Strictly Dishonorable (1951 film)

Strictly Dishonorable

title card
Directed by Melvin Frank
Norman Panama
Produced by Melvin Frank
Norman Panama
Written by Melvin Frank
Norman Panama
Based on Strictly Dishonorable
by Preston Sturges
Starring Ezio Pinza
Janet Leigh
Music by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Lennie Hayton
Cinematography Ray June
Edited by Cotton Warburton
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates
July 3, 1951 (US)
Running time
86 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $1,182,000[1]
Box office $881,000[1]

Strictly Dishonorable is a 1951 romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, and starring Ezio Pinza and Janet Leigh. It is the second film to be based on Preston Sturges' 1929 hit Broadway play of the same name after a pre-Code film released by Universal Pictures in 1931 with the same title.

Plot

In New York in the 1920s, amorous opera star Augustino "Gus" Caraffa (Ezio Pinza) crosses paths with Isabelle Perry (Janet Leigh), a naive music student from Mississippi who is his biggest fan. When a news photographer catches them in a kiss, it is proposed that they get married in name only to avoid a scandal. Isabelle, who is in love with Gus, agrees to the charade, hoping that he will eventually fall in love with her.[2][3]

Cast

Production notes

Songs

Notes:

Production

Preston Sturges approached MGM with the idea of doing a remake of Strictly Dishonorable with Ezio Pinza, and received $60,000 for the rights, but was disappointed when he was not hired to write the screenplay.[4]

Strictly Dishonorable was in production from mid-January to mid-March 1951,[10] and was released on 3 July of that year.[11]

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $660,000 in the US and Canada and $221,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $664,000.[1]

Adaptations

Lux Radio Theatre broadcast a radio adaptation of the film on December 8, 1952, with Janet Leigh reprising her role and Fernando Lamas replacing Pinza.[4][12]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. TCM Full synopsis
  3. Erickson, Hal Plot synopsis (Allmovie)
  4. 1 2 3 4 TCM Notes
  5. Ezio Pinza at the Internet Movie Database
  6. Tonight We Sing at the Internet Movie Database
  7. Strictly Dishonorable (1951) at the Internet Movie Database
  8. Scott R. Beal at the Internet Movie Database
  9. TCM Music
  10. TCM Overview
  11. IMDB Release dates
  12. Kirby, Walter (December 7, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 52. Retrieved June 14, 2015 via Newspapers.com.
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