''The View from Pompey's Head'' is a 1955 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, written and directed by Philip Dunne and based on the 1954 novel ''

The View from Pompey's Head ''The View from Pompey's Head'' is a novel by American writer Hamilton Basso, first published by Doubleday in 1954. It spent 40 weeks on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list. The title refers to the book's setting, the fictional small town ...

'' by

Hamilton Basso Joseph Hamilton Basso (September 5, 1904 – May 13, 1964) was an American novelist and journalist. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Basso worked as reporter for several newspapers in New Orleans, wrote 11 novels, primarily about the South, and was ...

. The film stars Richard Egan,

Dana Wynter Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; 8 June 19315 May 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was raised in the United Kingdom and southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than 40 years, beginning in the 1950s. Her best-know ...

, Cameron Mitchell,

Sidney Blackmer Sidney Alderman Blackmer (July 13, 1895 – October 6, 1973) was an American Broadway and film actor active between 1914 and 1971, usually in major supporting roles. Biography Blackmer was born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina, t ...

Marjorie Rambeau Marjorie Burnet Rambeau (July 15, 1889 – July 6, 1970) was an American film and stage actress. She began her stage career at age 12, and appeared in several silent films before debuting in her first sound film, '' Her Man'' (1930). She was t ...

and

Dorothy Patrick Dorothy Patrick (born Dorothea Davis; June 3, 1921 – May 31, 1987) was a Canadian-American film actress and a John Robert Powers model. Early life Patrick was born on June 3, 1921, in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, the daughter of Mr. and ...

. The film was released on November 4, 1955, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Plot

Cast

* Richard Egan as Anson 'Sonny' Page *

as Dinah Blackford Higgins * Cameron Mitchell as Michael "Mickey" / "Mico" Higgins *

as Garvin Wales *

as Lucy Devereaux Wales *

as Meg Page *

Rosemarie Bowe Rosemarie Bowe Stack (born Rose Marie Bowe; September 17, 1932 – January 20, 2019) was an American model, best known for her appearances in several films in the 1950s. Born in Butte, Montana, Bowe was primarily raised in Tacoma, Washington. S ...

as Kit Robbins Garrick *

Jerry Paris William Gerald Paris (July 25, 1925 – March 31, 1986) was an American actor and director best known for playing Jerry Helper, the dentist and next-door neighbor of Rob and Laura Petrie, on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', and for directing the majo ...

as Ian Garrick *Ruby Goodwin as Esther *Pamela Stufflebeam as Julia Higgins *

Evelyn Rudie Evelyn Rudie (born March 28, 1949) is an American playwright, director, songwriter, film and television actress, and teacher. Since 1973, she has been the co-artistic director of the Santa Monica Playhouse. As a costume designer, she uses the pseu ...

as Cecily Higgins *

Howard Wendell Howard David Wendell (January 25, 1908 – August 11, 1975) was an American actor. Wendell's Broadway credits include ''Make a Wish'' (1951), ''The Curious Savage'' (1950), ''Arms and the Man'' (1950), ''The Show Off'' (1950), and ''The Great ...

as John Duncan *

Dayton Lummis Dayton Lummis (August 8, 1903 – March 23, 1988) was an American film, television and theatre actor. He was perhaps best known for playing the role of General Douglas MacArthur in the 1955 film ''The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell''. Lummis d ...

as Charles Barlowe

Production

Original Novel

The novel, set in a South Carolina town called Pompey's Head, took Basso several years to write. Reviews were, on the whole, superb. The ''New York Times'' praised it as a book of "controlled art and distinction". The book became a best seller. A copy of it was on the bedside of Serge Rubinstein when he was discovered murdered.

Film Development

Film rights were purchased by 20th Century Fox in November 1954 for a reported $100,000. Fox head of production

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

said, "It's a terrible title, but the rave notices of the book and the distinguished manner of writing make this much more than an average suspense story."

Julian Blaustein Julian Blaustein (May 30, 1913 – June 20, 1995) was an American film producer. Born in New York City, Blaustein graduated from Harvard University in 1933. He spent a year in flight training at the Randolph Air Force Base before heading to Holl ...

was assigned to produce, Phillip Dunne to write and direct. Zanuck wanted

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

to star. Blaustein resigned from Fox in December. Dunne took over as producer. Peck did not end up appearing in the film. Fox tried to borrow

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as ...

, but he was under contract to MGM, which would not loan him out. Dunne ended up casting studio star Richard Egan. Because Egan was busy on ''

Seven Cities of Gold The myth of the Seven Cities of Gold, also known as the Seven Cities of Cibola (), was popular in the 16th century and later featured in several works of popular culture. According to legend, the seven cities of gold referred to Aztec mythology r ...

'' filming on ''Head'' was pushed back to June 2. "I wrote it for Bill Holden and Audrey Hepburn", said Dunne later. "Both were busy elsewhere. I had to make it with Richard Egan and Dana Wynter, who are just as good actors but lacked sex appeal. Making movies is a matter of making compromises." The movie was set in coastal South Carolina and was shot mostly in coastal Georgia, which in the 1950s was still a rarely used location for filmmakers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:View From Pompey's Head, The 1955 films American drama films 1955 drama films 20th Century Fox films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films based on American novels Films directed by Philip Dunne CinemaScope films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films