Desire Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJack Conway (uncredited)
George Cukor (uncredited)
Mervyn Le Roy (uncredited)
Victor Saville (uncredited)
Screenplay byMarguerite Roberts
Zoe Akins
Casey Robinson (adaptation)
Based onKarl and Anna
1926 novel
by Leonhard Frank
Produced byArthur Hornblow Jr.
StarringGreer Garson
Robert Mitchum
Richard Hart
CinematographyJoseph Ruttenberg
Edited byJoseph Dervin
Music byHerbert Stothart (uncredited)
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's Inc.
Release date
  • October 31, 1947 (1947-10-31)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4,149,000[1][2]
Box office$2,576,000[1]

Desire Me is a 1947 American drama film starring Robert Mitchum and Greer Garson. It had a troubled production that included numerous directors and rewrites, and was ultimately released without a credited director.[3]

Plot

In Paris, Marise Aubert is discussing her medical condition with Dr. Leclair, who explains that there is nothing physically wrong with her and that her pain is the result of her internal struggles.

In a flashback to two weeks earlier, soldier Jean Renaud arrives suddenly at Marise's cottage. He explains that he was in a Nazi reprisal camp with Marise's husband Paul, who told him everything about her. He tells her that he saw Paul shot dead. She tells him to leave but relents because of a storm and allows him to stay.

Marise is shocked that Jean knows practically everything about her because of what Paul had told him in the camp. Jean has fallen in love with her from these stories, but when he makes romantic advances, Marise orders him to leave. She changes her mind because she is lonely and Jean is from Paul's life. They spend some happy times together.

A letter from Paul arrives, but Jean intercepts it before Marise can see it. The letter explains that Paul is not dead and that he is about to be released from a hospital so he can return to her. Jean nearly leaves after he realizes that Paul is alive, but he stays. Marise agrees to sell Paul's business and leave with Jean, but Paul returns before they leave. Marise learns of Paul's return and rushes home. Jean learns of Paul's return and retrieves an old gun that he found in Paul's office and heads to the cottage to confront Paul.

Marise is ecstatic to have him back, but confesses her relationship with Jean. Paul confronts his friend over the betrayal and Jean brandishes a gun. They struggle, and Jean is killed in a fall from a cliff.

In the present, the doctor tells Marise to return home. She returns to the cottage where Paul awaits her and they reunite happily.

Cast

Production

Garson injured her back while filming Desire Me in Monterey on 26 April 1946 when a wave knocked her and co-star Richard Hart from the rocks where they were rehearsing. A local fisherman and extra in the film rescued Garson from the surf and potential undertow. She was bruised and in shock and required by doctors to rest for several days. The injury to her back would require several surgeries over the coming years.[4]

Reception

The film earned $1,451,000 in the US & Canada, and earned $1,125,000 elsewhere, but, because of its high production cost, producers suffered a net loss of $2,440,000.[1][2][5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. 1 2 Scott Eyman, Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer, Robson, 2005 p 398
  3. ↑ Desire Me at TCM
  4. ↑ Michael Troyan, A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson, The University Press of Kentucky: Lexington, Kentucky (1999), pp.198–200.ISBN 978-0813120942
  5. ↑ "Top Grossers of 1947", Variety, 7 January 1948 p 63
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