Anna Lucasta *** (1958, Eartha Kitt, Sammy Davis Jr, Henry Scott, Rex Ingram) – Classic Movie Review 12,672

Eartha Kitt, Sammy Davis Jr and Rex Ingram make a fascinating star trio in the 1958 American drama film Anna Lucasta, an all-African-American version of Philip Yordan’s long-running 1944 stage play.

Director Arnold Laven’s 1958 American film noir drama Anna Lucasta stars Eartha Kitt, Sammy Davis Jr, Henry Scott and Rex Ingram, and is written by Philip Yordan, adapting his 1944 stage play. It is a remake of the 1949 film Anna Lucasta starring Paulette Goddard). The play was originally written about a Polish family (as filmed in 1949) but first performed on Broadway with an all-African-American cast in 1944, as filmed here.

Eartha Kitt, Sammy Davis Jr and Rex Ingram make a fascinating star trio in an all-African-American version of Philip Yordan’s long-running play in which Anna Lucasta (Eartha Kitt), the wandering, wayward, sexy daughter of a greedy family leaves home when her sailor boyfriend (Sammy Davis Jr) finds out about her infidelities. Anna’s regular haunt a dockside café in San Diego, where she seduces sailors for meals, drinks and board. Anna starts a relationship with Rudolph Slocum (Henry Scott), the now rich son of a family friend.

It is an interesting though maybe less than dynamic film. But the power of the material comes through, and there’s something special in the performances (especially Ingram’s knockout turn as the heroine’s boozy father, patriarch Joe Lucasta, plus Alvin Childress from the Broadway production as Noah), as well as something imaginative in the handling. Elmer Bernstein’s score and Lucien Ballard’s cinematography are assets.

It’s a chance to see Eartha Kitt in an acting part. Kitt really looks the part as Anna Lucasta, and is alluring and impressive as an actress. And it’s a chance to see Sammy Davis Jr in an acting part too. Davis Jr is good in his first dramatic feature film role, strong and convincing as Danny, a minor role in the stage play, but expanded to suit his fame.

United Artists gave the film little promotion and only a limited release and it was unsuccessful at the box office. Kitt was on a percentage of the film earnings, so that probably didn’t work out.

Philip Yordan’s long-running 1944 play Anna Lucasta about a about a Polish-American woman and her predatory family was rewritten by American Negro Theatre director Abram Hill and director Henry Wagstaff Gribble for an all African-American cast. The first performance was on 16 June 1944 in Harlem before the play moved to Broadway’s Mansfield Theatre, running from 30 August 1944 to 30 November 1946. After playing 957 performances, it then made an extensive tour of the US and Europe.

A staging of the original play about a Polish-American woman was performed in London and Paris in 1947 with Paulette Goddard, who then starred in the first version of this movie, Anna Lucasta, made in 1949.

The cast are Eartha Kitt as Anna Lucasta, Sammy Davis Jr as Danny Johnson, Frederick O’Neal as Frank, Henry Scott as Rudolph Slocum, Rex Ingram as Joe Lucasta, Alvin Childress as Noah, James Edwards as Eddie, Rosetta LeNoire as Stella, Isabelle Cooley as Katie Lucasta, Georgia Burke as Theresa Lucasta, Claire Leyba as Blanche, John Proctor as Stanley Lucasta, Charles Swain as Lester, Isaac Jones as Police officer, and Wallace Earl Laven as Secretary.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,672

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