''Julie'' is a 1956 American
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
written and directed by
Andrew L. Stone
Andrew L. Stone (July 16, 1902 – June 9, 1999) was an Americans, American screenwriter, film director and producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film ''Julie (1956 film), Julie'' in 1957 and re ...
and starring
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
,
Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lette ...
and
Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to:
*Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor
*Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia
*Barry Sullivan (lawyer), Chicago lawyer and ...
. The film is among the earliest to feature the subplot of a stewardess piloting an aircraft to safety, later used in ''
Airport 1975
''Airport 1975'' (also known as ''Airport '75'') is a 1974 American air disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film ''Airport''. It was directed by Jack Smight, produced by William Frye, executive produced by Jennings Lang, and ...
'' (1975) and parodied in ''
Airplane!
''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American parody film written and directed by the brothers David and Jerry Zucker, and Jim Abrahams in their directorial debuts, and produced by Jon Davison. It stars Robert Hay ...
'' (1980). ''Julie'' is also notable for being technically accurate in its use of contemporary aviation technology.
[Santoir, Christian]
"Review: 'Julie'.
''Aeromovies'', 2019. Retrieved: May 12, 2019.
Plot
A former stewardess, widow Julie Benton (
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
), flying for "Amalgamated Airlines" is terrorized by her insanely jealous second husband, concert pianist Lyle (
Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lette ...
). It becomes a life-or-death matter after friend Cliff Henderson (
Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to:
*Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor
*Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia
*Barry Sullivan (lawyer), Chicago lawyer and ...
) relays his suspicions to Julie that her first husband's death may not have been a suicide.
She pretends that she would have fallen for Lyle even if her first husband had still been alive, and Lyle confesses the murder to her. Julie flees with Cliff's help, but police are unable to arrest Lyle without proof.
Julie and Cliff hire a car and drive north to San Francisco where Julie changes her identity, and returns to her former job with the airline. Lyle has a confrontation with Cliff, Lyle shoots him and learns where Julie can be found.
With police in pursuit, Julie is warned that Lyle may be on her flight. She spots him, but Lyle pulls a gun on her, then kills the pilot before being shot himself. Julie is "talked down" receiving instructions on how to fly the aircraft. She does so successfully, and her nightmare comes to an end.
Cast
*
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
as Julie Benton
*
Louis Jourdan
Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lette ...
as Lyle Benton
*
Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to:
*Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor
*Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia
*Barry Sullivan (lawyer), Chicago lawyer and ...
as Cliff Henderson
*
Frank Lovejoy
Frank Andrew Lovejoy Jr. (March 28, 1912 – October 2, 1962) was an American actor in radio, film, and television. He is perhaps best remembered for appearing in the film noir '' The Hitch-Hiker'' and for starring in the radio drama '' Night Beat ...
as Det. Lt. Pringle
*
Jack Kelly as Jack (co-pilot)
*
Ann Robinson
Ann Robinson (born May 25, 1929) is a former American actress and stunt horse rider, perhaps best known for her work in the science-fiction classic ''The War of the Worlds'' (1953) and in the 1954 film '' Dragnet'', in which she starred as a L ...
as Valerie
*
Barney Phillips
Bernard Philip Ofner (October 20, 1913 – August 17, 1982), better known by his stage name Barney Phillips, was an American film, television, and radio actor. His most prominent roles include that of Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the 1950s '' Dragnet' ...
as Doctor on Flight 36
*
Jack Kruschen
Jacob "Jack" Kruschen (March 20, 1922 – April 2, 2002) was a Canadian character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio. Kruschen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. ...
as Det. Mace
*
John Gallaudet
John Beury Gallaudet (August 23, 1903 – November 5, 1983) was an American film and television actor.
Career
Gallaudet was born in Philadelphia and attended Williams College. His Broadway credits included ''Good Men and True'' (1935), ''Lost ...
as Det. Sgt. Cole
*
Carleton Young
Captain Carleton Scott Young (October 21, 1905 – November 7, 1994) was an American character actor who was known for his deep voice.
Early years
Born in Fulton, Oswego, New York, Young was the second and only surviving child of St ...
as Airport Control Tower Official
*
Hank Patterson
Elmer Calvin "Hank" Patterson (October 9, 1888 – August 23, 1975) was an American actor and musician. He is known foremost for playing two recurring characters on three television series: the stableman Hank Miller on ''Gunsmoke'' and farmer ...
as Ellis
*
Ed Hinton as Captain of Flight 36
*
Harlan Warde
Harlan Warde (born Harlan Ward Lufkin; November 6, 1917 – March 13, 1980) was a character actor active in television and movies.
Career
Warde showed up in supporting roles as detectives, doctors, and ministers. Warde made five guest appearan ...
as Det. Pope
*
Aline Towne
Fern Aline Waller (née Eggen, 7 November 1919 – 2 February 1996), known as Aline Towne, was an American film and television actress, best remembered for her lead roles in 1950s Republic serials, such as ''Radar Men from the Moon''.
Bio ...
as Denise Martin
* Eddie Marr as Airline Official
* Joel Marston as Garage Mechanic
*
Mae Marsh
Mae Marsh (born Mary Wayne Marsh; November 9, 1894U.S. Census records for 1900, El Paso, Texas, Sheet No. 6 – February 13, 1968) was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life
Mae Marsh was born Mary Wayne M ...
as Hysterical Passenger
Production
The movie's working title was ''If I Can't Have You''. Stone's signing was announced in January 1956.
Arwin Productions was the production firm recently formed by Day and her husband Martin Melcher.
The aircraft in ''Julie'' were
Douglas R5D-1/3 Skymaster four-engined cargo and passenger airliners from
Transocean Air Lines
Transocean Air Lines was established in 1946 as ONAT (Orvis Nelson Air Transport Company) based in Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
, a charter company based at
Oakland International Airport
Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger f ...
, (San Francisco).
The soundtrack includes music by three composers. The song "Midnight on the Cliffs" by pianist/composer
Leonard Pennario
Leonard Pennario (July 9, 1924 – June 27, 2008) was an American classical pianist and composer.
He was born in Buffalo, New York, and grew up in Los Angeles, attending Los Angeles High School remaining in L.A. for his entire career. He firs ...
, is repeatedly heard as Doris Day frantically attempts to avoid being murdered by Louis Jourdan. The song "Dream Rhapsody", also by Pennario, is based on themes taken directly from the
Symphony in D minor by
César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...
.
Reception
Box office
According to MGM records, ''Julie'' earned $1,415,000 in the US and Canada and $1,185,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $604,000.
Critical response
Aviation film historian Stephen Pendo in ''Aviation in the Cinema'' (1985) described ''Julie'' as a "minor film."
Film critic Dennis Schwartz, gave ''Julie'' a mixed review, writing, "Improbable crime thriller about a woman-in-peril, that is too uneven to be effective; the banal dialogue is the final killer. ... Doris Day, to her credit, gives it her best shot and tries to take it seriously even when the melodrama moves way past the point of just being ridiculous. Later disaster movies stole some of those airplane landing scenes."
In a contemporaneous review, ''New York Times'' critic Bosley Crowther panned the film, writing, "Let's say the whole thing is contrivance and the acting is in the same vein. Miss Day wrings her hands and looks frantic not so much because she feels it as because she gets her cues." Of Andrew Stone's direction, Crowther went on to say, "...it is quite clear that Mr. Stone set out to keep the heroine under menace all the way, no matter how coldly calculated or improbable that might be."
The Washington Evening Star summed up the film as "a movie that leaves audiences more in the debt of the cameraman and Andrew Stone's freewheeling direction than anyone else....Quite irrationally, most of the way, it relates the story of a freckled blond girl who discovers she has married a lethally jealous concert pianist. This chap...is one with whom a girl could be relaxed only on a desert island where she would meet no other male, including a barracuda."
''Julie'' is listed in
Golden Raspberry Award
The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
founder
John Wilson's book ''
The Official Razzie Movie Guide
''The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst'' is a book about the booby prize award show the Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies), written by John Wilson, founder of the awards ceremony. The book was published in 2005 ...
'' as one of the "100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made".
Accolades
''Julie'' was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...
and
Best Song ("Julie" by
Leith Stevens
Leith Stevens (September 13, 1909 – July 23, 1970) was an American music composer and conductor of radio and film scores.
Early life and education
Leith Stevens was born in Mount Moriah, Missouri,DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An ...
and
Tom Adair
Thomas Montgomery Adair (June 15, 1913 – May 24, 1988) was an American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter.
Biography
Adair was born on 15 June 1913, in Newton, Kansas, where his father owned a clothing store: he was the only child of Willi ...
, which
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...
sings during the opening credits).
"Awards: 'Julie'."
''IMDb'', 2019. Retrieved: May 12, 2019.
See also
*List of American films of 1956
A list of American films released in 1956
''Around the World in 80 Days'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A-B
C-D
E-I
J-M
N-R
S-Z
See also
* 1956 in the United States
Sources Footnotes
References
*
*
External links
19 ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. .
* Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .
* Wilson, John. ''The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst''. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2005. .
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{Andrew L. Stone
1956 films
1950s thriller films
American mystery films
American thriller films
American aviation films
American black-and-white films
Film noir
Films directed by Andrew L. Stone
Films scored by Leith Stevens
Films set in California
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
1950s English-language films
1950s American films