The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Sydney Boehm (writer)
William Bradford Huie (novel)

Release Date:

22 June 1956 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Set in the early '40s, a San Francisco prostitute is run out of town just as the second World War has begun to intensify...

Plot Keywords:

Real Estate | Hawaii | Sailor | Reputation | Writer

Cast

Jane Russell	...	Mamie Stover
Richard Egan	...	Jim Blair
Joan Leslie	...	Annalee Johnson
Agnes Moorehead	...	Bertha Parchman
Jorja Curtright	...	Jackie
Michael Pate	...	Harry Adkins
Richard Coogan	...	Capt. Eldon Sumac
Alan Reed	...	Capt. Gorecki
Eddie Firestone	...	Tarzan
Jean Willes	...	Gladys
Leon Lontoc	...	Aki
Kathy Marlowe	...	Zelda
Margia Dean	...	Peaches
Jack Mather	...	Bartender
John Halloran	...	Henry

Runtime:

92 min | 89 min (FMC Library Print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

West Germany:18 (nf) | Norway:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

20th Century-Fox production head Buddy Adler wanted Marilyn Monroe for the role of Mamie, but she refused. Fox went with Jane Russell instead.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Although the story takes place in 1941-1942, all the women's fashion styles are from 1956.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Keep Your Eyes on the Hands

A clever framework for Jane Russell's spectacular physique!

The fifties provided its share of World War II films... The super classics being David Lean's "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and Fred Zinnemann's "From Here to Eternity." Although Raoul Walsh's "The Revolt of Mamie Stover," a closely related minor film, also bears some consideration...

The story, set in 1941, has Jane being escorted by the San Francisco Police to the entrance galley of a ship leaving town... She is advised not to return--ever!

Aboard the Hawaii-bound vessel, she meets science fiction novelist Richard Egan who proves to be the first man in her versatile lifetime who respects her as a person... Naturally she is, at the proper time, impressed...

Once they dock, she lands a job at the Bungalow Club, presided over by a domineering madam Agnes Moorehead...

According to the movie, servicemen were lining up just for the opportunity to dance and talk (but definitely nothing more) with Moorehead's "hostesses," specially the ever popular Jane who makes a memorable impression as a cynical sleazy dance-hall hostess...

Jane is seen avoided by the better element in town, who do not appreciate her patriotic contribution... Her conscience forces her to tell Egan: "No, Jimmy, I can't let you ruin your life... You can't lick the whole island-I've got a number on my back and they all know it."

Egan was positive that some compromise can be worked out, but in the meantime he goes off to war... The aerial Pearl Harbor Attack, on December 7, 1941, by the Japanese is also seen...

While he is away Jane is determined to make all the social abuse worth enduring and becomes the queen of the town's nightlife... Jane sees this as her only way to acquire wealth...

When Egan returns on leave to Honolulu, he was filled with consternation to discover that Jane is the star attraction of the Bungalow Club... The shock of it all pushes him back into the refined arms of his society fiancée, Joan Leslie, who has that nice home high on the hill... And Jane? Well, definitely you have to see the picture to know what she does...

Jane Russell wears a bright-red dress as the self-satisfied, eye-catching woman of "The Revolt of Mamie Stover," but she is definitely no screen substitute of Sadie Thompson as had been intended...

In the middle of the ludicrous plot Jane sang "Keep Your Eyes on the Hands" and "If You Wanna See Mamie Tonight." The latter tune apt to call up memories of Rita Hayworth's "Put the Blame on Mame" from Charles Vidor's "Gilda."

The CinemaScope format provides a clever framework for Jane Russell's spectacular physique...