The Vintage * (1957, Mel Ferrer, John Kerr, Michèle Morgan, Pier Angeli, Theodore Bikel, Leif Erickson) – Classic Movie Review 12,987

Italian brothers (Mel Ferrer and John Kerr), on the run from a murder, hide out in the vineyards of France, putting sisters (Michèle Morgan and Pier Angeli) in a sexual spin.

‘THEY WERE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH! LUSTY! VIOLENT! PRIMITIVE! ‘

Director Jeffrey Hayden’s 1957 MGM romantic crime drama film The Vintage stars Mel Ferrer, John Kerr, Michèle Morgan, Pier Angeli, Theodore Bikel, and Leif Erickson.

Villainous Italian brothers Giancarlo and Ernesto Bernardo (Mel Ferrer and John Kerr), on the run from a murder, hide out in the vineyards of France, putting married Léonne Morel (Michèle Morgan) and her sister Lucienne (Pier Angeli) in a sexual spin.

Younger sensitive Ernesto killed a man in Genoa for the honour of a woman, and the two brothers have crossed the border illegally from Italy into France to elude the Italian police.

The Vintage is a rather tedious and lacklustre adaptation of Ursula Keir’s 1953 novel, with a reasonably good, very attractive cast and an unpractised director all at sea, battling a particularly dull script by Michael Blankfort.

Just when the script needs oomph to give it some dynamism, the acting is altogether too laid back and underpowered.

Leif Erickson plays Morgan’s husband, Louis Morel, Theodore Bikel plays Eduardo Uribari, Jack Mullaney plays Etienne Morel, and Joe Verdi plays Uncle Ton Ton.

On the plus side, it is a handsome film, though: Joseph Ruttenberg’s Technicolor, CinemaScope location photography looks a treat.

The score is composed and conducted by David Raksin (finally released on CD in 2009), with guitar solos performed by Theodore Bikel.

The film flopped expensively. It cost $1,658,000, and earned $260,000 in the US and Canada and $1,020,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $1,072,000, adding considerably to MGM’s financial troubles, and no doubt putting an end to Jeffrey Hayden’s career as a feature film director.

Release date: May 8, 1957 (New York City).

Running time: 92 minutes.

Jeffrey Hayden with his wife Eva Marie Saint in 1990.

Jeffrey Hayden (October 15, 1926 – December 24, 2016) was married to Eva Marie Saint from 1951 until his death in 2016. The Vintage (1957) is his only feature film but he directed episodes of dozens of TV shows from the 1960s to the 1990s,

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,987

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