The Sandpiper (1965)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Martin Ransohoff (story)
Irene Kamp (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 June 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

She gave men a taste of life that made them hunger for more!

Plot:

Free-spirited, young, unwed mother seduces a Episcopalian priest. Lots of pretty beach/ocean scenery.

Plot Keywords:

Love | School | Boarding School | Clergy | Atheist

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Elizabeth Taylor	...	Laura Reynolds
Richard Burton	...	Dr. Edward Hewitt
Eva Marie Saint	...	Claire Hewitt
Charles Bronson	...	Cos Erickson
Robert Webber	...	Ward Hendricks
James Edwards	...	Larry Brant
Torin Thatcher	...	Judge Thompson
Tom Drake	...	Walter Robinson
Douglas Henderson	...	Paul Sutcliff (as Doug Henderson)
Morgan Mason	...	Danny Reynolds
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Abbey	...	(uncredited)
Jan Arvan	...	Trustee (uncredited)
Mary Benoit	...	Trustee's wife (uncredited)
Shirley Bonne	...	Celebrant #9 (uncredited)
Dusty Cadis	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Joan Connors	...	Celebrant #7 (uncredited)
Tom Crane	...	Walter Robinson (uncredited)
Tom Curtis	...	Trustee (uncredited)
Jeff Davis	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Colin Drake	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Fred Fisher	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Mel Gallagher	...	Celebrant #4 (uncredited)
Kelton Garwood	...	Celebrant #2 (uncredited)
Paul Genge	...	Architect (uncredited)
Max Gulak	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Ginger Hall	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Harper	...	(uncredited)
John Hart	...	Trooper (uncredited)
Rex Holman	...	Celebrant #1 (uncredited)
April Hyde	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Peter Jackson	...	(uncredited)
Peggy Adams Laird	...	Celebrant #8 (uncredited)
Pamela Mason	...	Ellie (uncredited)
Jimmy Murphy	...	Celebrant #3 (uncredited)
Nico	...	Dancer at the Party (uncredited)
Jo O'Toole	...	(uncredited)
Peter O'Toole	...	(voice) (uncredited)
Jean Peaslee	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Douglas Read	...	(uncredited)
Diane Sayer	...	Celebrant #6 (uncredited)
June Shelley	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Shelly Sidney	...	(uncredited)
Eric Sinclair	...	Beatnik (uncredited)
Barbara Sommers	...	Dancer at the Party (uncredited)
Roscoe Stallworth	...	(uncredited)
Anthony Stuart	...	Administrator (uncredited)
Carl Studer	...	Harold (uncredited)
Olga Valéry	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Sophie Veneck	...	Administrator's Wife (uncredited)
Ron Whelan	...	Celebrant #5 (uncredited)
Tom White	...	Beatnik (uncredited)

Directed by
Vincente Minnelli

Writing credits
Martin Ransohoff		(story)
Irene Kamp		(adaptation) &
Louis Kamp		(adaptation)
Dalton Trumbo		(writer) and
Michael Wilson		(writer)

Produced by
John Calley	....	associate producer
Martin Ransohoff	....	producer

Original Music by
Johnny Mandel

Cinematography by
Milton R. Krasner		(director of photography) (as Milton Krasner)

Film Editing by
David Bretherton

Art Direction by
George W. Davis
Urie McCleary

Set Decoration by
F. Keogh Gleason		(as Keogh Gleason)
Henry Grace

Costume Design by
Irene Sharaff

Makeup Department
Sydney Guilaroff	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Ben Kadish	....	supervising production executive
Lindsley Parsons Jr.	....	assistant production manager: MGM (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William McGarry	....	assistant director
Lynn Guthrie	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Elizabeth Duquette	....	painter: Laura's paintings
Edmund Kara	....	sculptor: redwood sculpture

Sound Department
Franklin Milton	....	recording supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Borden	....	wildlife photography
Bernie Abramson	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Robert Armbruster	....	conductor
Billy Byers	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Jack Sheldon	....	musician: trumpet (uncredited)

Other crew
Herb Rosenthal	....	title art
Eduardo Tirella	....	coordinator of "Big Sur" scene

Production Companies

• Filmways Pictures

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1965) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1969) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)

Runtime:

117 min | Argentina:118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Iceland:L | USA:TV-14 | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Big Sur, California, USA

Company:

Filmways Pictures

Trivia:

Then unknown Raquel Welch doubled (uncredited) for Elizabeth Taylor in some of Taylor's beach scenes on location at Big Sur, California.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#22.96)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Shadow of Your Smile

Liz and Dick and Eva Marie

Another story about middle-aged anxst. Only this time we have Richard Burton as an Episcopal minister leading a humdrum life as the head of a religious school. He's bored with his marriage too, to Eva Marie Saint.

Into his life comes single mom Elizabeth Taylor who is raising her son Morgan Mason out of wedlock and living in a hippie colony on the California coast. Art imitates life as Liz gets Dick's hormones into exponential overdrive.

A lot of younger members of IMDb could not possibly appreciate all the publicity surrounding Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor from the first reports of an affair on the set of Cleopatra. They were two of the best well known international celebrities anywhere. Of course producers rushed to find stories for them to do. They did a whole number of joint projects.

The Sandpiper was not one of the better ones. It did have an Oscar winning song The Shadow of Your Smile which both Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis sold a lot of records of. Liz and Dick got a good supporting cast that included Charles Bronson, Robert Webber, Tom Drake and Torin Thatcher.

Thatcher plays a judge and he inadvertently gets the adultery ball rolling when he orders that Liz Taylor stop home schooling young Mason and he orders her to send him to the Episcopal school run by Burton.

We certainly have come full circle. Kids are homeschooled today for religious reasons and judges would get a lot of negative publicity if they ever ordered a kid into a religious school.

Charles Bronson is one of Taylor's artist friends and a militant nonbeliever. He gives atheists a bad name and is constantly giving Burton the needle. Clergy are all too human and the best of them acknowledge that.

Robert Webber in his career played a whole lot of smarmy types. He's on the board at Burton's school and has had his fling with Taylor as well. This is one of his best screen roles and typical for him.

Despite some good moments, The Sandpiper sinks into the level of soap opera. I would recommend seeing Cleopatra, The VIPs, or Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf if you want to see Liz and Dick at their best.