“DE
SICA VS. SELZNICK = 2 MOVIES IN 1â€
By
Raymond Benson
Here’s
an interesting lesson in filmmaking. Students of the art might learn something
by watching the two different cuts of this motion picture to see what happens when
a movie is edited down—especially when the original was made by a bona fide artist
as opposed to a slick Hollywood producer who, albeit successful, might not
know everything.
David
O. Selznick was a powerhouse producer and head of his own personal studio (he
had, after all, produced Gone with the Wind, Rebecca, Spellbound,
and many other Hollywood classics). Vittorio De Sica was the purveyor of
Italian Neo-realism (along with Roberto Rossellini) and was responsible for
such art house masterpieces as Shoeshine and Bicycle Thieves (aka
The Bicycle Thief). They teamed up in the early 1950s to make a movie
together. Selznick would produce—and the film would star his then-wife,
Jennifer Jones—and De Sica would direct.
It
did not go well. Reportedly, Selznick and De Sica constantly clashed during
production. Jones’ co-star, Montgomery Clift, allegedly called it one of the
worst experiences of his career.
Terminal
Station,
the original De Sica film, was first released in 1953 in Italy (as Stazione
Termini) in Italian with Jones and Clift dubbed. Another English version
with the two actors’ real voices was also made, and all the Italians were
dubbed in English. This cut of the film is around 90 minutes in length and has
circulated internationally. Based on a short story by Cesare Zavattini, the
script was adapted by Luigi Chiarini and Giorgio Prosperi—but Selznick brought
in a couple of Hollywood writers for the English dialogue, including Truman
Capote, who got screen credit with the two Italians.
When
Selznick saw the completed Terminal Station, he hated it. Against De
Sica’s wishes, Selznick re-cut the film—throwing out nearly 25 minutes—and
adding a silly 8-minute prologue “short†to round out the feature length from
64 minutes to 72. Retitled Indiscretion of an American Wife, the picture
was released in America in 1954, and in England as Indiscretion. Selznick’s
name does not appear anywhere in the credits (except in the tiny copyright line
beneath the title card).
The
general contemporary consensus from U.S. critics and audiences alike was that Indiscretion
of an American Wife was terrible. It quickly disappeared, despite an Oscar
nomination for Best Costumes (black and white) and the creation of a couple of
standard songs in the prologue (“Autumn in Rome†and “Indiscretion,†both sung
by newcomer Patti Page, making her debut appearance in a movie).
HOWEVER—Vittorio
De Sica’s original Terminal Station is absolutely wonderful! It is a
heart-wrenching, emotional, and yet simple tale of a married American woman,
Mary (Jones) who has just arrived at Rome’s famous Stazioni Termini to catch a
train to go back to Paris and then to America. She had been visiting her
sister’s family in the city, but she had fallen in love and had an affair with
an Italian American, Giovanni (Clift). Guilt-ridden, but also convinced she is
in a loveless marriage back home and has finally found her “beau ideal,†Mary
is conflicted about returning to her husband and daughter. The entire story
takes place in real time as Giovanni attempts to persuade Mary to stay before
the inevitable train departure.