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The Searching Wind
The Searching Wind
Directed by	William Dieterle
Screenplay by	Lillian Hellman
Based on	The Searching Wind; 1944 play; by Lillian Hellman
Produced by	Hal Wallis
Starring	Robert Young; Sylvia Sidney; Ann Richards
Cinematography	Lee Garmes
Edited by	Warren Low
Music by	Victor Young
Production; company	Hal Wallis Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	August 9, 1946;
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Searching Wind is a 1946 American drama film directed by William Dieterle and starring Robert Young, Sylvia Sidney, and Ann Richards. It is based on the play of the same name by Lillian Hellman.^[1] It had originally been planned for producer Hal Wallis to make the film at Warner Bros., but after he left the studio he brought the project to Paramount Pictures.^[2]

Plot

In 1945, after hearing of the death of Mussolini, an American career diplomat and his family reflect on his mistakes he made during the interwar years.^[3]

Cast

Robert Young as Alex Hazen
Sylvia Sidney as Cassie Bowman
Ann Richards as Emily Hazen
Dudley Digges as Moses
Douglas Dick as Sam Hazen
Albert Basserman as Count Von Stammer
Dan Seymour as Torrone
Ian Wolfe as Sears
Marietta Canty as Sophronia
Norma Varden as Mrs. Hayworth
Charles D. Brown as Carter
Don Castle as David
William Trenk as Ponette
Mickey Kuhn as Sam as a Boy

Original play

Hellman's play debuted on Broadway in 1944 and ran for 318 performances. Montgomery Clift was in the original cast which was directed by Herman Shumlin.^[4]

Hellman later said it was "The nearest thing to a political play" she had written "which is probably why I don't like it much any more. But even there I meant only to write about nice, well born people who, with good intentions, helped to sell out a world."^[5]

Opening Night Cast

Edgar Andrews as First Waiter
Montgomery Clift as Samuel Hazen
Joe De Santis as Second Waiter
Dudley Digges as Moses Taney
Eugene Earl as James Sears
Mercedes Gilbert as Sophronia
Alfred Hesse as Ponette
Dennis King as Alexander Hazen
Walter Kohler as Hotel Manager
Arnold Korff as Count Max von Stammer
Eric Latham as Edward Halsey
Barbara O'Neil as Catherine Bowman
William F. Schoeller as Eppler
Cornelia Otis Skinner as Emily Hazen

Production

Hal Wallis bought the screen rights for $100,000. Wallis had made a film of Hellman's Watch on the Rhine while head of Warner Bros. Hellman did the script. It was one of the first films Wallis made as a producer at Paramount.^[6]

Richards' casting was announced in September 1944. Joseph Cotten turned down the male lead.^[7]^[8]

Filming started 13 December 1945.^[9]

Reception

Variety thought the film "isn't likely to hold the run-of-the-mill entertainment-goer looking for escapist stuff" and "should earn back its coin... for though well-mounted, it nevertheless doesn't appear too heavily budgeted. The film is an improvement on the Broadway play... because it is more coherent, and better acted."^[10]

References

^ The Searching Wind at TCMDB
^ Dick p.112-13
^ ""Searching Wind"". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 14, no. 20. Australia, Australia. 26 October 1946. p. 34. Retrieved 23 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ The Searching Wind at IBDB
^ Hellman, Lillian; Bryer, Jackson R (1986). Conversations with Lillian Hellman. p. 66.
^ "Hollywood's 1944 play buying spree". Variety. 3 January 1945. p. 30.
^ "ANNRICHARDS IN BIG ROLE". News. Vol. 43, no. 6, 604. South Australia. 28 September 1944. p. 7. Retrieved 23 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "THE SCREEN Goes Escapist". The Mercury. Vol. CLXII, no. 23, 362. Tasmania, Australia. 20 October 1945. p. 11. Retrieved 23 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Dick, Bernard F. (1982). Hellman in Hollywood. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 108–118. ISBN 978-0-8386-3140-9.
^ "The Searching Wind". Variety. 15 May 1946. p. 8.