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:

The story synopsis of "The Revolt Of Mamie Stover," which appears in the 20th Century Fox studio press book, suggest that some last minute changes and edits were made the film to tone down the true nature of the Mamie Stover character. The following scenes were described in the synopsis: (1) The film opens with a scene on a street corner in San Francisco in which Mamie (Jane Russell) is "picked up" by a middle age man (portrayed by Stubby Kaye), and then detained by police who suggest she get out of town. )2) A scene occurs between Mamie and Annalee (Joan Leslie), in which Annalee tells Mamie to stay away from Jimmy (Richard Egan). (3) Mamie buys her own house on "the hill" and decorates it in anticipation of Jimmy's return from the war. (4) While Jimmy is away at war, he receives letters from both Annalee and Mamie. Annalee's are more poetic and caring, while Mamie's tell of her increasing fortune from her real-estate properties. (5) The film ends with a scene in a room at the Bungalow Club in which Jimmy rejects Mamie and leaves. Mamie walks down the hall, wipes her tears away, composes herself and enters another room, greeting her latest customer with her tag line, "You waitin' for Mamie, Honey?" This suggests that her life will continue on in same fashion as it always had: motivated by money at any cost despite a less than respectable lifestyle. The final version of the film as released redeems the Mamie character by cutting out before she greets her next customer and adding a scene in which she returns to San Francisco only to tell the police, who meet her at the dock, that she gave up her fortune and is now returning to her hometown of Leesburg, Mississippi.

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:

If You Wanna See Mamie Tonight

not bad, for the time..although

The double standard is still rampant, the character of Mamie Stover makes an attempt to achieve material success in a man's world.

Richard Egan is believable as the writer with a house on a hilltop, and all the accoutrement Mamie Stover will beg borrow or steal to get. She does make a point when she says when he discusses money he ..."is only slumming, while I'm just plain scared"...

The problem in these days is women were not encouraged to use their minds, and her pronounced figure is blatantly used in many scenes to underline this point.

Some good scenes with Agnes Moorehead as brothel owner, and lush sets on the beaches and mountains of Oahu. Worth a viewing as a commentary on women's issues at the time, a curiosity in that one wonders how close the Stover character was to Russel's own life, and what she had to do to get ahead in Hollywood of the 1940's-1950's.