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Frenchman's Creek is a 1944 adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel (about an aristocratic English woman who falls in love with a French pirate), released by Paramount Pictures. The film starred Joan Fontaine, Arturo de Córdova, Basil Rathbone, Cecil Kellaway, and Nigel Bruce; at the time Rathbone and Bruce were appearing respectively as Holmes and Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes films by Universal Studios. Filmed in Technicolor, it was directed by Mitchell Leisen. The musical score was by Victor Young, who incorporated the main theme of French composer Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune as the love theme for the film. The film is a mostly faithful adaptation of the novel, taking place during the reign of Charles II in the mid seventeenth century, mostly in the Cornish region of England. Fontaine was under contract to independent producer to David O. Selznick, who only produced a few films each year. Typically, he loaned out his contract players and director Alfred Hitchcock (who had a contract with Selznick from 1940 to 1947) to other studios. In this case, Fontaine was loaned to Paramount for this lavish production. She later complained about her work with director Leisen and some of her costars. The film's budget of $3.6 million made it the most expensive production in Paramount history up to that time. Although the film has not been released on DVD, it has been shown on American Movie Classics.
Original Release
09/20/1944
US Release
09/20/1944
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Joan Fontaine | Dona St. Columb |
Arturo de Cordova | Jean Benoit Aubrey |
Basil Rathbone | Lord Rockingham |
Nigel Bruce | Lord Godolphin |
Cecil Kellaway | William |
Ralph Forbes | Harry St. Columb |
Harald Maresch | Edmond (as Harald Ramond) / Edmond |
Billy Daniel | Pierre Blanc / Pierre Blanc (as Billy Daniels) |
Moyna MacGill | Lady Godolphin |
Patricia Barker | Henrietta |
Directors
Writers
Talbot Jennings, Daphne Du Maurier, Claude Debussy
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Joan Fontaine | Dona St. Columb |
Arturo de Cordova | Jean Benoit Aubrey |
Basil Rathbone | Lord Rockingham |
Nigel Bruce | Lord Godolphin |
Cecil Kellaway | William |
Ralph Forbes | Harry St. Columb |
Harald Maresch | Edmond (as Harald Ramond) / Edmond |
Billy Daniel | Pierre Blanc / Pierre Blanc (as Billy Daniels) |
Moyna MacGill | Lady Godolphin |
Patricia Barker | Henrietta |
David James | James |
Phyllis Barry | Woman in Gaming House |
George Barton | Pirate Crewman |
Bunny Beatty | Alice |
Noble Blake | Pirate Crewman |
David Cavendish | Guest |
Bob Clark | Pirate Crewman |
Neal Clisby | Pirate Crewman |
David Clyde | Martin - Coachman |
Charles Coleman | Thomas |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Buddy G. DeSylva | Executive Producer |
David Lewis | Producer |
Editors
Year | Type | Category | Won |
---|
1946 | Oscar | Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color | Won |