchanan. Despite her marriage, Daisy is discontented. She is aware of her husband's dalliance with Myrtle Wilson, who is married to George Wilson, the owner of a gas station. Daisy appears to appreciate Gatsby's advances. Together with Jordan Baker and Nick, they spend time in the city. Later, while Daisy is driving Gatsby's car, she accidentally strikes Myrtle in the street.

Returning home, Daisy confesses to Tom, Nick and Jordan that she killed Myrtle. Tom, Daisy and Jordan plot to blame Gatsby for Myrtle's death, but Nick objects and leaves. Gatsby overhears this discussion while standing unseen on the veranda. Wilson suspects that Tom killed Myrtle, and he confronts Tom at his home. Tom refuses to reveal Gatsby's name, and Wilson leaves. Tom tries to call Gatsby in order to warn him that his life is danger, but Gatsby does not answer the telephone. While talking to Nick at his mansion's pool, Gatsby is shot by Wilson. Only Nick and Jordan attend Gatsby's funeral. The couple agree to marry and depart for the Midwest.

 

In 1926, Paramount Pictures paid $45,000 (equivalent to $774,474 in 2023) to purchase the film rights to F. Scott Fitzgerald's critically acclaimed yet commercially unsuccessful 1925 novel.^[2] The studio produced the first film adaptation in November 1926 starring Warner Baxter as Jay Gatsby, Lois Wilson as Daisy Buchanan, and William Powell as George Wilson.^[3] Two decades later, the studio still held the film rights to the novel.^[4]

Paramount writer and producer Richard Maibaum—who had met F. Scott Fitzgerald during the author's brief sojourn in Hollywood^[5]—became fixated on the idea of a new adaptation starring Oklahoma actor Alan Ladd as Jay Gatsby.^[4] He had previously collaborated with Ladd on the 1946 film O.S.S., and the two had become close friends.^[6] Maibaum presented the idea to Ladd and his wife, Sue.^[7] While they initially had reservations, Maibaum recalled, "they liked it; they were a bit hesitant, but I persuaded them."^[8] The role of Jay Gatsby intrigued Ladd since the character offered a departure from Ladd's typical action roles and allowed him a chance to demonstrate a broader acting range.^[9]

Although Maibaum and Ladd wanted to make the film, Paramount executives proved hesitant to make this second film adaptation as Fitzgerald's beloved novel had not yet attained widespread popularity.^[4] "This was in late 1946," Maibaum recalled. "Scott Fitzgerald had been dead since 1940. So it seemed, except in the hearts of a few devotees, were his out-of-print novels. His reputation was at its lowest ebb. The Jazz Age he celebrated was regarded as an aberration. But I saw a similarity between what was happening in 1946 to what had happened to the country in 1920 and, with Alan and Sue's help, kept badgering the studio until it agreed to let us prepare a script."^[4]

Maibaum and Ladd persisted until Paramount executives relented and commissioned a screenplay.^[4] Paramount publicly announced its plans to make the film starring Ladd in March 1946,^[10] with the script to be written by Maibaum and Cyril Hume.^[11] However, the mere idea of remaking The Great Gatsby soon ran afoul of the censors, in particular Production Code Administration head Joseph Breen.^[4]

Censor Joseph Breen rejected the first draft of the screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume for having "a low moral tone."^[4] He criticized their screenplay for its violations of the Motion Picture Production Code.^[4] He specifically denounced their work for depicting adultery, excessive drinking, unpunished manslaughter, bootlegging, and other perceived moral transgressions.^[4]

Breen insisted the screenplay be rewritten to avoid accurately evoking the libertine atmosphere of the Jazz Age.^[4] Breen further demanded that the screenplay include a voice of morality and a lengthy preamble which outright condemned Gatsby's behavior as immoral.^[4] Desperate to make the film, Maibaum capitulated to Breen's demands, although he later regretted doing so.^[12]

Maibaum and Hume appeased the censors by altering plot details and by adding a scene at the beginning of the script where Nick Carraway, now married to Jordan Baker, quotes from Proverbs 14:12 that "there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."^[12] Having been forced to make these changes against his will, Maibaum felt such additions were "all wrong and very un-Fitzgerald-like. To moralize like that was something he never did; he was always indirect. It was the price I paid to get the film done."^[13]

Despite rewrites by Maibaum and Hume, the censors still refused to greenlight the film.^[14] After Breen's retirement, his successor Eric Johnston likewise proved reluctant to approve the film.^[14] "The Johnston office seems to be afraid of starting a new jazz cycle," Maibaum told the press in 1946.^[14] Due to the constant meddling by censors, critics later noted that film's script contained very little of "the flavor of the Prohibition era".^[15] When censor Eric Johnston finally approved the bowdlerized script, Paramount greenlit the project in October 1947.^[16] However, Maibaum claimed that Paramount delayed the film's production.^[5] "They used the script as a carrot to make Alan do several other [lower quality] films, each time promising that his next would be Gatsby", wrote the producer. "Finally after two long years of this he rebelled and threatened to go on suspension. That did it."^[5]

 

 

The original director John Farrow and producer Richard Maibaum disagreed over the casting of Daisy Buchanan. Farrow wanted Gene Tierney (left) for the role, while Maibaum favored Betty Field (right). Unable to agree, Farrow quit the production.

Paramount Pictures originally hired Australian émigré John Farrow, the husband of actress Maureen O'Sullivan and father of Mia Farrow, to direct the film.^[7] Farrow had made a number of successful films with Ladd, as well as The Big Clock with Maibaum.^[7] Farrow and Maibaum soon disagreed over the casting of Daisy Buchanan.^[7] Maibaum recalled their intense disagreement in detail:

We were agreed that the character... was a beautiful, glamorous, unstable girl. Farrow however placed more importance on the glamour and beauty than I did. Hollywood was full of beautiful girls. I wanted more, an actress who could handle what has been called 'the disharmonic chatter of the '20s', the authentic sound of the feckless, disillusioned lost generation... What we needed was a fine actress who could make believable the obsessive love she evoked from him.^[7]

Farrow wanted Gene Tierney, but Maibaum pushed for Betty Field.^[7] Tiring of their impasse, studio production head Henry Ginsberg gave final say to Maibaum.^[7] As a result, Farrow quit the film and told Maibaum: "I don't direct pictures under conditions like that. Find yourself another boy."^[7] Farrow's daughter, Mia Farrow, later played Daisy Buchanan in the 1974 film adaptation.^[7] With production imminent, Elliott Nugent replaced Farrow as director.^[17][7] Although enthusiastic about casting Betty Field as Daisy Buchanan, Nugent had reservations about Alan Ladd as Jay Gatsby, although he kept these opinions from Maibaum.^[7]

 

Director Elliott Nugent suffered from mental illness during the shoot.^[9] According to Maibaum, Nugent had once gone up onto the roof of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and almost jumped off.^[6] Throughout the shoot, Nugent proved to be indecisive which Maibaum attributed to his mental health difficulties.^[4] In a June 1978 interview, Nugent spoke of his dissatisfaction with directing the film: "I felt very unhappy when I was making Gatsby. I thought I shouldn't be doing it and Alan Ladd shouldn't be playing in it. Ladd wasn't quite up to it, but he got away with it."^[18]

Nugent primarily filmed the entire production indoors on a studio lot, including the exterior shots, to circumvent potential delays often associated with location shooting—such as changing sunlight, rain, or intrusive tourists.^[18] Alan Ladd, who was at the pinnacle of his fame after returning from service in World War II, could not be taken on-location as he would invariably be "mobbed" in public appearances.^[18] As a result, Nugent limited filming to the controlled, yet artificial environment of a brightly lit Hollywood sound stage, compromising visual authenticity and realism.^[18]

Filming went smoothly, although Ladd refused to remove his wedding ring and also initially refused to kiss Field.^[19] Ladd said that many of his fans were children and that he did not wish to play a character who kisses a married woman.^[20] Ladd's Gatsby does kiss Field's Daisy on screen in a scene in the final film.^[9] Despite these issues, Maibaum observed that Ladd seemed perfect for the role of Gatsby:

I was in [Ladd's] house and he took me up to the second floor, where he had a wardrobe about as long as this room. He opened it up and there must have been hundreds of suits, sport jackets, slacks and suits. He looked at me and said, "Not bad for an Okie kid, eh?" I got goose pimples because I remembered when Gatsby took Daisy to show her his mansion, he also showed her his wardrobe and said, "I've got a man in England who buys me clothes. He sends over a selection of things at the beginning of each season, spring and fall." I said to myself, "My God, he is the Great Gatsby!"^[8]

 

 

Fitzgerald's close friend and literary critic Edmund Wilson (left) disliked the film. Film critic Bosley Crowther (right) panned the film as a mediocre romance in his review in The New York Times.

Fitzgerald's close friend and literary critic Edmund Wilson, who had known Fitzgerald since their days as classmates at Princeton University, disliked the film.^[21] As Wilson had played a pivotal role in creating the F. Scott Fitzgerald revival in the 1940s,^[22][23] Paramount Pictures arranged a private screening of the film for Wilson in the hopes of earning his public endorsement.^[21]

According to witness Stanley Kauffmann, as Wilson exited the screening room, a smiling Paramount publicity man approached Wilson and asked him how he had liked the picture.^[21] "Not very much, I'm afraid," replied Wilson, and he kept walking to the elevator.^[21] The Paramount publicity man appeared to be betrayed by Wilson's reply and seemed to say, "We've gone to the trouble of making a whole movie out of your friend's book and you don't even appreciate it!"^[21]

According to Variety, the film ranked 45th among popular movies in the U.S. and Canada in 1949.^[1] Maibaum claimed the film "did well financially although reviews were mixed. Critics differed as much as John Farrow and myself about Betty Field's Daisy. Some thought she was perfect, others that she was subtly wrong. Alan, for the most part, received surprisingly good personal notices. My own satisfaction stemmed from what Charles Brackett of sainted memory to all screenwriters said to me: 'You've personally started an F. Scott Fitzgerald revival'."^[9]

The New York Times' review by Bosley Crowther dismissed the film as "a limp, sentimental romance, involving a bootlegger and an old sweetheart, based on Scott Fitzgerald's classic story, but lacking the novel's bite."^[24] Crowther lamented that "the period of the Nineteen Twenties is briefly and inadequately sketched with a jumble of gay Long Island parties, old clothes, old songs and old cars. The baneful influence of prohibition and the disillusionment of post-World War I" were conspicuously absent despite the Jazz Age setting.^[15] Crowther felt that Ladd was too solemn as Gatsby and gave the impression of "a patient and saturnine fellow who is plagued by a desperate love".^[15]

Critics expressed conflicted opinions about Betty Field's performance as Daisy.^[9] Critic Lew Sheaffer wrote in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle that Field performed "the difficult feat of making a strong impact" as Gatsby's "vague, shilly-shallying sweetheart."^[25] Boyd Martin of The Courier-Journal opined that Field was "convincing in showing the shallowness of Daisy's character",^[26] whereas Wanda Hale of The New York Daily News complained that Field gave "such a restrained, delicate performance that you have to use some imagination to understand her weakness."^[27]

Critic Lew Sheaffer wrote in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle that Macdonald Carey acquitted himself well as Nick Carraway, Gatsby's only friend.^[25] Likewise, Boyd Martin of The Courier-Journal opined that Carey gave a quiet and reserved performance.^[26]

According to film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon, the 1949 version of The Great Gatsby is "a curiously tedious, flat, and unimaginative film, lacking both visual and thematic resonance."^[18] Dixon posits that the film's shortcomings primarily stem from Elliott Nugent's uninspired direction, accentuated by an overly wordy and meandering screenplay.^[18] As a result, the film appears to lack a cohesive vision, both visually and thematically.^[18]

In 2012, Universal Pictures released a new print of the 1949 film.^[28]

• The Great Gatsby at IMDb
• The Great Gatsby at the TCM Movie Database
• The Great Gatsby at Rotten Tomatoes