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''Lust for Life'' is a 1956 American
biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, based on the 1934 novel of the same title by Irving Stone which was adapted for the screen by Norman Corwin. It was directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by
John Houseman John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director ...
. The film stars
Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...
as Van Gogh, James Donald as his brother Theo, with Pamela Brown,
Everett Sloane Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television. Early life Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gers ...
, and Anthony Quinn. Douglas won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...
and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his performance, while Quinn won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while worki ...
.


Plot

Vincent has trained to be a minister, like his father, but the church authorities find him unsuitable. He pleads with them to be allowed some position and they place him in a very poor mining community. Here he becomes deeply absorbed in the miners' plight and begins sketching their daily life. The religious leaders do not like his approach, and they frown on his social activism and care for the poor. He returns home to his father's house. Here a woman he obsessively loves (his cousin) rejects Van Gogh because of his inability to support himself financially. The infatuated Vincent follows her to her family home, where he holds his hand over a candle flame to prove his devotion, only to learn that she has said she is disgusted by him and doesn't want to see him again. He takes to drawing. His cousin Anton Mauve gives him paint and art materials and encourages him to paint. His brother, Theo van Gogh, provides financial and moral support. Vincent takes up with a prostitute who eventually also leaves because he is too poor. His passion then turns fully to painting, which he pursues while agonizing that he is unable to paint precisely what he sees. After his father's death, he goes to Paris with Theo, where he discovers impressionists. Theo cannot bear living with him and Vincent leaves for sunny Arles, France. Paul Gauguin (whom he met in Paris) joins him there, and for a while life is good. However, Vincent is too obsessive even for Gauguin's tastes and they argue, prompting the latter's departure, after which Vincent cuts off his own ear. Vincent begins experiencing seizures and voluntarily commits himself to a mental institution, where he is allowed to paint. He signs himself out, and with Theo's help returns to a rural area to resume painting. While painting cornfields, he is frustrated by the crows and, despairing at never being able to put what he sees on canvas, pulls out a revolver to shoot himself. He dies in bed a few days later.


Cast

*
Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...
as Vincent van Gogh, struggling painter. * Anthony Quinn as Paul Gauguin, painter and friend of Vincent's. * James Donald as Theo van Gogh, Vincent's brother. * Pamela Brown as Christine, Vincent's lover, based on Sien. *
Everett Sloane Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television. Early life Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gers ...
as Dr. Paul Gachet * Henry Daniell as Theodorus van Gogh, father of Vincent and Theo. * Madge Kennedy as Anna Cornelia van Gogh, mother of Vincent and Theo. * Noel Purcell as Anton Mauve, established painter and cousin of Vincent and Theo. * Niall MacGinnis as Roulin * Jill Bennett as Willemien * Lionel Jeffries as Dr. Peyron. * Laurence Naismith as Dr. Bosman * Eric Pohlmann as Colbert * Jeanette Sterke as Kay (Cornelia "Kee" Vos-Stricker), cousin of Vincent and Theo. * Toni Gerry as Johanna ( Johanna van Gogh-Bonger)


Production

The film was based on the 1934
novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by Irving Stone and adapted by Norman Corwin. Vincente Minnelli directed the film, while
John Houseman John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902 – October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British-American actor and producer of theatre, film, and television. He became known for his highly publicized collaboration with director ...
produced it. They worked with Douglas on the 1952 melodrama '' The Bad and the Beautiful'', for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...
. In 1954, Douglas secured the filming rights to Van Gogh's biography and intended to star and produce it through his own film production company, Bryna Productions, with Jean Negulesco directing and financial distribution backing from United Artists. Principal photography started in August and ended in December 1955 and it was shot on location in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. George Cukor took Minnelli's place as director for the take of a scene. Two hundred enlarged colour photos were used representing Vincent’s completed canvases; these were in addition to copies that were executed by an American art teacher, Robert Parker. To prepare for his role as the troubled painter, Douglas practiced painting crows so that he could reasonably imitate van Gogh at work. According to his wife Anne, Douglas would return home from work still in character. When asked if he would do such a thing again, Douglas responded that he would not.


Reception


Critical reaction

'' The New York Times'' critic Bosley Crowther praised the film's conception, acting and color scheme, noting the design team "consciously made the flow of color and the interplay of compositions and hues the most forceful devices for conveying a motion picture comprehension of van Gogh." Whitney Williams of '' Variety'' said, "This is a slow-moving picture whose only action is in the dialog itself. Basically a faithful portrait of Van Gogh, ''Lust for Life'' is nonetheless unexciting. It misses out in conveying the color and entertainment of the original Irving Stone novel." ''
Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...
'' wrote that the film had been given "an excellent production" and that "Kirk Douglas does outstanding work as Van Gogh, and Anthony Quinn is very good as Paul Gauguin, his friend." John McCarten of '' The New Yorker'' wrote, "Even if the movie doesn't delve as deeply as it might into the mental processes that made van Gogh behave the way he did, it nevertheless, in the person of Kirk Douglas, confronts us with a character well worth our absorbed attention. Mr. Douglas, who, wearing red whiskers, bears a striking resemblance to van Gogh's self-portraits, succeeds most skillfully in arousing a conviction that he is, in truth, a painter beside himself to capture light and hold it forever on canvas."
Richard L. Coe Richard Livingston Coe (New York City, November 8, 1914 – Washington, D.C., November 12, 1995) was a theater and cinema critic for The Washington Post for more than forty years. Coe became known as one of the most influential theater critics outsi ...
of '' The Washington Post'' called the film "a remarkable achievement, combining a rich adventure in the art of color with a perceptive study of a creative personality. In this biography of Vincent Van Gogh, Kirk Douglas adds to his advantage of striking resemblance a performance of powerful sensitivity." Edwin Schallert of the '' Los Angeles Times'' called the film a "remarkable and poignant study," and forecast that the artist's 'stellar portrayal' by Kirk Douglas "will be recognized for Academy honors." '' The Monthly Film Bulletin'' printed a somewhat negative review, writing: "Although one feels that those responsible were determined to 'do right' by Van Gogh, this biographical tribute never rises above the level of the popular novel on which it is based ... Despite a remarkable physical resemblance, Kirk Douglas' performance remains essentially an American study in neuroticism; also, the presentation of the aesthetic controversy between Van Gogh (humane and intuitive) and Gauguin (intellectual and brusquely cynical) is both oversimplified and somewhat misleading."


Box office

The world premiere was held on September 17, 1956, at the Plaza Theatre on East 58th Street in New York City as a benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's student program. It played there for a record 37 weeks, grossing $450,000. Despite its accolades, the movie was a financial failure. According to MGM records, the film earned rentals of $1,595,000 in the US and Canada and $1,100,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $2,072,000.


Accolades


Companion short film

MGM produced a short film, ''Van Gogh: Darkness Into Light'', narrated by Dore Schary and showing the European locations used for the filming, to promote ''Lust for Life''. In the film, a 75-year-old woman from
Auvers-sur-Oise Auvers-sur-Oise (, literally ''Auvers on Oise'') is a commune in the department of Val-d'Oise, on the northwestern outskirts of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is associated with several famous artists, the most promine ...
(not Jeanne Calment, who lived in Arles several hundred kilometers to the south), who claims to have known Van Gogh when she was a young girl, meets star Kirk Douglas, and comments on how much he looks like the painter. This short promotional film is shown on Turner Classic Movies occasionally. At the start and ending of the film, the creators thank a number of galleries, collectors and historians who allowed the works of Van Gogh to be photographed for the film.


See also

* List of American films of 1956 * Death of Vincent van Gogh * ''
Vincent Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...
'' (1987 documentary) * '' Vincent & Theo'' (1990 biographical film about van Gogh that is often compared to ''Lust for Life'') * '' Loving Vincent'' (2017 film about van Gogh) * ''
At Eternity's Gate ''Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate)'' is an oil painting by Vincent van Gogh that he made in 1890 in Saint-Rémy de Provence based on an early lithograph. The painting was completed in early May at a time when he was convalescing from a se ...
'' (2018 biographical film about van Gogh)


References


External links

* * * * * * , a short companion film {{DEFAULTSORT:Lust For Life (Film) 1956 films 1956 drama films 1950s biographical drama films American biographical drama films Cultural depictions of Paul Gauguin Films scored by Miklós Rózsa Films about suicide Biographical films about Vincent van Gogh Films based on American novels Films directed by Vincente Minnelli Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award-winning performance Films set in the 19th century Films set in the 1880s Films set in 1890 Films set in France Films set in the Netherlands Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films about self-harm CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films