''Christopher Columbus'' is a 1949

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

biographical film starring

Fredric March Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, ...

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

and

Florence Eldridge Florence Eldridge (born Florence McKechnie, September 5, 1901 – August 1, 1988) was an American actress. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 1957 for her performance in '' Long Day's Journey into Night''. E ...

as Queen

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

. It is loosely based on the 1941 novel '' Columbus'' by

Rafael Sabatini Rafael Sabatini (29 April 1875 – 13 February 1950) was an Italian-born British writer of romance and adventure novels. He is best known for his worldwide bestsellers: ''The Sea Hawk'' (1915), ''Scaramouche'' (1921), ''Captain Blood'' (a.k.a ...

with much of the screenplay rewritten by Sydney and

Muriel Box Violette Muriel Box, Baroness Gardiner, (22 September 1905 – 18 May 1991) was an English screenwriter and director, Britain's most prolific female director, having directed 12 feature films and one featurette. Her screenplay for ''The Seventh ...

Plot

Christopher Columbus, an explorer from Genoa, Italy, arrives in Spain with his son seeking funds for a trip to India. He obtains an introduction at court from Father Perez, the former confessor for Queens Isabella. Columbus is opposed by Francisco de Bobadilla, who uses Beatriz to distract Columbus, However eventually the Queen agrees to finance Columbus's ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, on its journey. On the trip over, the crew threaten mutiny. Columbus promises to turn back if no land is found in three days. On the third night, Columbus sees a light and they reach the New World. Columbus returns to Spain a hero but continues to face opposition at court, even as his discoveries help turn Spain into a rich country.

Cast

as Queen Isabella * Francis L. Sullivan as

Francisco de Bobadilla Francisco Fernández de Bobadilla (c. 1448 – 1 July 1502) was an official under the Crown of Castile and a knight of the Order of Calatrava. He was also the brother of Beatriz de Bobadilla, marchioness (''marquesa'') of Moya and of Peñalosa, ...

* Kathleen Ryan as Beatriz *

Derek Bond Derek William Douglas Bond MC (26 January 1920 – 15 October 2006) was a British actor. He was President of the trade union Equity from 1984 to 1986. Life and career Bond was born on 26 January 1920 in Glasgow, Scotland. He attended Haberd ...

Diego de Arana Diego de Arana (1468 in Cordoba, Spain – 1493 in Haiti) was governor of the first documented Spanish settlement in the New World, at La Navidad. He was a sailor of Castile who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to America, whe ...

Nora Swinburne Leonora Mary Johnson (24 July 1902 – 1 May 2000), known professionally as Nora Swinburne, was an English actress who appeared in many British films. Early years Swinburne was born in Bath, Somerset, the daughter of Henry Swinburne Johnson a ...

as Joanna de Torres * Abraham Sofaer as Luis de Santangel *

Linden Travers Florence Lindon-Travers, known professionally as Linden Travers (27 May 1913 – 23 October 2001Ronald Bergan ), was a British actress. Life and career Travers was born in Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, the daughter of Florence (née ...

as Beatriz de Peraza *

James Robertson Justice James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He is best remembered for portraying pompous authority figures in comedies including each of the seven films in the '' Doctor'' series. He also co-starred with Greg ...

Martin Pinzon Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

Dennis Vance Dennis Vance (18 March 1924 – 6 October 1983) was a British television producer, director, and occasional actor. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, he began his career as an actor in the late 1940s, appearing in small film parts, such as Poet's ...

as Francisco Pinzon *

Richard Aherne Richard Aherne (born Vincent Richard Ahern; 19 March 1911 – 8 June 2002) was an Irish actor. He is sometimes credited as Richard Nugent. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of William Ahern and Mary Brophy Ahern of Ross, County Meath. He ...

as Vicente Pinzon *

Felix Aylmer Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones, OBE (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Earl ...

as Father Perez *

Francis Lister Francis Lister (2 April 1899 – 28 October 1951) was a British actor. He was married to the actresses Nora Swinburne (1924–32) and Margot Grahame (1934-36). Filmography References External links * * *ThFrancis Lister Collectionis held by ...

as King Ferdinand *

Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizabe ...

as Pedro *

Niall MacGinnis Patrick Niall MacGinnis (29 March 1913 – 6 January 1977) was an Irish actor who made around 80 screen appearances. Early life MacGinnis was born in Dublin in 1913.

as Juan de la Costa *

Ralph Truman Ralph du Vergier Truman (7 May 1900 – 15 October 1977) was an English actor, usually cast as either a villain or an authority figure. He possessed a distinguished speaking voice. He was born in London, England. Truman originally studied at t ...

as Captain *

Ronald Adam General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam, 2nd Baronet, (30 October 1885 – 26 December 1982) was a senior British Army officer. He had an important influence on the conduct of the British Army during the Second World War as a result of his long tenure ...

as Talavera * Guy Le Feuvre as Admiral * Lyn Evans as Lope * David Cole as Columbus' Son *

Hugh Pryse Hugh Pryse (1910–1955) was a British character actor. He was born on 11 November 1910 with the name John Hwfa Pryse, and was billed as Hwfa Pryse in the films ''Penn of Pennsylvania'' and ''"Pimpernel" Smith. His stage work included Peter Bro ...

as Almoner *

Stuart Lindsell Reginald Stuart Lindsell (18 July 1892, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire – 9 July 1969, London) was a British actor, often seen in upper-class roles. He was sometimes credited as R. Stuart Lindsell. He also served as an officer in the Middlesex R ...

as Prior

Development

The film was a passion project for producer

Sydney Box Frank Sydney Box (29 April 1907 – 25 May 1983) was a British film producer and screenwriter, and brother of British film producer Betty Box. In 1940, he founded the documentary film company Verity Films with Jay Lewis. He produced and co- ...

who in 1945 had a huge success with ''

The Seventh Veil ''The Seventh Veil'' is a 1945 British melodrama film directed by Compton Bennett and starring James Mason and Ann Todd. It was made by Ortus Films (a company established by producer Sydney Box) and released through General Film Distributors i ...

''. In September 1946, Box announced he would make the film from Sabatini's novel for the United Kingdom Moving Picture Company. Finance would come from the Rank Organisation. The film was part of a deliberate attempt by Rank to break into the American market, following the path blazed with films like ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...

'' (1944) and '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' (1945). John Woolf, head of international distribution for Rank, said in October 1946 that:

Before we smacked ''Henry V'' and ''Caesar and Cleopatra'' into the American Markets, we were getting a poor showing in the United States. Although the most optimistic figures have been put out in London about the achievements of ''Henry'' and ''Caesar'', in fact they have had to fight hard to make their way. The important thing to remember is this— that these big films enabled us to break through the highly controlled theatre circuits in America. We are using them as a spearhead to get a showing of British films.

For a time it seemed there would be a rival movie on the same subject produced by

Edward Small Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891, Brooklyn, New York – January 25, 1977, Los Angeles) was a film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movi ...

from a biography by David Lawrence. The other film was not made. When Box became head of

Gainsborough Pictures Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, north London. Gainsborough Studios was active between 1924 and 1951. The com ...

he immediately put the project in development at that studio. In January 1947, Sabatini was reportedly working on the script.

Casting

In October 1946, Box said he wanted a young, virile actor to play the lead. Stewart Granger was originally mentioned. In January 1947, Arturo de Córdova was announced as star. In August 1947, Sydney Box arrived in Hollywood to sign a star. He met with James Mason. Then in September he announced he had signed Fredric March and Florence Eldridge to play the leads. "It's a great part", said March.

Shooting

March arrived in England in April 1948 for what was meant to be a five-month shoot. Studio filming took place at Pinewood and there was location filming in Barbados. March had recently had an operation and suffered a relapse while in London. Two ships, replicas of the ''Nina'' and ''Santa Maria'' were built especially for the film and in April 1948 they were shipped from Spain to London. Shooting was often difficult. The replica of the ''Santa Maria'' broke its moorings during a squall in the West Indies and drifted for two nights and a day with people on board before it was rescued. Then a fire broke out and the ship was burnt. It had to be rebuilt at a cost of £100,000 because scenes set on it had yet to be shot. March collapsed one day due to heatstroke.

Reshoots

A new subplot was added towards the end of shooting involving the romance between Columbus and the sister (Kathleen Ryan) of his lieutenant (Derek Bond). March was reportedly very disappointed with the final film. The

Francoist Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

Spanish government considered the portrait of Columbus to be unflattering. In response the leading Spanish studio CIFESA produced '' Dawn of America'' (1951), which portrayed Columbus as a more daring figure.

Reception

Critical

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it "largely an uninspired succession of legendary but lifeless episodes."

Box-office

In April 1949 J. Arthur Rank told

Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...

he thought the film would be his most successful of 1949. However, the film failed to recoup its enormous cost at the box office. By 1953, it only grossed £121,000 or US$338,000 in theatrical rentals around the world, leading to a loss of more than US$2 million.

References

Bibliography

* Spicer, Andrew. ''British Film Makers: Sydney Box''. Manchester University Press, 2006.

External links

*
''Christopher Columbus''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

* *
Review of film
at ''

''
''Christopher Columbus''
at BFI
Original text of novel ''Columbus'' by Rafael Sabatini
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

{{Authority control 1949 films Adventure films based on actual events British biographical drama films British historical drama films 1940s historical drama films Films directed by David MacDonald (director) Cultural depictions of Christopher Columbus Cultural depictions of Isabella I of Castile Gainsborough Pictures films Films set in Spain Films set in pre-Columbian America Films set in the 1490s Fiction set in 1492 Films with screenplays by Sydney Box Films produced by Sydney Box 1940s biographical drama films Age of Discovery films Sea adventure films Films based on British novels 1949 drama films 1940s British films