Sanctuary ** (1961, Lee Remick, Bradford Dillman, Yves Montand) – Classic Movie Review 11,483

Director Tony Richardson’s 1961 black and white drama Sanctuary is a sticky adaptation of a worthy but lost cause – filming William Faulkner’s stories about a 1920s Southern governor’s daughter, Temple Drake, Mrs Gowan Stevens (Lee Remick), who is mistreated by macho Cajun bootlegger, Candy Man (Yves Montand).

Just when Remick has settled comfortably with gentle husband Gowan Stevens (Bradford Dillman), Montand reappears loomingly. Odetta plays Nancy Mannigoe, a 30-year-old maid condemned to death for the murder of the infant son of her employer Temple Drake to get out of a predicament.

Sanctuary is intriguingly dark, frank and tragic, and there is some rock solid acting particularly from the young Remick and Dillman, but it is tough material for talented British director Richardson to handle.

The screenplay by Ruth Ford and James Poe is based on the William Faulkner novels Sanctuary (1931) and Requiem for a Nun (1961).

Also in the cast are Harry Townes as Ira Bobbitt, Strother Martin as Dog Boy, Howard St John as Governor Drake, Reta Shaw as Miss Reba, Jean Carson as Norma, William Mims as Lee, Marge Redmond as Flossie, Jean Bartel as Swede, Hope Du Bois, Pamela Raymond, Dona Lorenson, Enid Jones, Linden Chiles, Kim Hector, Voltaire Perkins, Robert Gothie, Wyatt Cooper, and Wilton Felder.

Sanctuary was previously filmed as The Story of Temple Drake (1933), with Miriam Hopkins.

Richard D Zanuck produced the film, wanting to make it an adaptation of both novels because it was more commercial and he believed the sequel book could not be adapted into a separate film. He acquired the rights to both novels and to The Story of Temple Drake.

Richardson said he disliked the editing process and disliked the completed film.

Cecil Antonio ‘Tony’ Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was married to Vanessa Redgrave from 1962 to 1967 and had two daughters, Natasha (1963–2009) and Joely Richardson (born 1965). He left Redgrave for Jeanne Moreau and in 1972 had a relationship with Grizelda Grimond and had another daughter.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,483

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