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Justine (1969 film)

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Justine
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeorge Cukor
Joseph Strick
Written byLawrence B. Marcus
Lawrence Durrell (novel)
Produced byPandro S. Berman
StarringAnouk Aimée
Dirk Bogarde
Robert Forster
Anna Karina
Philippe Noiret
Michael York
John Vernon
Jack Albertson
George Baker
Michael Dunn
CinematographyLeon Shamroy
Edited byRita Roland
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Distributed byTwentieth Century Fox
Release date
  • August 6, 1969 (1969-08-06)
Running time
116 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7,870,000[1]
Box office$2.2 million (US/ Canada rentals)[2]

Justine is a 1969 American drama film directed by George Cukor and Joseph Strick. It was written by Lawrence B. Marcus (with uncredited contributions from critic Andrew Sarris),[3] based on the 1957 novel Justine by Lawrence Durrell, which was part of the series The Alexandria Quartet.

Plot

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Set in Alexandria in 1938, a young British schoolmaster named Darley meets Pursewarden, a British consular officer. Pursewarden introduces him to Justine, the wife of an Egyptian banker. Darley befriends her, and discovers she is involved in a plot against the British, the goal of which is to arm the Jewish underground movement in Palestine.

Cast

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Production

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The film's pre-production was prepared by director Joseph Strick, who intended to shoot the movie in Morocco. He did some location filming there, but fought with the executives at Fox and with star Anouk Aimée. When he did not hire others for the film as instructed by the studio and slept on the set while working on one of Aimee's scenes, they fired him and George Cukor was brought in. He proceeded to bring the film to Hollywood where the remainder of the film was finished. It became a financial flop and received negative critical reviews.

Some scenes were shot at Ennejma Ezzahra, a palace at Sidi Bou Said, in northern Tunisia.[4]

Reception

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According to Fox records the film required $12,775,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $2,775,000.[5] In September 1970 the studio reported it had lost $6,602,000 on the film.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255
  2. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, January 7, 1970 p 15
  3. ^ Luers, Erik (December 20, 2013). "Auteur Studies: What Is Your Favorite George Cukor Film? Critics Give Their Choices". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
  4. ^ Cowell, Alan (23 July 1987). "In Tunisia, A Rare Visit To a Palace And Its Owner". New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  5. ^ Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 328.
  6. ^ Silverman p 259
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