Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

John Lee Mahin (screenplay) and
John Huston (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

13 March 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | War

Plot:

A Marine and a Nun, both shipwrecked on a Pacific Island, find solace in one another as the two wait out the war.

Plot Keywords:

Nun | Church | Beautiful Woman | Game Of Go | WWII

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Deborah Kerr	...	Sister Angela
Robert Mitchum	...	Cpl. Allison, USMC

Directed by
John Huston

Writing credits
John Lee Mahin		(screenplay) and
John Huston		(screenplay)
Charles Shaw		(novel)

Produced by
Buddy Adler	....	producer
Eugene Frenke	....	producer

Original Music by
Georges Auric

Cinematography by
Oswald Morris

Film Editing by
Russell Lloyd

Art Direction by
Stephen B. Grimes		(as Stephen Grimes)

Makeup Department
George Frost	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Leigh Aman	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Adrian Pryce-Jones	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Malcolm Cooke	....	sound editor
Basil Fenton-Smith	....	sound
Leslie Hodgson	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Ray Kellogg	....	special effects

Stunts
Arnim Tardieu	....	stunt double: Robert Mitchum (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Ibbetson	....	camera operator
Derek V. Browne	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laura Nightingale	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Lambert Williamson	....	conductor

Other crew
Angela Allen	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (presents) (as Twentieth Century-Fox)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Centfox (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1963) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• Fox Video (199?) (USA) (VHS) (pan/scan)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• United States Marine Corps  acknowledgment
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation  CinemaScope is the registered trademark of

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (RCA Sound Recording) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (certificate #18380) | Canada:PG (video rating) | UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Originally when filming began on Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), her co-star Robert Mitchum worried that Deborah Kerr would be like the prim characters she frequently played. However, after she swore at director John Huston during one take, Mitchum, who was in the water, almost drowned laughing. The two stars went on to have an enduring friendship which lasted until Mitchum's death in 1997.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Robert Mitchum is shown throughout the movie wearing a metal expansion bracelet for his wristwatch. Such bracelets were introduced by Speidel in the 1950s.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Cpl. Allison, USMC: Let's just keep it quiet, ma'am. You speak English?
Sister Angela: Yes.
Cpl. Allison, USMC: Are there any Japs around?
Sister Angela: You're... You're an American.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Wonderful Mitchum

I'm wondering if Robert Mitchum ever play in a bad movie. This one is another winner from this great actor.

There's a lot of tension in this movie especially when the Japaneses arrive and set up their campement in the island. The marine and the nun spend a lot of their time in a little cave, trying to steal some food to the Japaneses, and waiting with the hope of the end of the war.

I've never heard of this movie before, it seems to be a forgotten classic, it deserve to be shown for a large audience.